While 79% of IT leaders believe AI will allow employees to focus on more impactful work, less than half feel their current digital workplace solutions adequately support productivity, engagement, and innovation.
This is revealed in new research by Lenovo, Reinventing Workplace Productivity, which explores the opportunities and challenges that Generative AI presents for the future of work. The research, based on a global survey of 600 IT leaders, highlights the urgent need for digital workplace transformation to ensure AI is successfully adopted.
The findings reveal that about one third (36%) believe their systems support employee engagement “very effectively”, while most (89%) say organisations must first overhaul their digital workplace to unlock AI’s potential fully.
Unlocking AI’s potential
The report highlights that Generative AI will be a game-changer for collaboration, creativity, and productivity, outlining several key areas where AI can positively impact organisations:
- Enhanced collaboration: AI-powered tools such as virtual co-authoring and real-time translations break down barriers, enabling seamless teamwork across geographies and languages.
- Creative empowerment: By automating repetitive tasks, AI frees employees to focus on more strategic and innovative work, driving creative problem-solving.
- Productivity boosts: AI-driven insights streamline workflows, improve efficiency, and accelerate day-to-day operations.
Nearly half (49%) of IT leaders surveyed say that creating a productive and engaging employee experience (EX) is their top priority for the year ahead. This echoes IDC research commissioned and published by Lenovo last month – the global 2025 CIO Playbook, It’s Time for AI-nomics – which found that improving employee productivity is this year’s top business priority.
Roadblocks
Despite the urgent need to transform the digital workplace around AI, several key challenges remain in its widespread adoption:
- Personalisation gaps: While 63% of IT leaders surveyed agree that a highly personalised digital workplace is essential, a lack of configurable devices and applications remains a top barrier. This one-size-fits-all approach leaves employees underserved.
- Support automation: 61% of IT leaders acknowledge the need for AI-driven IT support automation, but many organisations still struggle to integrate these systems effectively.
Lenovo’s vision
Entering a new era of Gen AI-powered personalisation, employees need to be able to think, create, and collaborate without disruption. Today’s digital workplace needs to provide hyper-personalised settings catering to the diversity of working styles, enabling companies to make the best use of their talent, while bolstering productivity.
Digital transformation isn’t just about devices and software; IT support must also be tailored to employees’ specific requirements and abilities. To fully leverage AI’s potential, Lenovo advocates embedding generative AI into core business operations as part of a broader digital workplace transformation strategy.
“Transforming your workplace is essential to using AI effectively,” says Rakshit Ghura, VP and GM of digital workplace solutions at Lenovo.
“Simply automating existing workflows will only yield incremental benefits. AI changes the rules of productivity, but to realise its potential, IT leaders must work alongside their executive teams to rethink how AI can augment their organisation’s value-creation levers and competitive differentiation.
“AI must be seamlessly integrated into core operations, creating a personalised and efficient digital workplace that enhances the employee experience and drives long-term productivity.”
Core recommendations
The report provides three recommendations for businesses looking to harness AI in the workplace:
- Simplify and personalise the employee experience: Tailor tools, workflows, and experiences to individual roles, ensuring maximum productivity and innovation.
- Automate IT processes: Use Gen AI to efficiently manage devices and meet diverse employee needs, freeing up resources for higher-value tasks.
- Transform workflows for value creation: Rethink existing workflows and processes to fully capitalise on Gen AI’s capabilities and drive innovation.
Reinventing Workplace Productivity is the first report in the Lenovo Work Reborn Research Series 2025, which will be published throughout the course of 2025.
* To download the ‘Reinventing Workplace Productivity’ report, visit Lenovo Digital Workplace Solutions here.