Enterprises flock to AI PCs amid sharpened workforce productivity focus

The majority of enterprises are now piloting and deploying AI PCs as business leaders look to reap future AI rewards, according to a new research paper from IDC, sponsored by AMD.

With businesses investing in AI at the hardware layer as well in software, IDC found 60% of enterprises are already actively piloting AI PCs or have already deployed them. A further 21% of respondents are planning to deploy AI PCs within the next 12 months.

This adoption marks a shift in enterprise strategy, as leaders attempt to future-proof device fleets for incoming technologies such as agentic AI and to improve productivity with built-in AI features.

Respondents cite productivity improvement as the most common (59%) driver for investing in AI PCs, followed by innovation and competitive differentiation (39%) and security benefits (35%).

Other considerations include future-proofing business hardware (29%) and rising employee demand for AI tools (26%).

Among businesses that have already deployed AI PCs, 70% already report faster performance and lower latency, with 66% noting a marked increase in employee productivity.

Additionally, over two-thirds (67%) of business leaders surveyed by the consultancy indicated their organization is currently expanding AI initiatives across departments.

Similarly, knowledge of AI PCs is improving, with 46% of respondents now confidently claiming to know “a lot” about the devices.

"This shift reflects a broader architectural change," AMD said of the research findings. "As organizations seek more responsive and context-aware AI experiences, compute is moving closer to where work happens."

The survey took in responses from business managers involved in PC purchasing decisions, across the US, UK, France, Germany, and Japan.

AI PC adoption on an upward trajectory

Some 15% of respondents indicated that they have no timeline for AI PC deployment yet, but are evaluating options and just 4% of respondents said they have no plans to deploy AI PCs.

On overall AI readiness, 61% of respondents indicated they’re embedding AI into workflows, 38% are only deploying limited AI pilots, and 36% are reliant on third-party AI services. Just one in a hundred (1%) indicated they do not currently use AI in their work environment.

AI PCs have been on an adoption curve since late 2023, when former Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said they would feature heavily in enterprise budgets throughout 2024.

While this prediction didn’t entirely pan out, NPU-enabled devices have gradually become more and more dominant in hardware configurations, with Gartner projecting a third of PCs sold by the end of 2025 fit the definition of ‘AI PC’.

AMD concurs with market expert opinions on the direction of travel. As reported by ITPro in March this year, the company said in a blog post that "AI on the PC has crossed an important line."

“For professionals, an Agent Computer means more output and more leverage,” the company added. “For creators, more time for original work and less time managing logistics. For developers, a local AI environment purpose-built for building, testing, and running agents.”

IDC has also predicted that AI PCs will be the ‘norm’ by 2029.

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