According to the latest Lenovo CIO Playbook 2025 Report, There is a growing adoption of Artificial Intelligence across a wide range of enterprise sectors at an unprecedented scale.
The study, conducted in partnership with IDC, provides insights from over 620 Information Technology and business leaders across the CEMEA region, providing a perspective on organizational ambitions, the maturation of GenAI use cases, key areas for deeper AI adoption, and the challenges in realizing the full benefits of the technology.
The limitation of the study however is that according to the methodology and scope of the study, it focused predominantly on the Western European market, with limited input from the Middle East region and zero responses from the African market, making the findings more Euro-centric and less relevant to other regions.
While AI development in different regions is happening at a different pace, there are similarities as to the sectors where AI development is being focused, and this is where the data could prove useful to the African Markets.
AI Spend Accelerating
The research shows that AI investment is set to more than double in 2025, and taking up almost 20% of total IT budgets for the regions covered.
Encouragingly, the study shows that 94% of organizations that have already deployed AI projects in the past year, have had success and have met project expectations, with almost one third exceeding the expectations.
However, maintaining this growth trajectory remains a top challenge, as scaling AI and addressing data quality issues remains a key challenge, and the most significant cause of project failures.
Developments Encouraging Adoption
Generative AI (GenAI) is moving past experimentation into institutionalized adoption. In 2024, only 12% of organizations implemented GenAI use cases, but this number is anticipated to increase to 44% in the next year.
Furthermore, 65% of enterprises across the region favor hybrid infrastructure for AI workloads, yet nearly a quarter still lack an AI Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) policy—a gap that could hinder long-term success and responsible AI deployment.
Investment Shifts Toward AI Model Development
Companies are shifting their AI investments towards developing and managing AI models, reflecting a 10% increase compared to the previous year.
However, four critical hurdles persist:
- Data sovereignty and compliance,
- Seamless AI integration with existing systems,
- Employee training, and development in AI skills
- The availability of high-quality data.
Addressing these barriers will be essential for further business adoption and development of AI business products that create meaningful results in unlocking AI’s full potential and providing return on investment.
Lenovo’s AI solutions are built around three core pillars:
- Speed, an AI Fast Start solution accelerates AI adoption, delivering a production-ready AI model in just 9 weeks or less.
- Ease, an AI Library that provides pre-configured AI solutions tailored for enterprise applications, simplifying deployment.
- Plus, Expertise, services that meet businesses at every stage of their AI journey.
Lenovo’s AI commitment is also supported through its AI Innovators Program (LAII), launched in 2022. This ecosystem comprises over 45 AI partners, contributing more than 100 AI solutions across diverse sectors, with an investment footprint exceeding $1 billion. These AI solutions span applications such as computer vision, audio recognition, security, predictive analytics, and virtual assistants.
Moreover, the technology brand has made substantial investments in AI development, including training over 12,000 engineers in AI, Large Language Models (LLMs), and hybrid cloud technologies. The company currently offers more than 165 enterprise AI solutions and operates four dedicated global AI innovation centers.
AI as a Productivity Multiplier
The findings from Lenovo’s 2025 CIO Playbook underscore the need for business and IT leaders to make clear decisions on their future AI developments aimed at maximizing productivity, streamlining operations, and maintain a competitive edge with regards customer experiences. The weight of these decisions is growing, reinforcing the urgency for enterprises to establish robust AI strategies, governance frameworks, and workforce readiness initiatives.
With AI expected to be a meaningful multiplier of employee productivity, the focus must now shift from merely adopting AI to scaling it effectively and responsibly. Lenovo’s research underscores that while the AI opportunity is immense, realizing its full benefits will require organizations to address foundational challenges, invest in infrastructure, and foster an AI-ready culture.
