Piero Hincapié was born on 9 January 2002 in Ecuador and came through youth football at clubs including Emelec, Barcelona, and Independiente del Valle in Guayaquil. After being promoted to Independiente del Valle's first team in 2019, he moved to Argentine side Talleres in August 2020 before earning a transfer to Bayer Leverkusen in Germany in August 2021.
At Leverkusen, Hincapié established himself as a reliable left-sided defender, earning recognition in the IFFHS Men's World Youth Team in 2022. The highlight of his time in Germany came in the 2023–24 season, when Leverkusen won the Bundesliga without losing a single league match, also claiming the DFB-Pokal in the same campaign. He was named in Kicker's Bundesliga Team of the Season for 2024–25.
A composed, left-footed centre-back or left-back who is comfortable with the ball, Hincapié joined Premier League club Arsenal on a season-long loan on 1 September 2025, with an option to buy reported at £45 million. He scored his first Arsenal goal in a 2–2 draw at Wolverhampton in February 2026, and notably started both legs of a UEFA Champions League Round of 16 tie against his parent club Bayer Leverkusen, as Arsenal progressed 3–1 on aggregate.
Hincapié made his senior international debut for Ecuador on 13 June 2021 in the Copa América against Colombia. He went on to represent Ecuador at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, playing all three group stage matches, and was part of the squad for the 2024 Copa América, earning a place in the tournament's Team of the Tournament.