The future of work is intelligent, and it starts at the edge. As enterprises expand across distributed environments, the need for secure, real-time and high-performance computing has never been greater.

AI PCs bring intelligence directly to users through laptops and desktops, delivering faster decision-making, lower latency and enhanced privacy by processing data where it is created, at the edge.

Modern organizations are also under pressure to boost productivity, enable hybrid work and meet rising sustainability expectations. Traditional PCs struggle with these demands, but AI PCs address them with NPUs, GPUs and CPUs, enabling on-device inferencing and cloud-independent AI experiences that are smarter, greener and more responsive.

AI Labs brings capabilities together by combining HCLTech’s deep AI Engineering expertise with Dell’s next-generation AI PCs. The Labs transform every workspace into a hub of experimentation and innovation, empowering teams to explore, build and scale AI securely, sustainably and with clear guidance at every step of the journey.

The AI hype is real, but so are the roadblocks

While AI adoption is accelerating globally, enterprises continue to face significant barriers. Traditional PC architecture struggles to support modern AI workloads, resulting in cloud dependency, higher computational costs and increased latency. This creates operational inefficiencies and raises data privacy concerns, especially when sensitive information must travel outside enterprise boundaries. For many leaders, it also creates uncertainty around where workloads should live, which use cases to prioritize and how to modernize end-user devices without disrupting the business.

Developers and data scientists often lack access to high-performance, on-device AI systems, making it difficult to rapidly test, validate and refine models without relying on remote infrastructure. At the same time, employees require more responsive, personalized and secure digital experiences than legacy devices can provide.

Conventional machines also fall short in efficiency. Without dedicated AI hardware like NPUs, devices drain battery faster, overload CPUs and GPUs and limit real-time inferencing capabilities, impacting productivity, mobility and sustainability outcomes. Furthermore, accessing AI workloads from remote or decentralized environments introduces additional latency and inconsistency. When compute must travel back to distant cloud regions, response times slow and user experiences degrade. This limits teams' ability to leverage AI seamlessly across distributed workplaces.

The challenge is clear: organizations need AI performance closer to the user, at the edge, where ideas are generated, data is created and decisions happen, and they need a trusted ecosystem partner to guide them through that transition.

A clear path forward: Guiding enterprises through the AI PC era

The objective of AI Labs is to make AI innovation scalable, accessible and directly usable for every user. HCLTech and Dell aim to empower organizations with the ability to rapidly and securely experiment, build, deliver and operationalize AI solutions.

To achieve this, the partnership focuses on five core goals:

• AI Labs builds cutting-edge solutions that unlock real business value from AI. Differentiators include an advanced journey toward agentic-led delivery, proven Agentic AI solutions in production and deep experience building AI products across the tech industry. With strong engineering capabilities and structured “Art of the Possible” engagements, AI Labs foster innovation and drive transformative outcomes for clients.
• Establish a global AI Lab network that showcases the full potential of Dell’s AI PCs, workstations and edge platforms, enabling hands-on exploration and rapid prototyping.
• Accelerate on-device model development and inferencing through Dell’s Pro AI Studio platform, simplifying the AI lifecycle from experimentation to deployment.
• Integrate leading silicon technologies from NVIDIA, AMD and Intel, ensuring unmatched performance, efficiency and consistency across AI workloads at the edge.
• Support enterprises with a flexible, modern consumption model through HCLTech’s FlexSpace, powered by Dell, delivering AI PCs and lab-ready infrastructure via scalable, lifecycle-managed, “as-a-service” offerings.

Together, these objectives position AI Labs as a strategic engine for enterprise transformation, enabling teams to innovate faster, reduce their dependency on cloud resources and adopt AI responsibly and sustainably across the digital workplace.

“Our collaboration with HCLTech AI Labs underscores the strength of our partnership and our shared vision for the future of work. By bringing Dell’s secure, AI-optimized Client Solutions portfolio into HCLTech’s cutting-edge AI innovation environment, we’re able to rapidly co-create and validate modern workplace solutions that are intelligent, scalable and easy to manage. Together, we’re helping customers unlock the full potential of AI at the endpoint, so they can empower their employees, protect their data and accelerate business outcomes.”

-Danielle Wenzel, Senior Client Director, Dell Technologies

Edge-ready Innovation: Where HCLTech engineering is supercharged by Dell AI PCs

At the heart of this initiative is a modern, edge-driven innovation ecosystem built around AI PCs, cloud native tooling and high-performance silicon. HCLTech’s Labs unify these components to provide environments where teams can rapidly prototype, test and operationalize AI solutions with clear patterns, guardrails and best practices.

Each lab, from New Jersey to Santa Clara to London, features Dell’s latest AI PCs and AI-optimized workstations, including the Dell Pro Max with GB10, a compact yet powerful edge system designed for hands-on AI development.

Powered by NVIDIA Grace Blackwell, AMD Ryzen AI, NVIDIA RTX GPUs and the latest Intel Core Ultra platforms, these devices give enterprises the performance needed to explore and fine-tune advanced AI models directly at the desk.

“It is clear that the world’s leading business organizations are accelerating their AI-Native journeys, with an expectation that more work is delegated to AI agents acting as digital colleagues. As part of this journey, the role of advanced AI devices from Dell Technologies will play a critical role to support both the development and operation of these new agentic solutions. The HCLTech AI Labs offer businesses a one-stop location to experience the art-of-the-possible and then rapidly create advanced solutions that leverage the power of the latest Dell Technologies AI devices.”

-Alan Flower, EVP, Head AI Labs, HCLTech

To accelerate development, the labs integrate Dell Pro AI Studio, enabling seamless model design, optimization and deployment. This creates a unified, edge-to-cloud development pipeline where teams can move quickly from experimentation to operationalization without dependency on remote compute.

Supporting this ecosystem is HCLTech FlexSpace powered by Dell, a scalable Device-as-a-Service model offering predictable pricing, automated lifecycle services, persona-aligned device catalogues and sustainability-focused asset management. FlexSpace enables enterprises to scale AI PC adoption rapidly without upfront capital expenditure.

Together, this integrated solution forms a unified edge-to-cloud AI workspace, empowering organizations to innovate faster, deploy confidently and modernize their digital workplace with future-ready AI capabilities guided by HCLTech’s proven services and Dell’s trusted infrastructure.

The proven results: Faster innovation, lower costs, stronger security

AI Labs are already reshaping how enterprises adopt, experiment with and scale AI across their organizations. By combining edge-ready AI PCs, cloud native tooling and flexible consumption models, enterprises are realizing measurable improvements across innovation, operations and sustainability.

• Faster innovation and deployment: AI PC setup and provisioning now take days instead of weeks, while automated pipelines and modern AI tooling reduce model development cycles by nearly 75%, enabling rapid prototyping and accelerated time-to-value.
• Improved productivity and employee experience: On-device intelligence powers more responsive, personalized workflows, supported by seamless provisioning and proactive self-healing for a consumer-grade experience.
• Enhanced security and compliance: Local inferencing keeps sensitive data on-device, strengthening data protection and reducing the risks associated with cloud-dependent AI processing.
• Sustainable digital workplace: Energy-efficient AI PCs, circular lifecycle practices and reduced cloud usage contribute to lower emissions and support enterprise ESG objectives, including reductions in e-waste and carbon footprint.
• Lower operational costs and flexible scaling: Through HCLTech Flex Space powered by Dell, organizations benefit from predictable Opex-based consumption, achieving up to 25% cost savings, while an independent Forrester TEI analysis of Dell PC‑as‑a‑Service shows 28% ROI and 33.5% reduction in device lifecycle support costs, reinforcing the multi‑year savings impact of subscription‑based device lifecycle services.

“The evolution of AI PCs represents a fundamental shift in how enterprises approach endpoint innovation. Through our joint collaboration with Dell, we are enabling organizations to move AI workloads closer to where work actually happens, securely, efficiently and at scale. By combining Dell’s AI‑optimized client portfolio with HCLTech’s engineering depth, we are accelerating customers’ ability to operationalize AI at the edge while maintaining flexibility, sustainability and enterprise‑grade security.”

-Craig Sande, AVP and Global Head of Dell Ecosystem, HCLTech

In Summary

The vision of AI Labs reimagines what’s possible in the modern workplace by leveraging cutting-edge technologies from these industry leaders. By putting AI capabilities directly at the edge, where ideas form, data is created and decisions are made, enterprises can unlock faster innovation, smarter operations and more sustainable outcomes.

This integrated ecosystem of AI PCs, cloud native tools and flexible consumption model empowers every developer, employee and business leader to harness AI confidently and at scale. From labs to global operations, this collaboration transforms computing power into creative power, enabling organizations to think smarter, work faster and build the future today.

To learn more about our partnership with Dell Technologies, visit our Dell Technologies Ecosystem Webpage