At IGEL Now & Next 2026, VMblog caught up with Andy Nieto, Senior Solutions Manager at Lenovo, for an in-depth conversation covering everything from Lenovo’s expanding partnership with IGEL, to the growing intersection of AI and zero trust security, to what makes Lenovo stand apart in an increasingly competitive OEM landscape.

Lenovo + IGEL: A Deeper Partnership Than You Think

Lenovo isn’t just another hardware vendor reselling IGEL licenses. According to Nieto, Lenovo is currently the only OEM that pre-installs IGEL directly on its hardware, sells IGEL licensing both bundled and separately, and offers a complete hardware-software-services package — all available as a fully managed, MSP-like as-a-service model. For enterprises looking to simplify procurement and support across the digital workspace, that’s a compelling differentiator.

Introducing the V105Q: Lenovo’s New AMD-Powered Thin Client

One of the marquee announcements from Lenovo at Now & Next 2026 is the new ThinkCentre V105Q, the next evolution in Lenovo’s thin client lineup. Powered by AMD’s Mendocino chipset — available in both R3 and R5 configurations — and offered in fan and fanless form factors, the V105Q is purpose-built to deliver strong performance at an accessible price point for lower-tier enterprise endpoints. Whether you’re outfitting a large call center floor or expanding a branch office, this device is designed with cost-conscious deployment in mind.

Who Is Lenovo’s Core Customer?

Nieto describes Lenovo’s customer base as spanning the full enterprise spectrum — from 100-employee SMBs all the way to 50,000+ employee global organizations. The verticals seeing the most activity right now? Banking, healthcare, and manufacturing. Notably, Nieto highlights manufacturing as a particularly dynamic space, with organizations not only automating shop floor processes but also empowering knowledge workers to be more creative in how they bring products to market.

What Truly Differentiates Lenovo From Other OEMs

This is where the conversation gets really interesting. Nieto lays out a compelling three-pillar differentiation story:

1. Supply Chain Ownership — Lenovo owns its own manufacturing, unlike any other major OEM. This means full component traceability from the factory floor to final delivery — including digital photography of individual CPUs and motherboards taken during assembly, available to customers on request.
2. Firmware Transparency — Lenovo is, to Nieto’s knowledge, the only OEM that allows customers to actually read the firmware code — in a controlled, secure environment. That level of transparency is virtually unheard of in the industry.
3. Security-First Culture — Lenovo’s Chief Security Officer reports directly to the Board of Directors — not to the CEO, not to a product team. The security staff includes retired DEA, FBI, and NSA personnel embedded directly in the company’s operations.

Add to that the industry’s broadest and largest hardware portfolio, and Lenovo’s differentiation story becomes hard to argue with.

AI and Zero Trust: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Nieto takes a thoughtful, historically grounded view on AI — pointing out that the conversation around artificial intelligence dates back to John McCarthy’s work at Dartmouth in 1956, and arguably even earlier with Alan Turing’s work on the Enigma machine in the 1940s. The difference today? Natural language processing has made AI accessible, visible, and transformative at scale.

But with that transformation comes new attack surfaces. New vectors. New exposures. Nieto’s position is clear: AI and zero trust security are deeply intertwined, and as AI demands grow, so does the necessity of robust firmware controls and partnerships with security-aligned vendors like IGEL.

Addressing AI’s Hardware Demands

AI workloads are putting real pressure on the component supply chain — particularly memory. But Nieto says Lenovo has been anticipating this demand for nearly nine to twelve months, buying ahead and strategically realigning its portfolio. Being the world’s number one PC manufacturer for nearly five consecutive years has its advantages — including being first at the table when it comes to securing critical components. Lenovo’s deliberate product portfolio standardization also allows for component shifting across shared-platform devices, providing additional supply chain flexibility.

Where to Learn More

Interested in exploring Lenovo’s full portfolio and solutions? Nieto points viewers and readers to lenovo.com, Lenovo StoryHub, and Lenovo’s rapidly growing YouTube channel — which has seen a surge in content following Tech World at CES earlier this year, featuring product tours, solution explainers, and deep-dive component videos.

This interview was recorded live at IGEL Now & Next 2026 at the Fountainbleau Hotel in Miami, Florida. Watch more from VMblog with continued coverage of the event.

Back to: IGEL Now & Next 2026