Lenovo’s AI-powered pivot: From products to enterprise solutions

In this exclusive conversation with Fan Ho, Executive Director and General Manager, AP Solutions and Services Group, Lenovo, we explored the company’s ongoing transformation from a traditional PC and hardware brand to a full-stack enterprise AI solutions provider.

With strategic bets on hybrid AI, a growing services vertical, and a focus on regulatory alignment, Lenovo is charting a bold new course across Asia-Pacific and beyond.

Lenovo has traditionally been perceived as a product-first company. With your leadership of the SSG vertical, how are you steering the shift toward AI-driven enterprise solutions?

About three or four years ago, Lenovo made a deliberate and bold move to restructure our business model. While risky at the time, in hindsight, it was one of our most strategic decisions. Lenovo has always had a solid product reputation, and ThinkPad is iconic, but we knew we had to move beyond that.

Even before SSG was officially formed, the seeds of a services-led transformation were already planted. I joined Lenovo around eight years ago, and from day one, there were active discussions about shifting from a product-centric to a customer-centric approach. We realised that as our technologies grew more complex, customers no longer needed just the product; they needed deployment support, efficiency in adoption, and clear ROI on their investments.

That philosophy gave birth to SSG. But forming a services group wasn't enough. We brought our internal IT transformation team under the same umbrella, and today, our Global CIO also serves as our Chief Delivery Officer. This alignment allows us to use Lenovo’s internal transformation as a blueprint for our customers.

With the rise of AI, many companies are still trying to find their footing. But Lenovo has been working with AI in different forms for decades. Beyond generative AI, we've dealt with rule-based, predictive, and other AI types. Our Hybrid AI Advantage framework reflects that legacy. It's about democratizing AI and delivering operational value. We showcased this in partnership with NVIDIA at our Tech World event, where we demonstrated AI solutions that cut across the entire tech stack. In many ways, SSG is the driver of Lenovo’s evolution into an intelligent solutions company.

What are some of the key opportunities and challenges you see globally in the SSG space, and how do they shape your growth outlook for FY25 and FY26?

AI is both the biggest opportunity and the most nuanced challenge of our time. From our CIO Playbook, it’s clear that enthusiasm for AI is strong. CIOs are setting ambitious targets, expecting three to six times ROI on AI investments. But the road to those results is uneven.

The barriers to AI adoption are often non-technical. Before companies even discuss models or GPUs, they’re grappling with questions around talent, process readiness, and risk. Is their workforce prepared? Do they need to redesign processes to integrate AI? Is the infrastructure secure enough?

Then there are technical challenges, legacy systems, lack of data preparedness, and compliance with data sovereignty laws. These issues slow down the pace, but also highlight the importance of end-to-end services.

Despite these hurdles, the need for AI is undeniable. As competitors invest and transform, those who lag behind face strategic risk. That urgency is pushing AI into boardroom conversations.

We believe FY25 and FY26 will mark an inflection point. The last few years saw a rush to build AI infrastructure, especially hardware. That will continue, especially where GPU and NPU adoption is still catching up. But now we’re entering the next stage: solutioning. Use cases in customer service, marketing, and healthcare are proving ROI. In healthcare, AI is already transforming medical imaging and drug discovery with speed and precision.

Our growth outlook is very positive. We expect significant momentum not just in deploying infrastructure but also in consulting, training, and AI-managed services. Lenovo is well-positioned to lead across this full value chain.

For FY25-26 and FY26-27, are you targeting exponential growth?

I’m optimistic that our business will continue to scale through both fiscal years. Analysts have asked whether we're expecting 50% growth or aiming to double the business. My goal is to double it. But numbers aside, what's more important is seeing deeper enterprise AI adoption. At this stage, it’s about building customer trust and positioning Lenovo as a strategic partner on their AI journey.

Lenovo has been advocating for hybrid AI models. Can you elaborate on how enterprises are using this in real-world scenarios?

Based on both our research and field engagement, about 70% of organisations prefer hybrid or on-premises infrastructure for AI workloads. Unlike generic IT workloads where public cloud is dominant, AI raises more serious concerns, including governance, latency, and data sovereignty.

In India, for instance, frameworks like the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDPA) are pushing firms to localise and secure their data. For AI, that’s critical. Data is the fuel. If you lose control of it, you lose competitive advantage.

We’re supporting leading organisations in banking, government, and healthcare. Most have a mixed environment, some cloud investments already in place, but now a desire to complement that with on-prem or hybrid models. We guide them on architecture, migration planning, and orchestration, blending their existing cloud with our infrastructure and services.

Are you noticing any consistent trends in how customers use hybrid infrastructure for AI workloads?

Model training and inferencing, where response time and throughput matter, are often done on-prem. That reduces latency and gives better performance. Once models are trained, companies may move some data or services to the cloud for broader collaboration or scale.

So, the hybrid setup becomes a way to balance speed, control, and cost. Each use case is different, but that pattern is emerging across verticals.

Your CIO Playbook notes a contradiction, data protection is a top priority, but GRC implementation is still low. What’s your take?

That contradiction reflects a moment of truth for enterprises. The high prioritization of GRC shows awareness, but the low execution rate reveals capacity issues. In India, we’ve seen a sharp acceleration due to the DPDPA. Few APAC countries have taken such bold legislative steps, Singapore is a notable exception.

So, in India’s case, it's a combination of regulatory push and a growing realization that digital maturity includes compliance. That’s pushing companies to turn intent into implementation.

What kind of governance and ethical AI frameworks has Lenovo put in place to stay compliant globally?

We’ve built a strong governance backbone. Lenovo’s Ethical AI Governance Committee includes senior leaders, legal advisors, and our Chief Risk Officer. This committee meets regularly to assess new AI use cases and regulatory developments across markets.

In addition, every Lenovo employee undergoes mandatory annual compliance training, which is upgraded every year to reflect changing risk environments. This ensures the entire organization stays aligned with evolving global standards.

Many still view Lenovo primarily as a device maker. What enterprise-focused services are you offering, especially around AI deployment?

That perception is still common, and frankly, I shared it before I joined Lenovo. But today, our enterprise offerings go far beyond devices.

We have a full-stack framework, Hybrid AI Advantage, that supports customers from discovery to deployment. We begin with discovery services to identify where AI can create business value. From there, we offer advisory support for architecture and business cases. Then we move to fast-start programs, 90-day proof-of-concepts to test use cases and demonstrate ROI.

After that, we help clients scale and operationalise these solutions. Finally, our managed services ensure continuous modernisation, especially important in AI, where models and frameworks evolve rapidly. We’re not just selling hardware anymore; we’re managing AI lifecycles.

How do you structure your Hybrid AI Advantage framework?

The framework spans several layers. First is the device and infrastructure layer, helping clients decide whether they need workstations, edge devices, or high-performance servers. Then comes the data layer, defining the right cloud strategy and building virtualisation.

The third layer is the model layer. Not all models are created equal. We guide clients in selecting models that align with their goals. Finally, there's orchestration. We ensure that AI agents, data pipelines, and services work together as a unified system. Our engineering teams work hands-on with customers across all layers.

At MWC, Lenovo unveiled its AI PC lineup, including Yoga Pro. How is SSG supporting enterprise adoption of these AI PCs?

We’re approaching AIPCs not just as a product innovation, but as part of a larger AI integration journey. Our SSG team is working with enterprise clients on customised deployment strategies, lifecycle management, and even on-device model updates where needed.

These are not just laptops, they are endpoints in an AI-first workplace. We’re helping enterprises fold them into workflows, ensuring security, manageability, and ongoing support. It’s about marrying form factor innovation with enterprise-grade services.

Any closing thoughts on Lenovo’s evolution into a full-stack enterprise AI provider?

Lenovo is no longer just a hardware brand. Through our work in hybrid AI, governance, consulting, and deep ecosystem integration, we are helping enterprises across the globe transition into the AI era responsibly and effectively. We’re building secure, intelligent ecosystems, not just infrastructure. And we’re doing it at a global scale, but with deep local relevance.