What happens when AI stops automating tasks and starts redesigning the workplace itself?

In this episode of The Future of Less Work, host Nirit Cohen sits down with Rakshit Ghura, Vice President and General Manager of Digital Workplace Solutions at Lenovo, to explore the bold ideas behind Lenovo’s Work Reborn research.

Rakshit explains why most companies are still stuck digitizing old habits, even though nearly every organization claims to be transforming.

Together, Nirit and Rakshit unpack the shift to hyper-personalization—how AI analyzes work patterns, digital friction, focus time, and preferred tools to tailor each person’s environment, even reconfiguring devices in real time. Rakshit expands the conversation beyond productivity, showing how intelligent systems can reduce burnout, support well-being, and create work that flexes around life rather than forcing people to bend around systems.

The episode also dives into democratizing innovation, the rise of digital twins that take on the repetitive “boring parts” of work, and why the organizations that thrive will be those that redeploy human capacity toward creativity, differentiation, and new value.

If you want to understand where adaptive workplaces are heading—and how AI can help every employee become the best version of themselves—this conversation offers a clear, human-centered view of what work reborn really looks like.

https://youtu.be/a4-sxtVBmmQ

Guest Information:

Rakshit Ghura is the Vice President and General Manager of Digital Workplace Solutions (DWS) at Lenovo, where he leads the company’s strategic initiatives in the digital workplace and cybersecurity domains. In this role, Rakshit is instrumental in shaping Lenovo’s vision for the future of work, focusing on areas such as workplace mobility, Device as a Service, Persona-based configuration, automation, analytics, employee experience, and collaboration, with a strong emphasis on consulting and advisory services. Prior to joining Lenovo, Rakshit served as the Senior Vice President and Global Head of Digital Workplace Services & ServiceNow business at HCLTech. During his tenure, he was responsible for defining, incubating, and creating the product roadmap and strategy for digital workplace services. Rakshit is a recognized thought leader in the industry, frequently sharing insights on the impact of Generative AI, the evolution of the hybrid workplace, and the importance of unifying people, culture, and technology to redesign the future of work. He has contributed to various industry discussions, including podcasts and whitepapers.

Chapters:

00:00 – Why Work Needs a Complete Redesign
00:57 – Digitization vs. Reinvention of Work
02:30 – Why Companies Struggle to Transform
04:18 – The Rise of Hyper-Personalized Workplaces
06:21 – How AI Learns Your Work Patterns
08:09 – Tailoring Devices and Systems to Individuals
09:10 – AI That Flexes Work Around Life
10:40 – Reducing Burnout With Intelligent Systems
11:19 – How to Build Trust in Workplace AI
13:10 – Using AI Without Creating Fear or Job Loss Anxiety
15:35 – Why AI Skills Matter More Than AI Automation
16:45 – How AI Democratizes Workplace Innovation
17:13 – Leadership in an Employee-Driven Innovation Model
17:59 – Where Organizations Get Stuck in AI Transformation
18:52 – Why “Start Small, Scale Fast” Works for AI
19:47 – People-First, Process-Second, Tech-Third Strategy
20:50 – How Companies Can Keep Up With Fast-Changing AI Tools
22:40 – The Role of Employee Learning in AI Adoption
23:30 – Real Examples of AI-Enabled Workflow Redesign
25:50 – How Digital Twins Reduce Digital Friction
26:59 – Co-Creating With AI Across the Organization
27:34 – Digital Twins and the Future of Every Job
28:58 – Doing Less of What Doesn’t Matter With AI