Industry Voice: The AI opportunity in the next print refresh

Who spares a thought for the humble printer? It's certainly not the first technology that comes to mind when customers talk about AI. But for years, it’s been the dependable workhorse of the office. The unmarked player, quietly keeping the game moving while attention shifted to cloud, cybersecurity and now AI. But if you’re a football fan like me, you’ll know the danger of leaving one player unmarked. Give them an opening and they’ll find the back of the net. One such opportunity is opening for print in the AI era.

Why? Because some of the most valuable information still enters organisations on paper or in PDFs. A bank processes loan applications; a hospital receives referrals and consent forms; a law firm reviews contracts and evidence. Different sectors have different requirements, but many have the same challenge: turning the physical world of documents into useful digital information. AI is, after all, only as useful as the data it has access to.

For channel partners, this presents a significant commercial opportunity. Quocirca’s Future of Work 2030 study found that nearly half (47%) of small and medium sized businesses are increasing investment in print infrastructure modernisation. At the same time, 54% are accelerating investment in digital workflows. Taken together, these trends point towards a wider question of AI readiness in which print modernisation has important role to play.

For organisations to effectively integrate AI, they first need information that is accessible, searchable and secure. This is a problem when too many of us rely on awkward workarounds to find an image-only PDF buried deep in our files. But if data could be extracted from these types of documents, then organisations could get usable information instantly through a simple AI search.

This is where a print refresh becomes the starting point for a broader workflow assessment. One for channel partners to look at where paper still enters the organisation, which teams spend the most time handling documents, and where information is being manually transferred between systems. With this pre-match analysis, partners can start a more valuable conversation about how work is designed and whether the customer’s information estate is ready for AI.

Putting AI to work in the print estate

The HP LaserJet Enterprise 5000 Series is what makes that workflow assessment concrete. It is a line-up built to flex - with print, scanning, workflow and security capabilities combined in whatever mix a customer's operations demand. It turns a routine hardware refresh into the workflow conversation partners want to be having.

These conversations usually start with the basics that customers expect from any printer refresh: speed and reliability. And with fast automatic two-sided scanning and print performance at 120 images per minute, customers can rest assured the HP LaserJet Enterprise 5000 Series delivers elite performance in these areas. But performance is only the start.

The larger opportunity lies in what happens to the information once documents are captured. This is where the AI opportunity becomes tangible. Rather than asking employees to prepare documents manually before a GPT can use them, select models of the HP LaserJet Enterprise 5000 Series use AI-enhanced scanning and editable OCR to turn paperwork into searchable, working files rather than static PDFs that employees have to process manually. Then, through cloud platforms like HP Workpath, that information can then move into Microsoft 365 and other workplace applications, while Automated Guided Redaction detects and removes sensitive information locally. This helps customers prepare information for AI at the very point where that information enters the business, rather than through a laborious file searching process.

Then comes the security question. AI is changing the threat landscape and printers interest attackers more than you might think. A modern multifunction printer is a connected endpoint that handles sensitive information. It should come as no surprise that 56% of organisations experienced at least one print-related data loss in the previous year. Quocirca's 2026 Print Security Landscapestudy found that each breach incident costs an average of over £1 million, up from £820,000 in 2025. And still, printers receive far less scrutiny than a laptop or server.

It should be non-negotiable for security to be designed into the product rather than added afterwards. When it is, the results are significant, with the HP LaserJet Enterprise 5000 Series able to reduce cyberattack exposure by up to 80%. Powered by HP Wolf Enterprise Security, the series uses AI to detect, isolate and automatically recover from cyberattacks. Zero Trust Print Architecture restricts access to verified users and devices, while quantum-resistant protection helps customers prepare for the post-quantum era. Plus, HP FutureSmart firmware and smart services help keep a distributed fleet up to date without adding to the support burden.

Beyond a typical hardware refresh

Bring these capabilities together, and the bigger AI opportunity comes into view. Information that enters a business on paper can be captured, made searchable and secured at the point of entry, giving AI access to data that might otherwise remain locked in documents. For channel partners, that makes the print refresh a starting point for a much bigger conversation about how customers put their information to work with AI, which creates commercial value beyond the initial device sale. Partners that help customers connect print with their wider digital workflows can build longer-term relationships around workflow and managed services.

The bottom line is that the printer was never unmarked because it didn’t matter. It was unmarked because everyone thought they already understood its role. AI is changing that - and the partners who first spot the opening could be the ones who soon find the back of the net.

Learn more about the HP LaserJet Enterprise 5000 series here

This article is sponsored by HP.