AI is a game changer when business and IT priorities align, says Amit Luthra of Lenovo
AI is a priority for CIOs in India today, but it will not rip what organisations already have. Traditional workloads will continue to exist, but they will become more intelligent, says Amit Luthra, Managing Director - India, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Lenovo.
With artificial intelligence being top of mind for every organisation, global technology company Lenovo is demonstrating how this technology can address the various requirements of businesses globally.
For instance, the $62-billion company has showcased, through its solutions, that AI can help the manufacturing industry reduce downtime by 45% through predictive maintenance and the retail sector improve profitability by 59% with better checkout systems.
Amit Luthra, Managing Director - India, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Lenovo, in an interview with Enterprise Story, takes us through Lenovo’s tryst with AI and how it is engaging with the startup community on this front.
One of the early movers in the AI space, Lenovo has invested around $2.2 billion in this disruptive technology since 2017. Globally, it has designed AI platforms for high-performance computing and built over 150 AI solutions to address the needs of various industries. It has also partnered with independent software vendors (ISVs) and tech startups to develop sector-specific AI tech platforms.
In India too, the company has been working in various sectors to deploy its AI solutions. For instance, it is engaged with a bank to maintain its level of service even as it rapidly expands its operations. It has also partnered with a leading educational institution to co-create tech platforms.
Lenovo recently came out with a study titled ‘CIO Playbook 2024 – It’s all about Smarter AI’ on the adoption of AI in Asia Pacific. The study brings to the fore that organisations in the region are all set to ramp up AI spending by 45% in 2024 compared with 2023. It also points out that investments in AI will increase significantly every year, and India is clearly ahead in adopting this technology.
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This does not mean AI will rip or replace what organisations have built over the years, asserts Luthra. He believes traditional workloads will continue to exist but they will incorporate an element of AI in them.
AI can be used as part of the core business and also to create business differentiation. The real impact of AI can be felt when business goals and IT priorities align, points out Luthra.
Edited excerpts from the interview:
Enterprise Story (ES): How does Lenovo view the AI landscape?
Amit Luthra (AL): Artificial intelligence is going to touch us in various forms in our life– not just on the professional side, but also on the personal side. Lenovo believed in this for long and we had AI platforms designed for high-performance computing.
The coming in of GenAI has increased the pace of AI adoption. Today, there are certain organisations that want to use AI as a hygiene factor—as to how it can be part of their business. There are others who are looking at how they can leverage AI to create a business differentiation.
ES: What, according to you, are the top priorities of chief information officers (CIOs) while making bets on AI and GenAI?
AL: The first aspect is to bring in cybersecurity and data. The second aspect is data management and analysis and the third is customer experience.
The most critical thing is to acquire or develop talent. That’s very important, because this is not something (in) which someone can say: I have done a subject on AI engineering, and I’m ready for the market. It is not that easy.
ES: What will happen to existing technology infrastructure with investments in AI?
AL: AI is definitely not going to rip and replace what organisations already have. I believe technology infrastructure revolves around workloads. So traditional workloads like ERP or Office will exist, and there will be an element of AI in them as well.
However, this would mean continuous investment in GenAI because the world around us is changing and it is important to have updates on algorithms. Traditional workloads will become much more intelligent.
Using GenAI, businesses will have to define how they are going to make investments. For example, some customers may prefer talking to a call centre person rather than interacting with a chatbot. Here, one can give a human-like voice bot experience. It is in scenarios like these where businesses have to make the decision of investing in GenAI or not.
ES: In which sectors do you find the strongest traction for AI and GenAI?
AL: At Lenovo, we have wins across verticals like manufacturing, government, healthcare, retail, BFSI, and telecom. It is not that all verticals are going ahead with AI or GenAI investments.
Organisations which are very clear about the difference that AI is going to bring to their business and have the support of their IT teams will go ahead (with AI investment). If there is alignment between business and IT priorities, then I would say it (AI) can be game changing.
The adaptation of AI and GenAI depends on the maturity of the organisations. Today, there are customers who say: why don’t you actually teach us what AI is? We also have customers who say help us build an LLM or IT infrastructure. In India, AI and GenAI are the top priorities for the majority of organisations along with security. In addition, there is also the ethics side of AI.
ES: How is Lenovo engaging with the startup community?
AL: This community is very close to our heart. The difference between this community and the matured community is innovation. Mature organisations have systems and processes where the innovation agenda might not move at a fast pace. In the case of startups, I would say their birthright to exist in the market depends on their innovation.
Startups do not have access to the kinds of platforms that large organisations have. Companies in the new ISV ecosystem and startups pitch to us to be part of the AI innovators programme. So, it is important that we help them work across the industry portfolios that we have.
These startups are here to solve a problem. These innovators do not have a platform, and we provide that access where they build use cases which might help the large enterprises. We provide the bridge between these two entities.
ES: What’s your view on the availability of AI talent?
AL: Businesses should have an AI robust programme and nurture their existing talent. If the existing talent is not scalable to AI requirements, then they need to hire from outside. So, it is a balance of scaling and nurturing your own talent and bringing in fresh talent, which understands this technology.
As AI is still in a very nascent stage, businesses will have to take the responsibility of nurturing the talent.
Edited by Swetha Kannan