AI, multi-agent systems, edge computing, global remote teams… this Tech Up Night has been one of those sessions where you get both hardcore tech and a peek into how big corporates with startup mindsets actually operate. On one side, the HP AI Innovation Hub, HP’s global AI hub right here in Barcelona; on the other, Deel, scaling remote work like few others. Here’s the recap:

Elisenda Vives, Head of HP AI Innovation Hub

Elisenda walked us through how HP is going all-in on AI, and how Barcelona has become the company’s global AI hub, with hundreds of engineers working on projects that impact products worldwide.

We got into examples like Nio, a conversational AI system with a multi-agent setup, pulling real-time data to help improve efficiency in industrial environments. But beyond the tech, she shared some takeaways: users are messy (questions are rarely clear), trust is fragile and without proper observability, things break and you don’t always know why.

She also showed AI Vectorization, turning old-school plans into editable CAD files in minutes (and saving a lot of manual work), plus HP’s bet on edge AI with HP IQ, running models directly on devices instead of relying on the cloud.

To close, she didn’t sugarcoat it: bringing AI into a big company is as much about governance, ROI and talent as it is about the tech itself.

Sean Fagan, Sales Leader UK/I

Then Sean took us into Deel, and their version of “normal” is pretty wild: 7,000+ people, 120+ countries, no central office. He shared how they’ve gone from a 2019 startup to a $17B+ company, while building one of the largest remote-first teams out there. Remote doesn’t just “happen”, you have to design everything around it: processes, communication, culture… A very real look at what scaling globally actually means when everyone’s working from everywhere.