How businesses are implementing AI in 2025: What was discussed at the PLAS-Forum Digital Uzbekistan in Tashkent

In recent years, artificial intelligence has ceased to be merely a fashionable trend and has become an integral part of everyday life, business, government, and financial institutions. Companies worldwide, including banks and industrial organizations, are actively implementing AI solutions, recognizing their strategic importance. Examples of AI solutions and the transformative role of AI in various industries were discussed at the recently concluded PLAS Forum Digital Uzbekistan in Tashkent.

During one of the sessions, Grigory Pryalukhin, Lenovo technical specialist for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, summarized trends, demands, and business challenges in adapting AI across various industries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa — EMEA. Data obtained by IDC from a survey of more than 600 IT directors from companies in various economic sectors in EMEA markets indicates a significant shift in business tactics toward more conscious implementation of AI.

*Link to the study >>>

Conscious Implementation

In 2025, most IT managers clearly understand the goals of AI implementation and the tasks that the technology should solve. Return on investment becomes the key criterion for business. Companies increasingly evaluate the cost of implementation, the expected speed of return on investment, and the resource intensity of solutions.

Issues of trust in cloud services and protection of personal data are becoming increasingly relevant, especially among government and financial organizations. Not all companies are ready to transfer critical data to external providers. 65% of companies choose hybrid infrastructures or rely on their own local architecture.

Shift in Investment Priorities

There is a shift in priorities regarding investments in AI in business. According to the study, 94% of artificial intelligence projects implemented last year at least met the expectations of their investors, and nearly a third — 31% — exceeded them. This stimulates overall growth in capital investment in technology development, which is expected to reach 104% in 2025. Moreover, if previously businesses were concerned about the limited capabilities of AI models, the latest analytical report shows that these limitations have been overcome, and now companies feel more confident in mastering AI, focusing on solutions that allow maximizing the return on deploying this technology within their enterprises.

At the same time, the process of integrating AI solutions remains complex and requires expertise and a well-thought-out approach. Companies are imposing increasingly higher requirements on infrastructure: to handle large volumes of data, modern high-performance computing power and data storage are necessary.

About Lenovo

Lenovo offers comprehensive and innovative solutions for building AI infrastructure, taking into account current market trends, security requirements, scalability, and efficiency. The company produces one of the widest product portfolios on the market with AI support: laptops, workstations, smartphones, data storage systems that significantly save space in data centers and electricity, software-defined storage; modern computing power, including servers with support for a large number of GPU accelerators for AI tasks. All Lenovo solutions are adapted to business growth and increasing data volumes, support integration with leading backup solutions to protect infrastructure from data loss and vulnerabilities.

On the AI Innovators platform, the company offers ready-made AI solutions for various industries from trusted partners and suppliers, simplifying AI implementation for its clients and providing them with service support at all stages of this process.