Artificial intelligence has enjoyed a long novelty phase, but as that hype wanes, the next era — driven by innovations such as AI PCs — will predominantly focus on actualizing real-world utility.

There’s a scramble to make AI real for companies, countries and individuals by driving an expanding set of cutting-edge use cases — and Dell Technologies Inc. has doubled down on AI PCs as a key to solving the problem.

“Our announcements this week are focused on that next stage of where we see AI going, which is inferencing and edge,” said Jon Siegal (pictured), senior vice president of Dell portfolio marketing. “What does edge need? It needs devices to run, and that’s where our AI PCs come in. We made a number of announcements around having a complete portfolio for our customers around AI PCs that we’re proud of — and one that we think will fit all the needs out there.”

Siegal spoke with theCUBE Research’s Savannah Peterson for the Dell Bets Big on AI PCs at CES 2025 event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed Dell’s mission to lead in the AI PC era by delivering practical, scalable and sustainable solutions that enhance both personal and professional experiences. (* Disclosure below.)

AI PCs combine power, efficiency and user-friendly functionality

The general industry consensus has highlighted inferencing technology as pivotal to practicalizing everyday AI use. In response, Dell’s AI PCs enable cutting-edge workloads to run on-device, reducing reliance on cloud resources.

These devices also challenge the stereotype that advanced computing must compromise design by being lightweight, energy-efficient and long-lasting — all while delivering robust AI capabilities. Key innovations include the integration of CPUs, GPUs and NPUs, which optimize task delegation and power usage, according to Siegal.

“They’re beautiful, they’re powerful, they’re energy-efficient and more intelligent,” he said. “They have an amazing battery life, by the way. These are much better PCs. Without even accounting for AI, it’s a much better experience for our customers. It’s faster; it’s easier. Again, energy efficient, runs cooler and is lighter. These are all things that I don’t think people necessarily associate with the AI PC.”

Localized access to cutting-edge AI capabilities in a portable computing environment opens up new possibilities. One example is real-time translation for humanitarian missions in remote locations, where connectivity is limited. For professionals, AI PCs serve as productivity advisors, enabling tasks such as localized data querying for sales pitches, according to Siegal.

Dell recognizes the cognitive and logistical barriers businesses face in deploying AI applications. The recently launched Dell Pro AI Studio simplifies the process, reducing development time by 75%, according to Dell. Through partnerships with platforms such as Hugging Face, Dell helps enterprises choose the right models and optimize them for their hardware, Siegal added.

“Part of the focus of this studio is to help SIs, ISVs and our enterprise customers figure out how to best build and develop and ultimately operate AI workloads or AI applications on the device,” he said. “That involves models, of course. There’s not a week that goes by that there’s not another new model. So, oftentimes, the process of trying to build an AI application is overwhelming. It can take months to just research which model to use.”

Dell Pro AI Studio tackles the complexity of AI application development by streamlining the process from model selection to deployment. By enabling applications to be written once and run across various hardware options — such as from AMD, Qualcomm and Intel — Dell simplifies the process and eliminates repetitive development tasks. This approach reduces deployment timelines from six months to just six weeks, accelerating time-to-value and making AI adoption more accessible for enterprise customers, according to Siegal.

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE Research’s coverage of the Dell Bets Big on AI PCs at CES 2025 event: 

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Dell Bets Big on AI PCs at CES 2025 event. Neither Dell Technologies Inc., the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE