Latest news with #AmitLuthra
The Hindu
5 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Lenovo charts hybrid course in a cloud market ruled by titans
In a global cloud infrastructure market valued at over $330 billion and dominated by a handful of hyperscalers, Lenovo is forging a distinct and strategic path. Rather than clashing head-on with giants like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, and Google Cloud, the company's Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) is positioning itself as the indispensable foundational partner for a new era of hybrid, AI-driven computing, according to Amit Luthra, Managing Director for Lenovo ISG in India. 'Cloud is the form of the way IT is consumed,' Mr. Luthra said. 'Our strategy is to work with the complete ecosystem of the cloud—from hyperscalers and local service providers to large enterprises and SMBs.' This philosophy of collaboration over direct competition hinges on providing flexible, outcome-driven infrastructure. Mr. Luthra emphasised that the company has moved beyond simply selling hardware. The focus now is on delivering tangible results, a shift that requires a deep understanding of diverse customer needs and an open, interoperable architecture. 'We don't want to go back to our customers and say you have to let go of what you already have,' he explained, highlighting a core principle of avoiding proprietary lock-in. This allows organisations to build upon their existing IT investments, whether they are traditional on-premise systems or complex multi-cloud environments. This flexibility is particularly crucial when addressing the full spectrum of the market, from sprawling enterprises to agile small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Mr. Luthra pointed to a 'build vs. buy' dynamic, where many SMBs lack the resources for custom development. 'Most of the mid-market and SMB customers in India will want to buy IT — buy it like a package,' he noted. To serve this segment, Lenovo has cultivated a robust ecosystem of Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), enabling the delivery of pre-validated, turnkey solutions. 'We do have lot many solutions like these... to help them give a complete end-to-end packet solution,' Mr. Luthra added, citing examples like a 'ChatGPT in a box' for enterprises seeking a private, secure large language model. The catalyst for this market evolution, Mr. Luthra asserts, has been the explosion of artificial intelligence. While AI and analytics have been around for over a decade, the recent wave of generative models has fundamentally altered the landscape. 'GenAI took it to the mainstream. It became a boardroom imperative,' he stated. According to a global CIO survey conducted by Lenovo, India has emerged as a leader in AI adoption within the Asia-Pacific region. Indian organisations are leveraging the technology for both optimising existing processes — what Mr. Luthra calls improving 'business hygiene'—and driving disruptive innovation. Looking ahead, he believes the industry's focus is already shifting from the initial frenzy of training massive models to applying them for practical use. 'The big bet that I would have is on inferencing,' Mr. Luthra declared. 'The era of training and LLMs was a two years back story... while that is still on, inferencing is where the big bet is.' With this rapid technological advance, however, comes the critical responsibility of governance. Mr. Luthra said that security, privacy, and ethics are now central to every major technology discussion. 'Responsible AI is a very, very big discussion point in deploying most of these solutions,' he said. 'People want to talk about security, people want to talk about ethics. This is where IT makes the excitement in the board real.'
India Today
25-04-2025
- Business
- India Today
GenAI set to dominate India's AI spending with 43 per cent share by 2025: Lenovo CIO Playbook
India is doubling down on AI, and generative AI (GenAI) is leading the charge. According to the Lenovo CIO Playbook 2025, businesses in India are set to increase their AI investments by 2.7 times, with GenAI expected to command a remarkable 43 per cent of total AI spending by next year. While adoption is still in the early stages for many, the report gives us a clear idea of strong momentum — backed by a growing focus on long-term returns, compliance, and smarter infrastructure 49 per cent of Indian organisations are either evaluating or planning AI implementation within the next 12 months, in line with the global average. Although slightly behind the Asia Pacific (AP) average of 56 per cent, this signals a steady pace driven by strategic planning rather than hesitation.'Business priorities are shifting in Asia Pacific,' said Sumir Bhatia, President, Asia Pacific Infrastructure Solutions Group, Lenovo. He added, 'For 2025, governance, risk, and compliance have jumped 12 spots to become the top priority, highlighting the focus on secure and responsible AI.' The Playbook also notes India's rising interest in hybrid and on-premise AI infrastructure. Around 63 per cent of Indian companies prefer these environments over public cloud, seeking secure and low-latency setups for AI workloads. 'Hybrid architectures offer the best of both worlds — scalability and control,' said Amit Luthra, Managing Director, Lenovo ISG is taking centre stage across use cases. In India, sales leads as the top AI function, followed by marketing and software development. Across AP, IT operations, cybersecurity, and software development are seeing greater AI ethical concerns and bias risks remain top challenges, AI governance is catching up. Currently, 19 per cent of Indian CIOs have fully implemented AI GRC (governance, risk and compliance) policies — slightly behind the AP average of 25 per cent. This area is expected to grow as regulatory awareness organisations are beginning to explore the productivity potential of AI PCs. Over half (53 per cent) of Indian businesses are in the planning phase for AI-powered PCs, with many early adopters already reporting productivity address complexity and skill gaps, 29 per cent of Indian CIOs are working with professional AI service providers. A further 54 per cent are exploring such partnerships to fast-track implementation and boost internal capabilities.'AI adoption is not just about the short-term gains,' said Fan Ho, Executive Director and General Manager, Solutions and Services Group, Lenovo Asia Pacific. She added, 'Solutions like Lenovo's AI Fast Start further accelerate this process, helping businesses quickly pilot, optimise, and scale AI initiatives with expert guidance and tested frameworks.'
