What enterprises get wrong about AI device refresh cycles

With AI-enabled PCs becoming mainstream business devices, many enterprises are yet to understand just how much AI is impacting device refresh cycles. The key mistake is to behave as if nothing has changed, and that this is a familiar hardware upgrade, replacing devices on a fixed cycle, just as it was before. However, the reality is very different. AI PCs are driving important changes in sustainability, employee experience, and how organizations buy devices and services. Organizations need to reassess how work, security and employee expectations of devices have changed before initiating any refresh.

For organizations, AI is now the leading strategic priority, with 96% of CIOs expecting to increase their AI investments in the coming year, according to our research. In our own conversations with partners, it’s clear that while customers want to move forward with AI, they do not want to move forward blindly. AI fundamentally alters what workplace devices are capable of. This changes how they should be deployed, managed, and measured, and has important implications for partners and the way they do business over the long haul.

Common mistakes

For enterprises, it’s important to first acknowledge the fact that AI device refreshes are different, with AI capabilities helping enterprises support smarter decision-making, optimize resource use, and accelerate sustainability. Key mistakes include underestimating the impact of on-device efficiency, as well as misunderstanding how AI impacts energy efficiency and battery life.

It’s also vital to understand AI’s impact on employee experience: applications can adapt to each user’s individual preferences, and whole teams can lean on new personalisation capabilities to streamline workflows and make it simpler to deliver results.

AI-driven content creation and intelligent decision-making help employees deliver, while predictive and proactive security (including fraud detection) helps boost peace of mind across the organization. With AI PCs offering granular control over energy use, partners need to treat issues such as sustainability as a growth lever, rather than a reporting requirement. Sustainability is becoming a way to offer differentiation to customers and create new revenue opportunities.

Moving beyond traditional approaches

Traditional device refresh models are no longer enough to keep pace with the rapid advances of the AI world. It’s all too easy for organizations to find themselves either falling behind their competitors or over-investing early in the wrong technology. IT environments are becoming more complex, with hybrid cloud, AI, edge computing, and distributed workforces ripping up the rulebook of how organizations operate.

Many customers need a helping hand to stride confidently into this new world. This has raised expectations for partners who are now expected to deliver across the full lifecycle, from design to an ongoing process of optimization. This requires a new way of thinking from partners, and new, higher-value ways of doing business.

Service-led approaches

Services are the foundation of sustainable business growth. Service-led approaches to device strategy offer an opportunity for channel partners to move beyond simple hardware sales and towards a more consultative relationship with customers. For years, success in the IT channel has been driven by one simple metric: product volume. Today, customers have moved beyond buying devices or infrastructure; they are looking for solutions that deliver across the technology lifecycle, driving business value over the long term.

With partners offering advice on issues such as AI readiness, lifecycle management, sustainability, and long-term workplace transformation, service-led models increase customer lifetime value and build deeper relationships. What’s required is a shift towards lifecycle thinking. Customers are no longer focused on individual transactions; they are taking a broader view of how technology performs over time, from deployment to support to refresh and recycling. For partners, this is an opportunity to engage earlier, stay engaged longer, and deliver continuous value.

Operationalizing AI

This is also an opportunity for partners to take a consultative role in helping customers to operationalize AI effectively. For partners, this means they may need new skills and new delivery models. Expectations are rising, and customers need faster deployment and proven expertise. For partners, the ability to deliver outcomes is becoming a key differentiator.

At present, there is a clear gap: many partners understand where the market is going but are not yet fully equipped to really capitalize on it. But some partners are already succeeding, evolving into trusted advisors, helping customers navigate complexity.

Successful partners are not replacing their product business but attaching services and expanding into higher-value solutions. By building capabilities in everything from managed services to AI and digital workplace, partners can establish more resilient, scalable business models. By doing so, they can build relationships that extend beyond a single transaction.

The road ahead

Enterprises have much to learn when it comes to AI device refreshes. Traditional approaches are no longer working, with many enterprises misunderstanding the impact of AI on everything from sustainability to employee experience. This is also changing the role of partners, who are now taking a more consultative role in everything from sustainability to driving business growth.

Looking forward, this shift, driven by AI refresh cycles, means that the future of the channel will be defined by services. Partners who make the shift towards offering services as a layer that connects product to business outcomes will be better positioned to build longer-lasting customer relationships and thrive in an outcome-driven market. Growth will be delivered by the value partners deliver every day, across the whole lifecycle.