A future-proof procurement model for the AI age
In this guest post, Carmen Ene, CEO of BNP Paribas 3 Step IT, talks us through the pitfalls and promise of AI PC technology.
USBs were once the go-to solution for storing and transferring data. An indispensable tool for everyone, no matter their role in an organisation.
Fast-forward to the early 2010s, and they rapidly started disappearing from people’s desks and keychains. Of course, their limited storage capacity and security vulnerability played an important part in their decline, but the main game-changer was cloud storage.
Cloud storage was not just an evolution of data management – it was a true revolution. It transformed data from a static, physical asset in someone’s hands into a dynamic, easily accessible, sharable, and flexible tool, powering the modern service-based, data-driven world.
A similar, equally seismic revolution is happening today with Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology, which is transforming how we interact with data and extract value from it.
AI is undoubtedly reshaping industries such as financial services, healthcare, manufacturing and more. However, as I recently wrote for Computer Weekly, it’s imperative for businesses and society to focus on taking advantage of AI opportunities while also mitigating operational, ethical and environmental risks through responsible and strategic planning.
The AI wave
Last week, Gartner released its latest global forecasts for shipments of AI PCs, predicting a staggering surge in the technology’s adoption.
The analyst firm anticipates worldwide shipments of these devices will reach 114 million units by 2025, representing a remarkable 165.5% increase from 2024 levels. Moreover, Gartner predicts that AI PCs will comprise almost half of all PC shipments in 2025 (43%) and that, by 2025, AI laptops will effectively be the only choice for large businesses.
Even setting ethical and environmental considerations aside, this growth brings several critical challenges for organisations.
First, as AI becomes ubiquitous, ensuring businesses of all sizes can afford these devices without impacting other digital project spend will be crucial for maintaining a competitive edge.
Second, businesses will have to take into account energy efficiency. Some manufacturers have worked hard to ensure their latest AI-capable processors consume less power. Environmental-conscious companies should consider this before choosing IT service providers or suppliers offering only a limited range of models.
Third, as AI devices can process a lot of data, ensuring the AI hardware is tracked end-to-end throughout its lifecycle will become essential to safeguard the organisation and its customers from possible disposal-related data breaches.
Lastly, businesses will have to consider operational efficiency as they upgrade. AI is costly and is very much still in its infancy. If organisations do not have a clear overview of what AI devices they have in their IT stack and cannot oversee their cost and ownership, they risk wasting resources, overspending, and hindering their ability to make the most of this technology.
AI and more
Despite the hype, the rise of AI-powered PCs is not the only hardware trend impacting IT procurement in organisations in the next few months.
If AI PCs will be mainly adopted “for future-proofing”, transitioning away from Windows 10 will be a necessary strategic move.
According to Canalys, 57% of channel companies are of the view that “the end of Windows 10 support will affect customers’ refresh plans in 2024, with one in three devices expected to be replaced in the next two years”. This is unsurprising, as even prominent, large organisations like the NHS still operate thousands of devices on Windows XP and Windows 7.
This refresh also presents operational and financial challenges for businesses, which will need to budget for and deploy the new technology to their workforce. It also presents substantial risks for organisations that must handle the environmentally responsible and secure decommissioning of old, data-rich devices.
It is important to mention that as businesses decommission their Windows 10 PCs, it is distinctly possible they will choose to procure AI-capable PCs. Even for cost-conscious organisations, and even as the benefits of AI-enabled hardware are still unclear to many, companies will unlikely invest in non-AI devices that risk becoming outdated within a few years.
As Gartner puts it, “The question for businesses is which AI PC to buy rather than should they buy one”.
The conundrum of e-waste
The issue of what to do with legacy tech remains another crucial point to tackle as these refreshes happen.
Canalys estimates that “in the nearly two-year period until Microsoft’s official end-of-support date for Windows 10 – 14 October 2025 – roughly a fifth of devices will become e-waste due to incompatibility with the Windows 11 OS. This equates to 240 million PCs. If these were all folded laptops, stacked one on top of another, they would make a pile 600km taller than the moon.”
These devices do not just represent an environmental hazard, they also pose a significant security risk for businesses if their decommissioning is not handled correctly. Securely erasing all data on these assets is essential to enable their reuse by other users or their recycling when that is not possible.
The right IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) provider can help businesses retire their technology securely and responsibly. However, while modern devices retired by companies upgrading to newer, AI-capable ones will still hold significant value in the secondary market, outdated Windows 10 PCs might not, prompting even the most sustainable ITAD providers to recycle them rather than invest time in refurbishing them.
The issue is complex, and Microsoft – perhaps acknowledging this – has said it will make security upgrades possible for a fee until 2028.
However, as Canalys also points out, the cost of these security updates is expected to be a barrier for many users. It may also further dissuade ITAD providers from processing devices for reuse rather than simply recycling them.
Looking ahead, one solution to devices that still have life left in them (but become unsupported- could be for software providers to make security-patched upgrades available for schools and other often underfunded institutions free for longer. This would ensure they can use low-cost, refurbished technology without compromising efficiency and safety.
The other could be for device manufacturers to work directly with companies refurbishing and reselling used technology to harvest as many components as possible from devices that cannot be reused.
Unfortunately, technical, operational, and practical limitations might hinder these options for the time being. Therefore, it’s essential to remember that even though life extension and reuse might be better solutions, responsible recycling is still necessary to address the surge in e-waste while guaranteeing data security on decommissioned hardware.
How to turn change into an opportunity
Many companies are left at a crossroads due to these two converging trends—AI hardware adoption and Windows 10 decommissioning—and must find a way to balance operational efficiency, sustainability, and financial feasibility.
Importantly, as they upgrade their tech, they also need to start thinking ahead and implement today a future-proof model for their device management that will proactively help them mitigate risks and avoid issues like these in the future.
In this landscape, adopting a circular technology management model for their new technology represents an excellent opportunity to address their ability to afford the upgrade and the need for responsible disposal of decommissioned devices.
Organisations do not own the hardware as part of these business models but acquire devices through a subscription-based contracts with predictable renewal cycles. These contracts often include additional value-added services, such as an IT asset management platform to track and monitor devices while in use and a secure end-of-contract refurbishment service.
Unlike traditional cash ownership, these lifecycle management models allow organisations to access tech tailored to their business needs without a significant upfront cost and embed flexibility to scale or change their acquisition strategy.
The future of tech
As businesses face this critical transition, they have a unique opportunity to evolve their technology management model and make their organisations more resilient, sustainable, and efficient.
By embracing a circular model, organisations can remain competitive with the latest tech, responsibly manage the decommissioning of old devices, and ensure efficiency and affordability now and in the future.