Why on-device intelligence is the new IT advantage

Seventy-one percent of organizations now use generative AI (GenAI) in business workflows, a sign that AI is no longer experimental but a core productivity driver. At the same time, Windows 10 end-of-life is pushing IT leaders to refresh aging fleets and rethink their tech stack investments. The next wave of investment isn’t just about upgrading to more powerful PCs. It’s about ensuring those devices empower people with enterprise-ready AI tools that boost productivity, enhance collaboration, and fuel business growth while making work feel less like work. With the right tools, employees can focus on what inspires them most.

When most people picture AI in the workplace, they think of cloud-based tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude. These services send each user a prompt to a remote data center for processing before returning a result. But the cloud isn’t the only way for businesses to realize AI’s potential. Increasingly, AI models and features can run locally on AI-optimized hardware, gaining the same capabilities without the latency, cost, or security trade-offs associated with cloud processing.

For IT leaders, the choice isn’t “cloud or nothing.” The real question is which workloads are better handled locally and how to equip employees with devices and supporting solutions that make it seamless. While some companies have explored on-premises server hardware, these environments can be slow to deploy and limit scalability.

A more agile option is emerging: AI PCs built to deliver enterprise-grade AI performance right at the endpoint. Within HP’s broader portfolio, the HP EliteBook series plays a key role. From the EliteBook 6 Series for growing enterprises to the EliteBook Ultra Series for large enterprises, these AI-optimized business laptops integrate seamlessly with HP’s collaboration tools, security solutions, and managed services. Together, they create an ecosystem that supports smarter, more balanced ways of working.

The case for AI PCs and their surrounding ecosystem comes down to three key enterprise priorities: reducing latency, increasing privacy and security, and delivering ROI through smarter investment.

Reducing latency

One of the clearest advantages of running AI on-device is the dramatic reduction in latency.

Even today’s fastest cloud-based models, like GPT-5.0, can take several seconds to deliver results, an eternity when dealing with time-critical tasks like blocking a security threat or translating speech in real-time. With local AI, the process happens entirely on the device in real-time, removing the need to send prompts to a remote data center and wait for them to be processed and returned. The result? Instant answers when they matter most.

Strengthening privacy and security

Running AI locally also keeps sensitive data within the device, rather than sending it to the cloud for processing and storage. This maintains privacy, reduces exposure, and safeguards intellectual property when working with confidential financial data, generating proprietary code, or analyzing regulated information.

By processing data entirely on-device, local AI removes the risk of accidental leaks from public AI models and prevents proprietary information from being used to train and refine cloud AI models. For highly regulated industries, such as financial services, healthcare, and government, or any business aiming to maximize the value of its data assets, this level of containment is critical. Combined with HP Wolf Security and HP’s endpoint management solutions, enterprises can ensure data protection happens in the background, letting employees focus on meaningful work rather than security protocols.

Proving ROI through smarter investment

Cloud AI costs scale directly with usage: the more you process, the more you pay. With local AI, once the hardware is in place, workloads are only limited by the device’s specifications, with no additional cost beyond the initial outlay.

This makes the return on investment for AI PCs more predictable, and over time, potentially greater than cloud-only alternatives, provided the initial hardware investment is sound. Paired with HP’s managed services, collaboration tools, and security solutions, the ROI extends beyond IT budgets to include faster decision-making, reduced downtime, and employees who are empowered to deliver higher-value work with less friction. Future-proofed devices, like those in the HP EliteBook portfolio, are built to evolve alongside both your technology stack and your workforce.

Future-proofing local AI adoption

To realize the full benefits of local AI -speed, security, and cost efficiency - it must be effortless for employees to adopt. With the right tools, AI becomes an invisible partner that removes friction, fuels collaboration, and keeps teams connected so they can create and solve problems together. It helps people stay focused, spending time on what truly matters instead of getting bogged down in busy work. And by streamlining workflows, local AI supports a better balance, enabling employees to work smarter, not harder.

If local AI feels cumbersome, employees may turn to public AI tools and shortcuts, exposing businesses to shadow AI risks. Security features in particular should operate quietly in the background to protect as much of the workforce as possible while still giving advanced users the freedom to run complex workloads, such as on-device code generation or lightweight large language models (LLMs).

This is where HP’s integrated portfolio makes a difference, combining the performance and design of the HP EliteBook series with security, collaboration, and device management solutions that work together seamlessly. Each device features:

• Dedicated Neural Processing Units (NPUs) to accelerate AI computations efficiently, delivering high performance without draining battery life or slowing other tasks.
• HP Wolf Security, which protects devices even when powered off, enables real-time threat monitoring, detects suspicious files or activity, automatically isolates threats, and can remotely lock or wipe a device if needed.
• Enterprise-grade build quality and manageability to support large-scale deployment and long-term value.

Paired with HP’s services and solutions, these capabilities ensure AI becomes a natural part of the workflow while also providing an invisible layer of protection against emerging threats. That protection is increasingly critical as security threats evolve.

In 2025, phishing campaigns last an average of just 96 hours before detection and shutdown, during which irreparable damage can occur. AI PCs can help detect and neutralize these threats in real-time, whether by flagging suspicious emails or analyzing collaboration platform messages for signs of social engineering.

The enterprise imperative

Without a clear strategy for local AI adoption, organizations risk missing out on the performance, security, and cost advantages it can deliver. By partnering with HP, IT leaders can tap into a complete ecosystem of AI-optimized devices, services, and solutions designed to reduce friction and deliver intuitive, AI-enhanced user experiences for every employee.

From HP AI PCs to collaboration tools, security solutions, and managed services, HP helps IT seamlessly introduce AI into existing infrastructure - empowering teams to connect and create together, stay focused, and work smarter. The result is a workforce equipped to operate faster, more securely, and with greater balance, while organizations gain the agility to meet today’s needs and anticipate tomorrow’s challenges.

With HP, technology isn’t just a tool; it’s the key to redefining the future of work, creating experiences that drive more fulfilling work and business growth.