Lenovo Named Among Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators for Third Consecutive Year
Lenovo has once again been recognized by Fast Company for its commitment to building a workplace where innovation, experimentation and technological creativity can thrive.
The company was named a finalist in two categories in Fast Company’s eighth annual Best Workplaces for Innovators program: Best Workplaces for Innovators: AI, Automation and Machine Learning Excellence and Best Workplaces for Innovators: North America.
The recognition marks Lenovo’s continued focus on creating an environment where employees can develop new ideas and turn them into technologies with measurable business and societal impact.
Building a Culture Around Innovation
Fast Company’s 2026 Best Workplaces for Innovators list recognizes 100 companies across a wide range of industries, including technology, entertainment, biotechnology, consumer products, education and healthcare.
Companies participating in the program were evaluated on their approach to innovation, including investments in research and development, internal innovation programs and workplace culture. Applicants provided details about how they support employees and create opportunities for new ideas to move from concept to implementation.
Fast Company editors reviewed the submissions and conducted additional research before assigning scores to participating organizations. A panel of judges then evaluated the highest-rated companies to determine the final honorees.
For Lenovo, the recognition highlights an innovation strategy that extends beyond technology investments. The company is focused on empowering employees to experiment with emerging technologies, develop technical expertise and collaborate across disciplines.
Putting People at the Center of AI Innovation
Lenovo Chief Technology Officer Tolga Kurtoglu emphasized that successful AI innovation requires more than advanced hardware and software.
“AI innovation is not driven by technology alone,” Kurtoglu said. He noted that effective AI development depends on people who are willing to explore new possibilities, understand context and challenge the outputs produced by AI systems.
According to Kurtoglu, Lenovo provides teams with opportunities to collaborate across disciplines and work across the technology stack. This allows employees to transform ideas into practical applications that can operate at global scale.
The company’s approach reflects a broader shift in the technology industry. As AI becomes embedded in products, services and business operations, organizations increasingly need employees who can combine technical expertise with creativity, critical thinking and responsible decision-making.
Lenovo Qira Demonstrates Personal AI Vision
One example of Lenovo’s efforts to turn ambitious ideas into practical technology is Lenovo Qira, a personal AI system designed to work continuously across PCs, smartphones and emerging AI-native devices.
Unlike a conventional AI assistant that primarily responds to individual prompts, Qira is designed to act as a persistent personal AI.
The system is intended to maintain context across devices, understand a user’s goals and activities, and determine which AI model is best suited to a particular task.
Its decision-making can take multiple factors into account, including the user’s intent, the complexity of the request, privacy considerations, available data and the computing resources available at a given moment.
The concept represents Lenovo’s broader vision for personal AI: rather than requiring users to constantly switch between applications and AI services, intelligent systems could operate across devices and adapt to individual needs.
AI Investment Is Delivering Business Results
Lenovo’s focus on AI innovation is also translating into measurable commercial growth.
The company reported that AI-related revenue increased 60% year over year, accounting for 35% of total group revenue in the first quarter.
The figures highlight the growing importance of AI across Lenovo’s business portfolio, spanning personal computing, infrastructure, enterprise solutions and services.
As organizations worldwide accelerate AI adoption, Lenovo is positioning itself to provide technologies across the full AI ecosystem, from intelligent devices to data-center infrastructure.
Expanding Global AI Research Capabilities
Lenovo has also continued expanding its global AI research and development footprint.
Over the past year, the company opened new Lenovo AI Technology Centre sites in London, Edinburgh and Silicon Valley.
These locations add to Lenovo’s broader network of research and development facilities and are designed to strengthen the company’s ability to develop AI technologies and collaborate with researchers, developers and industry partners.
Lenovo has also launched a Digital Trust Lab focused on AI security across devices, edge systems and embedded environments.
As AI becomes more deeply integrated into everyday technology, security and trust are becoming increasingly important. AI systems can process sensitive information and operate across a wide range of environments, making privacy, security and responsible deployment critical components of innovation.
Innovation Requires the Right Workplace Culture
Brendan Vaughan, editor-in-chief of Fast Company, said the strongest innovative workplaces go beyond simply asking employees to generate ideas.
Instead, they create an environment where employees have the freedom, resources and support necessary to develop those ideas and turn them into action.
The 2026 honorees, Vaughan said, demonstrate that innovation is ultimately a cultural commitment. Companies must empower employees to think differently, experiment with new approaches and take calculated risks.
For Lenovo, being recognized in both the AI, Automation and Machine Learning Excellence and North America categories reflects its efforts to make innovation part of everyday work.
The company’s approach combines employee-led initiatives, technical development, research and development investment and cross-disciplinary collaboration.
A Broader Hybrid AI Strategy
Lenovo’s innovation efforts form part of its broader “Smarter Technology for All” vision and Hybrid AI strategy.
The company’s approach covers both Personal AI and Enterprise AI. Personal AI focuses on delivering intelligent experiences across multiple devices, while Enterprise AI is designed to help organizations transform data into insights and business value.
Lenovo’s portfolio spans PCs, workstations, smartphones, tablets and accessories, as well as servers, storage, edge computing, high-performance computing and software-defined infrastructure.
The company also provides software, solutions and services designed to support customers as they adopt and scale AI.
This broad portfolio gives Lenovo an opportunity to address AI adoption across multiple layers of the technology ecosystem rather than focusing on a single product category.
Supporting Innovation on a Global Scale
Lenovo operates a global research and development network with more than 20 R&D locations. Its global supply chain includes more than 30 manufacturing facilities across 11 markets.
The company serves customers in approximately 180 markets and continues to invest in technologies designed to support the next generation of AI-enabled computing and enterprise infrastructure.
Its repeated recognition by Fast Company reflects how workplace culture and technological innovation are increasingly interconnected.
As AI evolves, companies will need more than advanced processors, models and infrastructure. They will need people capable of asking the right questions, challenging assumptions and transforming emerging technologies into practical solutions.
Lenovo’s third consecutive recognition underscores its effort to create that environment.
The Fast Company Best Workplaces for Innovators Fall 2026 issue is available online, with the print edition scheduled to reach newsstands on September 22.
For Lenovo, the recognition is another indication that its investment in people, research, AI capabilities and workplace innovation is helping create a foundation for the next generation of technology.
Source Link: https://news.lenovo.com/