At MWC 2026, Georg Brauckmann-Berger, Director of Global Partnerships at Flexera, and Anand Vardhan Priyadarshi, Global Sales Director at HCLTech, explored how AI is transforming the enterprise asset landscape from hardware and software to cloud consumption and emerging agentic systems.

Moderated by Ramyang Pandya, Principal Industry Consultant – TMT Business Unit (EMEA), HCLTech, the discussion moved beyond cost optimization to address visibility, governance and long-term value creation.

An explosion in software and cloud consumption

From a hardware perspective, the change may appear incremental. Laptops, mobile phones and servers remain foundational enterprise tools. But the real transformation lies in how software is consumed.

“There is a dramatic change in the enterprise IT asset management environment,” said Brauckmann-Berger. While hardware purchasing patterns remain relatively stable, software consumption has shifted dramatically toward cloud and hyperscaler environments.

“You're basically buying software over the cloud, over the hyperscalers. You have an explosion of SaaS spend.”

This shift introduces complexity at scale. Employees install applications daily across devices. Divisions independently spin up cloud environments. Consumption is increasingly decentralized, making traditional centralized IT control models insufficient.

“Everyone is consuming IT,” said Brauckmann-Berger.

The result is not just higher spend but reduced clarity. Enterprises must now track entitlements, usage, renewals and compliance across a sprawling and dynamic environment.

Visibility as the new foundation

If AI promises intelligence, it must begin with data discipline.

“I think the number one is visibility,” said Brauckmann-Berger. “AI and everything around it is as good as the data which is behind it.”

Visibility is not merely inventory tracking. It requires normalized, accurate and contextualized data across physical and virtual assets. Only then can enterprises forecast cloud spend, understand SaaS consumption and connect asset usage to business outcomes.

Without visibility, governance is impossible. Without governance, risk escalates, including compliance gaps and security vulnerabilities.

AI, however, changes the equation. Instead of only analyzing historical usage, organizations can forecast future spend and proactively automate optimization decisions. “It's not just looking back, but also using AI to forecast your spend,” he noted.

From cost optimization to value maximization

While cost remains a foundational driver, the conversation is evolving.

Priyadarshi highlighted that organizations are increasingly applying machine learning analytics across the entire asset lifecycle. The goal is not simply reduction, but optimization and increased utilization.

AI enables predictive maintenance, real-time inventory updates and data-driven renewal decisions. More importantly, it allows enterprises to “increase more value from that same asset.”

This lifecycle view transforms assets from static line items into dynamic value-generating components.

He also introduced a new layer of complexity: agentic systems.

As enterprises adopt cross-platform AI agents capable of executing tasks autonomously, the definition of an “asset” itself expands. “Are agents' assets or do they take a different form?’ asked Priyadarshi.

These digital actors introduce governance and monitoring challenges that extend beyond traditional asset management frameworks. Agents must be visible, governed and aligned to business outcomes, just like hardware and software.

Governance, compliance and the role of AI

As complexity increases, guardrails become critical.

Organizations must prioritize putting “AI governance in place,” said Brauckmann-Berger. Visibility alone is insufficient; organizations must define how technology is consumed and controlled.

AI can assist in this governance layer as well. For example, automating contract analysis allows enterprises to manage compliance risks at scale.

Automation becomes central to regaining control across increasingly fragmented environments.

Ecosystem partnerships in a heterogeneous world

No single organization can address the full asset lifecycle alone.

Brauckmann-Berger likened the Flexera-HCLTech partnership to a car: a powerful vehicle requires someone who knows how to drive it. Flexera delivers data transparency and visibility; HCLTech brings industry expertise and contextual understanding to connect that data to operational realities.

Priyadarshi reinforced that value emerges at the intersection of platform capability and industry insight. Asset management is no longer confined to software entitlements. It extends to network devices, cloud consumption, semiconductor components and beyond.

As he noted, the value chain is expanding, and “I don't think any of us can do it all by ourselves.”

The future of enterprise asset management is ecosystem-led, collaborative and outcome-driven.

The evolving language of asset management

Over the next one to two years, the language of enterprise leaders is likely to shift.

Visibility will remain foundational but automation and proactive governance will become equally central. Enterprises will demand not just reports on past consumption, but predictive insights on future exposure and alignment to strategic goals.

Brauckmann-Berger identified two differentiators in this evolving market.

First, the ability to uniquely identify and normalize millions of software assets. Accurate, contextualised data becomes the bedrock for everything from configuration management database (CMDB) accuracy to vulnerability management.

Second, end-to-end FinOps capability; connecting software asset management with cloud financial operations and layering AI-driven automation on top.

The message from the panel was clear: AI is not simply adding assets to the enterprise landscape. It is redefining how assets are measured, governed and monetised.

In an environment of exploding SaaS consumption, decentralized cloud spend and emerging agentic systems, visibility and intelligent control are no longer optional. They are strategic imperatives.