Lenovo: ‘AI can do more than make people or business more productive; it also has the power to do good’

It is predicted that AI could bring $4.4 trillion in long-term productivity growth.

However, $57 billion-revenue multinational tech company Lenovo sees real potential for AI beyond productivity gains.

The company’s ‘Smarter AI for All’ vision means Lenovo is “truly focused on democratizing the technology, bringing it to everyone and demonstrating that AI can do more than make people or business more productive; it also has the power to do good”.

Those are the words of Lenovo’s Chief Security and AI Officer Doug Fisher.

This comes to life through Lenovo’s own products and projects.

One of Fisher’s favorite projects is creating an AI Avatar companion for those living with Alzheimer’s and dementia – “the Avatar answers questions that only a peer with the shared experience of the disease would know, helping those with Alzheimer’s or dementia live well with the disease”.

Fisher will be sharing more AI for good examples, as well as exclusive insights on how to do AI with heart, during his keynote at UNLEASH America 2025.

The UNLEASH Editorial team got a sneak peek ahead of the Las Vegas show.

Lenovo, ethical AI and HR

AI for good is a core part of Lenovo’s approach to AI, but another key element, which plays out in the security side of Fisher’s job title, is a “steadfast adherence to principles that guarantee the responsible, ethical and safe development, deployment, and utilization”.

In his interview with UNLEASH, Fisher is very clear that “the companies that win the AI race will be the ones with the strongest level of governance”.

AI is not a low stakes game; if companies cut corners with ethics and safety on AI, they could fundamentally damage their business.

Having the right AI guardrails in place won’t “slow down innovation” – in fact, it’ll do the opposite, in the view of Lenovo.

Doug Fisher, Chief Security and AI Officer, Lenovo.

“Through strong governance, we’ll accelerate AI adoption by demonstrating that Lenovo is a company our customers can trust,” adds Fisher.

Trust is so key to Lenovo’s AI work that Fisher actually sees himself as the company’s “trust officer”.

He argues that all companies developing AI products and solutions “need a Chief AI Officer to mitigate risk and ensure the technology is being developed correctly”.

However, a Chief AI Officer cannot succeed alone. At Lenovo, “our HR organization is vital to the success of our [AI] vision”.

“Together, alongside legal, we created an AI policy that outlines what we deem to be a responsible use of AI, and our commitment to ensuring AI is fair, transparent, explainable, and efficient,” shares Fisher.

“HR has also supported our organization’s focus on AI by developing training courses to upskill all our employees on the technology and tools available to the organization,” as well as educating them on ethical, transparent AI principles.

The secrets to Lenovo’s ethical AI success

Given that Lenovo is ahead of the curve on ethical AI for good, UNLEASH asked Fisher for his top tips  on how HR leaders can replicate this success in their business.

Top of mind for Fisher is that “by fostering a culture of innovation and philanthropy, we can empower employees to seek technology-based solutions to solve some of the issues they see within their communities”.

For Lenovo, being an inclusive place to work “informs the direction of our future products and research projects”, adds Fisher.

The tech giant brings this to life through hackathons that empower all employees (not just those in product roles) to experiment with AI, as well as through its philanthropic arm, The Lenovo Foundation, where employees can do volunteer work like helping non-profit organizations to transfer their operations with technology and AI.

Plus, five years ago Lenovo created a Product Diversity Office – the aim was to ensure the tech giant’s product design process is grounded in accessibility.

The tech giant’s commitment to diversity through the foundation and the Product Diversity Office were a major topic of conversation in a previous exclusive UNLEASH interview with Lenovo’s Chief Diversity Officer Calvin Crosslin.

The future of AI at Lenovo

AI is the HR topic of the moment, and there’s been lots of buzz around the latest innovation in the space: agentic AI.

UNLEASH was keen to find out how Lenovo is thinking about AI agents.

Fisher shares that Lenovo is embedding personal AI agents into its smart devices. “These agents understand their user intentions, learn from interactions, and provide personalized responses,” but in a secure and private way, notes Fisher.

He continues that Lenovo is also looking at “new form factors for AI PCs” – the idea is to create “super agents that manage personal data across multiple devices” and developing a “personal AI twin that mirrors user preferences and accompanies them everywhere”.

Doug Fisher and UNLEASH America

Fisher will be the first Chief AI Officer to speak at UNLEASH America, and his session on AI as a force for positive change is set to be a sellout.

Talking about why he’s excited about attending and speaking at UNLEASH America 2025, Fisher shares: “As a global technology solutions provider, we’re creating AI for customers.”

At the Las Vegas show, “I’m most excited about learning firsthand how the various companies are using it and how the technology is transforming their businesses”.

You simply can’t afford to miss out on Fisher’s AI insights – buy your pass for UNLEASH America now.