Antonio Neri (businessman)

Neri was born in Argentina on May 10, 1967.[1] His parents were Italian immigrants to Argentina both from Sicily.[3] He became interested in electronics and technology as a teenager.[2] Neri began military education and training at the age of 15, becoming an engineering apprentice for the Argentine Navy and working to repair ships' radar and sonar systems.[2][4] He remained with the navy during his time at the Escuela Nacional de Educación Técnica and the National Technological University, where he continued to study engineering.[4]

Neri also studied art in Argentina for nine years and has taught art, specializing in drawing and painting.[5][4][2]

Early in his career, Neri left Argentina to work for a small information technology company in Italy.[2] He started working in Hewlett-Packard's (HP) customer service department in Amsterdam in 1995.[4][6][7] Six months later, he was promoted to a support engineer position; subsequently he became an education manager, call center manager, and services manager for Europe.[2] In 1997, he relocated to Boise, Idaho, to serve as global director of HP's imaging and printing services division.[2] Neri moved to Houston in 2004 to work for the company's PC services business, then began heading the technology services business in 2011.[2]

Prior to HP's split into Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and HP Inc. in 2015, he served as senior vice president and general manager for the company's server and networking units.[8][9] In 2015,[10][11] Neri became executive vice president and general manager role of HPE's business division,[9] called Enterprise Group,[12][13] and focused on marketing strategy, new product development, and research and development.[14][15] During his tenure as HPE's first president, which began in June 2017,[14][16] Neri worked to streamline the company's businesses and served as interim chief sales officer.[17][18] He replaced Meg Whitman to become the company's first Latino chief executive officer (CEO) in February 2018,[4][6][19] and joined the board of directors.[11]

Neri has been credited for spearheading several of the company's technologies, including the Apollo HPC portfolio and Superdome X,[20] which CRN described as "the world's most scalable in-memory compute platform".[21] He has also been credited with helping the company acquire Aruba Networks, Nimble Storage, Silicon Graphics International, and SimpliVity,[2][9] and helping to define HPE's scope during the split from HP.[1] Neri designed the interior of the company's headquarters in San Jose, California.[22] Neri's "Next Initiative" has been described as a "massive reimagining" of the company; the strategy has reduced HPE's number of stock keeping units by 75 percent, as well as the number of management levels, and works to increase innovation.[2][23] He has also focused on edge computing,[24] modernizing the company's information technology,[25] and increasing HPE's cultural and gender diversity.[26]

During his tenure with HP, Neri lived in Europe and Latin America before relocating to the United States.[4] He and his wife met at an HP call center and were married in the late 1990s.[2][27] They have two children, and became U.S. citizens in 2012.[2] Neri lives in The Woodlands, TX, where he plays recreational soccer for the VS team. He purchased a residence in Delray Beach, Florida, in 2019.[28] He speaks four languages: Dutch, English, Italian, and Spanish.[29] His hobbies include painting and watching football.[1]

• From the call center to the C-Suite: HPE's Neri talks diversity, Latino leadership by Jennifer Elias (March 26, 2019), Silicon Valley Business Journal