For years, the PC was a tool that waited for instructions. Even the most advanced software still needed someone to open it, tell it what to do and check the result. AI agents are beginning to change this model.
Rather than simply responding to prompts, AI agents can help users pursue goals across multiple steps. They retain awareness of previous activity and use approved tools and automate portions of workflows within organizational guardrails.
CSG Director at Dell Technologies, UK.
This shift is changing the way organizations think about PCs. For years, the buying criteria were straightforward: performance, reliability, security and cost. The question was whether a device could run the software employees needed.
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Now, organizations also need to consider whether a device can support employees working alongside AI agents. That makes a fleet refresh about more than specifications alone.
That collaboration changes the role a device plays in the working day. Traditionally, a PC has been a tool that waits for instructions, responding when an employee opens an application, enters information or starts a task.
AI agents create the opportunity for a more continuous and proactive working relationship, where the device can help employees navigate workflows, surface relevant information and connect work across activities.
Today, that might mean preparing for meetings or helping draft reports. Tomorrow, it could mean helping a project team maintain a shared understanding of a complex program over months, identifying risks, tracking commitments and surfacing relevant information before someone even thinks to search for it.
In that sense, the PC becomes more than a gateway to applications; it’s a platform that helps people navigate their working day by connecting information, insight and actions across tasks.
Delivering that experience requires more than running a browser and a spreadsheet. Agents need to maintain the thread of work across tasks, access information securely and support multiple AI-driven processes without compromising performance or governance.
That creates a new set of requirements and makes fleet decisions more strategic than they have traditionally been. If the infrastructure is not ready, organizations risk limiting both the effectiveness of the agent and employees’ trust in it.
Why where AI runs matters
As AI becomes a larger part of everyday work, organizations are paying closer attention to where processing takes place. Advances in PC hardware mean more AI processing can take place locally on the device, which is particularly important given AI agents will likely need to operate continuously and handle sensitive information.
This is particularly important in regulated sectors. A financial services firm reconciling client data or a hospital summarizing patient records needs confidence in how data is processed, stored and governed. Running more AI workloads locally can provide organizations with greater flexibility in how they meet those requirements.
That brings the conversation back to the role of the PC. If organizations want employees to work effectively alongside AI agents, devices need to support AI experiences securely, connect activities across workflows and deliver those capabilities in a way that aligns with organizational governance requirements.
Technology is only part of the answer
Employees are ready for this shift too. Research has identified a “transformation paradox” in which employees are often more ready to work with AI tools than the organizations around them are prepared to support.
Only 30% of AI-using UK employees believe their organization’s leadership is clearly and consistently aligned on AI strategy, while 13% say they are actively rewarded for redesigning how they work with AI. The result is a growing gap between what people can do with AI and what organizational structures, incentives and processes are designed to support.
Hardware alone will not close that gap, but it is one of the more straightforward parts of the problem to solve. Fleets that aren’t ready to run agents locally, securely and consistently simply add friction on top of the cultural and leadership challenges organizations already face.
As AI agents become a more familiar part of the working day, the role of the PC is changing. For decades, devices were primarily judged on their ability to run applications efficiently. Increasingly, they will be judged on how effectively they help people work with AI. In that environment, the PC becomes more than a gateway to applications; it becomes a platform for connecting information, intent and action.
Organizations that recognize that shift early will be best placed to capture the opportunities AI creates.
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This article was produced as part of TechRadar Pro Perspectives, our channel to feature the best and brightest minds in the technology industry today.
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