Considering the Benefits of NPU-Equipped Silicon and Artificial Intelligence Workloads as You Plan Your Next PC Refresh
Technology has rapidly evolved since many organizations rushed to outfit their employees with new PCs in 2020 and 2021. As companies plan their next large-scale refresh, they must consider the changing landscape of collaboration, productivity, and — of course — the looming impact of both artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI (GenAI) on the PC workloads of today and tomorrow. More and more companies are embracing a hybrid work environment, and it's increasingly important to address these new challenges when choosing your company's next major PC deployment.
Download this Intel-sponsored brief by IDC analyst Tom Mainelli and learn why a PC hardware refresh is essential for your organization.
Addressing an Aging PC Installed Base
Many PCs purchased in 2020 and 2021 were designed for pre-COVID-19 pandemic environments where most employees came into an office. Some key issues with these aging PCs are poorly integrated cameras and speakers, lack of next-generation networking support, aging hardware security, and aging manageability features. Beyond the evolution of collaboration, the biggest looming change to how we use PCs now is the arrival of new systems with new silicon capable of more efficiently running both AI and GenAI workloads locally. Addressing these PC deficiencies is of particular significance right now.
Aging PCs have issues that must be addressed. PCs from 2020 and 2021 lack enterprise-grade features, and for most IT organizations, it's a key imperative to get them out of the installed base and replace them with commercial-class PCs.
AI and Gen AI workloads require systems with new silicon to run more efficiently. With AI driving increased operation efficiency, improved security, and more streamlined workflows, many ITDMs are ready to embrace PCs that include a new piece of silicon architecture called the neural processing unit (NPU), built specifically to run AI workloads more efficiently.
AI-enabled features will first appear in existing apps. ITDMs should expect significant changes in PC operating systems as these platforms evolve to take advantage of these new underlying capabilities. Such changes could represent notable improvements in critical areas such as collaboration and productivity.
Leveraging AI and Gen AI capabilities across the workforce necessitates planning. Companies must consider the ramifications of local AI on current workstreams and the impact on data sovereignty. How will you leverage AI, and which employees will benefit the most?
4 Key Takeaways
The Rise of AI and Gen AI: This influx of capabilities has already caught the attention of ITDMs. In IDC's 2023 U.S. Commercial PCD Survey, conducted in August 2023, three out of four respondents said they already consider integrated AI capabilities a very important criterion for their next PC purchase.1
AI PC Benefits: The most notable benefit is cost. If companies want to bring Gen AI capabilities to an increasing percentage of their workforce in a cost-effective manner, they will need to use local silicon to run some of these workloads.
AI-Led App Evolution: Initiatives are underway by industry leaders such as Microsoft and Intel to help build out the tools and ecosystem support to enable software vendors of all sizes to participate in this seismic shift in on-device AI capabilities.
Planning for an AI PC Future: A key bottleneck to leveraging AI will always be connectivity, which means — as always — that the next round of company PCs should support the latest connectivity standards. Careful planning around the next 12–24 months will be crucial to setting up your organization to reap the benefits of these new PCs throughout their useful life span.
“Over the past four years, PCs have evolved dramatically to better suit today's workforce, with improved collaboration features designed to drive improved productivity while keeping employees connected and keeping employees' data safe and their hardware easier to manage by IT. Perhaps even more notable is the new silicon that will support local AI and GenAI workloads designed to help employees work smarter, not harder.”
IDC’s Analyst Brief - Considering the Benefits of NPU-Equipped Silicon and Artificial Intelligence Workloads as You Plan Your Next PC Refresh – February 2024
“ITDMs should monitor developments around their company's list of current applications. You can expect the first raft of AI-enabled features to appear in existing apps as developers decide what features and workloads can be better addressed via local silicon capabilities. As these features appear, they will help drive decisions around where to deploy the first AI PCs in the fleet.”
IDC’s Analyst Brief - Considering the Benefits of NPU-Equipped Silicon and Artificial Intelligence Workloads as You Plan Your Next PC Refresh – February 2024
Product and Performance Information
IDC's 2023 U.S. Commercial PCD Survey—AI PC Results (IDC #US51194123, September 2023)