Special Feature: 2026 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES)
At CES 2026, addressing the widely-concerned yet hard-to-quantify issue of AI Return on Investment (ROI) for enterprises, Arthur Hu, Global Chief Information Officer and Chief Technology & Delivery Officer of Lenovo's Solutions and Services Group (SSG), stated in response to questions that there is no universal formula for AI ROI. He emphasized that its evaluation is highly dependent on a company's specific development stage, business structure, and concrete application objectives.
Arthur Hu pointed out that, from an overall trend perspective, a growing number of enterprises are beginning to ask more specific questions about their AI investments, attempting to clarify whether and how AI genuinely translates into business value. However, based on practical experience, ROI itself is highly individualized; it cannot be simply benchmarked across different companies. "Enterprises must advance their AI initiatives according to their own pace," he noted.
He indicated that the core offering provided by SSG while supporting clients in their AI journey is not a singular ROI calculation tool, but rather a systematic methodology designed to help clients assess their current stage of AI application.
In practical collaborations, Arthur Hu has observed that a significant number of enterprises remain in the exploratory phase, some even lacking clearly defined goals for what they aim to achieve with AI. These clients are often more interested in identifying which application scenarios hold potential value and which directions are worth experimenting with.
To address the needs at this stage, SSG provides an AI Discovery service. Through proof-of-concept (PoC) projects and small-scale testing, this service assists clients in rapidly validating the feasibility of their ideas and preliminarily identifying directions that could generate business value. Arthur Hu mentioned that many clients in the early stages primarily need industry experience and case studies to understand how companies with similar conditions typically benefit from AI.
When clients wish to progress further towards scaled deployment, Lenovo collaborates with them to evaluate whether the necessary conditions are met regarding capability maturity, resource investment, and organizational readiness. At this juncture, SSG engages in more specific and quantifiable ROI assessment work with the client.
He stressed that the relevant evaluation is not limited solely to the cost of a single AI model or hardware. Instead, it encompasses the complete technological and operational system, including AI infrastructure, the systems integration capabilities required for solution deployment, and subsequent operation, maintenance, and management costs. This process involves the scaled deployment and long-term management of the solution.
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