Lenovo has committed to hiring 12,000 new employees specialising in research and development (R&D) over the next three years.

To mark the start of its financial year the company set out its vision for the coming 12-months, which also includes pledging to achieve net-zero by 2050 and doubling R&D investment.

The new hires will be in addition to the 5,000 people brought into the company last year, who are focussing on the tech brand’s IT architecture, which the business describes as ‘Client-Edge-Cloud-Network-Intelligence’.

The company said that its plans are part of its ongoing transformation from “a devices company to a global technology powerhouse” that also includes services and solutions.

“My vision for Lenovo’s innovation is to become one of the world’s leading ICT companies, a pioneer and enabler of intelligent transformation,” said Chairman and chief executive, Yuanqing Yang. “Our investment plan will centre around the “Client-Edge-Cloud-Network-Intelligence” architecture, with a three-track approach to focus on short-, medium- and long-term payback. Our intention is to optimize between technology with quick market returns and foundational research, and between continuous improvement and breakthrough innovation.”

The new R&D employees will focus on product and business model innovation, incubating technologies from edge computing to technology – which the company says will help businesses capitalise on the metaverse - and “emerging and disruptive” innovation like next-generation AI and heterogeneous computing.

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