This article appeared in News in the Channel magazine issue #38.
The number of AI PCs being launched by manufacturers is increasing, giving resellers more options to bring to customers – but the focus must be on outcomes, not specifications if value is to be realised.
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the most talked about technology of recent years, and it is now justifying the hype by providing real-world benefits to businesses, and, increasingly, this is through performance gains from AI PCs.
Anjana Srinivasan, EMEA commercial chief at AMD, says demand is strong and accelerating across EMEA, particularly in the commercial segment. “Customers are no longer just curious about AI PCs,” she adds. “They are actively evaluating how AI can deliver real productivity gains, improve collaboration and support a more modern way of working through on-device AI.
“Many organisations are timing adoption alongside planned refresh cycles, but the conversation has shifted meaningfully. Customers are now asking what AI PC capabilities mean for their actual workflows, how quickly they can deploy at scale, and how to ensure they are making the right long-term platform choice. This marks a move from early interest to practical intent.”
Simone Larsson, head of enterprise AI, EMEA at Lenovo, says that AI is dominating customer conversations, but on the PC side adoption is still in its early stages. “Many organisations are currently in an evaluation phase, assessing how AI PCs can enhance productivity,” she says.
“While AI is not yet the primary driver of refresh cycles, it is increasingly shaping procurement discussions. We are seeing momentum building as customers move from curiosity to practical deployment discussions. The Windows 11 migration and broader refresh activity created a natural opportunity for businesses to future-proof their fleets with AI-ready devices. We are focused on supporting partners in shifting these discussions from hardware upgrades to broader hybrid AI strategies that align devices, infrastructure and services.”
Mike Barron, UK managing director at SYNAXON, agrees that demand for AI PCs is growing. “This is driven by the growing realisation that they really do offer performance advantages for individual users and businesses,” he adds. “Concerns over the possibility of shortages and price rises are also having an impact and encouraging people to bring forward upgrades.”
Latest innovations
The technology in AI PCs is developing quickly, but innovations are bringing more advantages to users. Simone says the latest AI PCs are powered by integrated Neural Processing Units (NPUs) and hybrid AI architectures that combine on-device intelligence with cloud capabilities. “This enables more personalised and proactive computing experiences,” she explains.
“Devices can now adapt to individual working styles, automate repetitive tasks and enhance collaboration through real-time workflow support. More processing can happen directly on the device, improving responsiveness while supporting data sovereignty and governance requirements. We are also seeing the rise of ambient intelligence, where AI works seamlessly across multiple devices, allowing workflows to move fluidly between PCs, smartphones and other endpoints.”
Anjana adds that the most important innovation on the hardware side is dedicated on-device AI acceleration through the NPU, working alongside the CPU and graphics. “This enables genuinely useful experiences, such as real-time captions and translation, smart search and organisation and AI-assisted content creation, all while keeping the system fast and responsive,” she explains.
Anjana adds that there are also efficiency benefits. “By running AI workloads on the NPU, systems can reduce pressure on the CPU and GPU, which is designed to support better power efficiency, improved battery life and stronger mobility,” she says.
“Our latest AMD Ryzen™ AI PRO 400 series desktop processors deliver up to 50 NPU TOPS and are designed to exceed the requirements for today’s Copilot+ class of AI PCs. That gives customers a very clear benchmark for modern AI capability and the confidence that they are investing in a platform built for what’s coming next.”
Longevity
That is a crucial point – some customers have been concerned of the risk that the AI PCs of today will be out of date tomorrow – but this is not the case. “AI is moving fast, but the right AI PC platform is designed for capability and headroom, not short-term novelty,” says Anjana.
“Customers should focus on a balanced system with strong overall compute performance, capable graphics and an NPU built for modern on-device AI workloads. As operating systems, applications and AI models continue to evolve, many improvements arrive through software updates and optimisation, meaning the value of a well-chosen AI PC can typically increase over time, rather than becoming obsolete.
“In short, the right AI PC isn’t about chasing the next feature; it’s about choosing a platform that can keep pace as AI becomes embedded into everyday computing.”
Simone agrees, adding that AI PCs are built with long-term architectural readiness in mind. “What matters is not just peak performance today, but whether the hardware foundation is capable of supporting emerging workloads,” she says. “As enterprises introduce new AI-driven features, AI PCs are designed to benefit from those updates over time. These devices continue to gain functionality through firmware, OS and ecosystem enhancements rather than requiring immediate hardware replacement.
“As organisations move toward orchestrated AI environments AI PCs serve as a critical layer of that ecosystem. Rather than being a short-term trend, they represent a structural shift in enterprise computing providing both performance and governance.”
James Reed, managing director – Endpoint Solutions, UK and Ireland at TD SYNNEX, agrees, adding that the AI PCs that are currently available should meet the performance and functionality needs of users for some time. “Most laptops and desktop PCs have a lifecycle of two to three years, and I would not expect that to be any different with AI PCs,” he says.
Reseller conversations
When discussing AI PCs with customers, there are various qualities that resellers should be highlighting.
Anjana says resellers should anchor the conversation around outcomes, not specifications. “AI PCs are designed to enable better collaboration, fast task completion and new ways to create and work,” she adds. “When those AI workloads run locally on the NPU, customers also benefit from responsiveness, efficiency, privacy features and control.
“Crucially, this is where resellers can play a high-value role. Many customers don’t yet know where AI will add the most value for their business. Resellers can help customers ideate AI-driven use cases, make the value of AI tangible, and guide them through that critical first step of understanding why AI matters for their organisation.
“Once a customer truly realises the value of AI, there is no going back. That journey creates a powerful services opportunity for resellers, from assessment and enablement through to deployment and optimisation.”
Simone says the key value of AI PCs lies in productivity gains, enabling employees to work more efficiently with less friction. “Resellers should also highlight the governance advantages of on-device AI, which helps organisations maintain greater control over sensitive data and comply with regulatory requirements,” she says.
“Sustainability is another important differentiator, as intelligent power optimisation reduces energy usage while modular designs and lifecycle services support circularity and long-term value. Through enablement programmes and frameworks like Lenovo 360, partners are well positioned to evolve from transactional selling to outcome-based conversations that integrate devices, services and AI solutions.”
Mainstream expectation
The market for AI PCs is developing quickly, but the expectation is that it will become a mainstream demand before long. “Over the next 12 months, AI PCs will shift from being a premium talking point to a mainstream expectation in many commercial refresh cycles,” says Anjana.
“More everyday AI capabilities will run locally, driven by the need for speed, privacy and cost control, and buying criteria will become clearer. Customers will increasingly look closely at NPU capability, overall performance, battery life and enterprise-grade features, rather than headline claims.
“People often ask me if there is one killer AI application. I don’t think there is, and that’s the point. AI is being woven into lots of everyday workflows in small but meaningful ways. And just like touchscreens, once people start using it, they can’t imagine working without it.”
Simone agrees that AI PCs are likely to shift from being seen as a premium differentiator to becoming a standard expectation within enterprise refresh cycles. “We expect broader software optimisation for on-device AI, deeper integration between PCs and hybrid cloud environments, and growing demand for managed AI services delivered through the channel,” she adds. “Sustainability considerations will also play a larger role as organisations look to balance AI-driven productivity with energy efficiency and net-zero commitments.
“The market conversation will move beyond standalone AI features toward orchestrated transformation, where intelligent devices, edge systems and data centre infrastructure operate as a cohesive AI ecosystem. In that environment, AI PCs will be foundational to enabling secure, sustainable and scalable AI adoption.”
James says he expects sales of AI PCs to gather momentum throughout the rest of this year. “As NPUs become more of a standard component in the spec of higher-end systems, I think we will see them become the default choice for many if not most PC buyers,” he adds.
