How to build an unstoppable business case for your AI PC refresh

The device refresh conversation has changed.

In past refresh cycles, organizations made decisions largely based on the age of their device fleet, their warranty windows, or incremental CPU gains. Today, AI is shifting the endpoint value proposition.

On‑device AI assistants, local inference, and AI‑powered security are all integral to the new user experience, but they put new, sustained pressure on your devices. The question is no longer “how old is the hardware?” It’s “can our current fleet run the AI experiences we’re planning, and at what user and business cost?”

That’s where BenchSmart can help. Our tool not only assesses modern AI PCs, it also runs on your legacy devices to show what happens if you attempt to deploy AI workloads on your existing fleet. Most enterprises phase refreshes over years, not weeks, making this dual perspective essential.

From assumptions to evidence

Executives respond to evidence: side‑by‑side, reproducible results that connect to outcomes. BenchSmart generates direct comparisons between representative legacy models and shortlisted AI PCs for your environment.

Dave Gruver, Field Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at SHI, summarizes the value succinctly: “Understand whether you could even deploy the [AI] workload, what the experience would be on current hardware, and how that compares to modern platforms. With those results, you can build a business case that’s harder to challenge and easier to fund.”

BenchSmart helps quantify three key considerations for your next device refresh:

1. Productivity impact. AI assistants that summarize meetings, draft content, or accelerate analysis only create value if they run smoothly. On older devices, the combination of collaboration apps, background security, and local AI can lead to stutters or slowdowns that erode promised gains. BenchSmart highlights the delta in responsiveness and consistency between legacy and AI PCs under real workload conditions.
2. Security efficacy without user pain. Security tools are notorious for impacting user experience, especially on older systems. AI PCs can offload certain tasks to more efficient components, reducing drag. BenchSmart shows how protective controls behave side by side so CISOs can back a refresh plan that strengthens posture and preserves productivity.
3. Battery resilience during AI‑heavy days. Refresh budgets often go to users who travel or work untethered. BenchSmart exposes on‑battery behavior under AI load, showing where some legacy devices falter and some modern platforms sustain performance.

Field CTO Dave Gruver demonstrates how BenchSmart by SHI can help build a business case for refreshing your device fleet with AI PCs.

Persona‑based prioritization: Because you can’t refresh everyone at once

Very few organizations execute an all‑at‑once refresh. In a phased, persona-based approach, the question is often “who first, and why?” As such, BenchSmart helps you identify which groups gain the most the earliest.

For example:

Field sellers and executives: Frequent travel, constant collaboration, and increasing reliance on AI meeting summaries and content drafting.

Risk: Poor on‑battery AI performance yields missed opportunities and manual rework.

Analysts and creators: Bursty, compute‑intensive tasks where on‑device AI iterations save hours per week.

Risk: Undermines throughput with legacy throttling or instability.

Security‑sensitive roles: Need always‑on protective controls tuned for modern threats without the device “feeling heavy.”

Risk: Legacy friction lowers adoption or drives risky workarounds.

Telling a CFO‑ready story

BenchSmart’s data helps build a narrative that finance can support. Instead of saying “we need new laptops,” your case reads:

Baseline: On our current devices, representative AI tasks take X seconds with Y variability and reduce battery life to Z under typical work.

Target: Two AI PC options complete the same tasks faster with steadier behavior, while maintaining battery performance acceptable for travel days.

Security posture: Protective tooling exhibits less drag on modern platforms, improving user sentiment and reducing help desk tickets.

The rigor behind those statements comes from running BenchSmart on both legacy and modern devices. It’s a repositioning of your refresh from an IT expense to a business performance investment.

De‑risking deployment with labs and iteration

While BenchSmart is the measurement engine, our broader approach recognizes that adoption is a journey, not a moment. Following measurement, we can help you validate real AI PCs in lab settings, ensuring your chosen configurations deliver in practice. That’s especially valuable as features evolve. By validating in controlled iterations, you reduce false starts and build stakeholder confidence before mass rollout.

Here’s a glimpse at how it all works:

1. You select representative legacy and AI PC candidates, choosing models that reflect your installed base and two or three modern options.
2. Next, define AI‑relevant scenarios. Align with business priorities, such as meeting AI assistants, local inference tasks for analysts, and AI‑assisted security routines.
3. Then, we run BenchSmart on both sets, capturing comparable datasets that reflect on‑AC and on‑battery behavior, plus concurrency with your security stack.
4. We’ll weigh results against your goals. You own the scale; we can advise, but you decide what matters.
5. With datasets in hand, we’ll build persona‑based recommendations, map device options to user groups, and quantify uplift and risks.
6. Next, we use SHI labs to pilot and validate. We’ll test imaging, policies, and drivers on your chosen platforms.
7. Once complete, we communicate the outcomes, presenting CFO‑ready findings with clear ROI logic and stakeholder‑friendly visuals.
8. Finally, we help with phase deployment, starting with high‑impact personas. We measure, report, and expand across each phase.

Build a refresh case that stands up to scrutiny

AI momentum isn’t slowing down any time soon. What will change quarter by quarter is which device platforms best fit your use cases. BenchSmart acknowledges this dynamism: our tool leverages a repeatable framework for quantifying fit now and revalidating as your stack evolves.

Our stance is a partnership model. We’re alongside you for the long haul, adjusting as your needs and the market shift. That means your refresh story remains current, defensible, and aligned to your organization’s goals.

The alternative? Relying on anecdotes – some users are happy, others aren’t – or on generic benchmark numbers that don’t reflect your AI reality. BenchSmart replaces that ambiguity with side‑by‑side, persona‑aware proof. For IT leaders facing skeptical finance committees and impatient business sponsors, that difference is everything.

NEXT STEPS

Contact our AI experts to build an evidence-based device refresh strategy with BenchSmart.