Artificial intelligence powers Lenovo’s business transformation

The world’s second-largest personal computer supplier expects AI technology to foster new services that will enhance the experience of using its products

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Arthur Hu, the chief information officer of Lenovo Group, is leading the company’s efforts in using artificial intelligence to raise operational efficiency, improve customer service and advance business development. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 7:28pm, 26 Nov 2017Updated: 10:32pm, 26 Nov 2017

In its quest to become a global artificial intelligence (AI) powerhouse, computer giant Lenovo Group has stepped up use of the technology to drive operational efficiency, improve customer service and advance the company’s ambitious business development initiatives.

“The great thing about AI is that it’s a general-purpose technology, so we can use it everywhere,” Arthur Hu, the chief information officer at Lenovo, told the South China Morning Post on the sidelines of the INSEAD Alumni Forum in Hong Kong.

That strategy further reinforced the commitment made by Lenovo in July to invest at least US$1.2 billion in research and development, and other related initiatives over the next three to four years, as it moves to catch up with the AI efforts of Chinese internet titans Baidu, Tencent Holdings and Post owner Alibaba Group Holding.

It also reflected how key Chinese technology companies are aggressively moving in the same direction to push forward the central government’s plan to establish a world-leading AI market, which it forecast to be worth about US$150 billion by 2030.

Hu said Lenovo, which operates in more than 160 countries, started its internal AI roll-out in its call-centre operation, which now has a robot answering about 35 per cent of all inquiries.

The company next applied so-called machine learning to enhance forecasting for its supply chain, which improved how it can build more products in time.

Lenovo organised a product booth during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Photo: AFP