If Deb Nelson were a painter, she’d be post-impressionist Paul Cezanne. He was the bridge between the traditional 19th century and the radical 20th century, explains Nelson, HP technology group’s senior vice president of marketing. “Being a bridge like Cezanne is what a marketing leader has to do today,” she continues. “The whole world is moving from traditional to digital marketing tools, creating entirely new ways to interact with our audiences, package our content and get feedback. We are building a bridge from the old to the new,” she concludes.

With her challenging role marketing to tech-savvy decision-makers in the full gamut of businesses, Nelson works hard to stay on the vanguard of this shift. “There’s constantly a changing competitive landscape,” she says, stressing how fast-paced the hi-tech business is.

She has been in her current position in the technology group for three of her 20 years at HP, and uses her experience to communicate the company’s enterprise business to both SMEs and the global 1000 – the revenue of which constitutes a considerable 47 per cent of HP’s overall income. Some of the industries she communicates with include the public sector and healthcare, manufacturing, financial services, communications, media and entertainment.