adoption rate because it really adds a lot of value to the current applications that our customers have. The way we have designed Nio is not just as a chatbot. It is not just a kind of ChatGPT-like interface that can answer questions and do some troubleshooting. Instead, Nio is what we call an agentic system. Nio is an orchestrator, and the way it works is that it truly understands the question of the user. We have a lot of privacy, security, and a lot of guardrails that we have put on top, leveraging a lot of the infrastructure and technology we have developed throughout HP, not just in the industrial space. When you talk to Nio, it understands the question, makes a decision based on proper reasoning, and then looks for the right agent in the right database that has the answer. What is Nio connected to now and what are the plans for developing HP Nio further? Today we have Nio connected with Indigo’s PrintOS Knowledge Zone, which basically contains all the product information, service notes, and all the documentation needed to maintain, troubleshoot, and fix the press. We also have Nio connected to the PrintOS Print Beat application that has all the information about the press telemetry, the overall equipment efficiency, and information about the jobs – therefore, all the information required to maximise press productivity and efficiency. Nio can talk with these two virtual experts on everything around the press and everything about the productivity, to answer any type of question. Nio is not dependent on which application you are in. It can be in the Knowledge Zone and answer questions about productivity. You can be in the Print Beat application and ask questions about the Knowledge Zone. So, Nio is really ubiquitous to all the print applications on PrintOS. The good news is that we can keep adding new databases – we can add information on the coloured binary ink developer (BID) units, we can add our large-format equipment, we can add Pagewide equipment, and we can add third party data. We can keep expanding the platform and the knowledge, allowing Nio to orchestrate answers across our entire fleet. One of the next things we want to do for instance is add Nio within Site Flow. Site Flow is a workflow automation system that optimises and automates print production from order intake to shipping. If we are able to not just have information on the press, but also have information on the workflow, we really can have an end-to-end perspective which can correlate information and provide production managers with much more insightful information. With print automation seemingly ever increasing, how important is it for the data behind this automation to be accessible and transparent? I think it's critical. The need for automation is really increasing, driven by labour challenges and driven by all the modern complexities that PSPs encounter. Automation really is a must-have to scale up the business and to grow. In fact, we have demonstrated that customers that are adopting our automation solutions are growing around 27% faster than the rest of our customers. This is because they are able to respond faster and more efficiently to the changing needs of the market. So, automation is crucial, and data is the source of all this automation. This is not just about automating repetitive tasks – this is about truly understanding the data, connecting the dots, and making dynamic decisions in real time. Data management is going to be increasingly crucial and that's why we are putting a lot of focus on not only creating the data but protecting it and making the data able to connect the different systems and all the different areas of HP. Accessibility to that data is fundamental – it is what is feeding all the intelligence of the automation solutions. How much would you say that innovations like AI can help to create the next growth period in print? I think it can be a big part of that, but I don’t think it will be one particular thing or another that will create the next growth period. It's not that the innovation is only in software, or it's only in AI – you’re seeing innovations across the whole industry. I think the key here is to be able to have end-to-end innovation and be able to connect all the dots. We want to have innovation in the print process, which we can connect with the wider workflow, and also help our customers to connect and get more jobs, with everything working in synchronicity together. That's why we are trying to become more of an overall solutions provider, not just a machine vendor or a hardware vendor. ► Nio is designed to work on desktop and mobile, allowing for information gathering even while off site 71 www.printmonthly.co.uk September / October 2025 - Issue 356 ◄ Nio is an AI companion which works on top of HP’s existing PrintOS system Q&A: JOAN PEREZ PERICOT, HP INDUSTRIAL
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