About Lenovo CTO Org
Lenovo CTO Org is the cutting-edge R&D and technology incubation organization of Lenovo, dedicated to advancing information technology, smart devices, and services. Our mission is to turn breakthrough innovations into real businesses, powering Lenovo’s most advanced products and services and shaping the future of AI, hybrid computing, edge technologies, and beyond.
About the Role
This role sits at the core of Lenovo CTO Org’s Tech Incubation team, focused on accelerating commercialization of early-stage technologies by acquiring and managing pilot customers and design partners.
You will help bring new innovations from lab to market by identifying early adopters, opening doors to strategic enterprise customers, and establishing pilot engagements that validate product-market fit. Our incubation portfolio spans AI-driven products across robotics, smart manufacturing, full-stack AI agent solutions, sports technology, and other emerging domains.
Success in this role requires both strong business development instincts and technical credibility. You must be comfortable introducing net-new offerings without established references, engaging senior technology and business stakeholders, and collaborating closely with product and engineering teams to shape solutions that address real customer problems.
You will act as the bridge between customers and incubation teams (product managers, engineers, and solution delivery teams), ensuring that real-world customer insights directly inform product strategy, roadmap prioritization, and commercialization pathways.
Key Responsibilities
Customer Acquisition & Design Partner Development
- Identify, target, and secure pilot customers and strategic design partners for early-stage technologies.
- Develop account penetration strategies including stakeholder mapping and value hypothesis articulation.
- Lead outbound engagement efforts, leveraging personal networks, ecosystem relationships, and industry presence to generate new opportunities.
- Build and manage executive-level relationships within enterprise innovation teams and technology organizations.
- Represent Lenovo externally in customer engagements, industry events, and ecosystem collaborations.
Technical Discovery & Solution Engagement
- Conduct deep technical and business discovery conversations to understand customer environments, workflows, and pain points.
- Lead consultative engagements for evolving products that are still in incubation.
- Engage credibly with technical and operational stakeholders within customer organizations.
- Translate complex technical capabilities into clear business value propositions and early ROI narratives.
- Partner closely with Product Managers and engineering teams to relay validated customer needs and feedback.
Customer Pilots & Market Validation
- Identify, secure, and own relationships with pilot customers and design partners for incubation projects.
- Serve as the primary point of contact for pilot customers, ensuring strong engagement and alignment throughout the pilot lifecycle.
- Work closely with Product Managers and engineering teams to facilitate successful pilot engagements and customer collaboration.
- Capture structured customer feedback and convert it into actionable insights for product and commercialization strategy.
- Help evaluate repeatability and scalability of early customer engagements.
- Serve as the voice of the customer within the incubation team.
- Provide market intelligence on competitive dynamics, buyer behavior, and emerging customer needs.
What We Look For
- A builder with a hunter mindset who enjoys creating opportunity from ambiguity.
- Demonstrated ability to open enterprise doors and secure early design partners for innovative offerings.
- Strong experience in consultative or solution-based selling, particularly for emerging or evolving products.
- Technical credibility that enables meaningful engagement with technical and operational stakeholders.
- Ability to translate customer discovery into structured insights that inform product and commercialization decisions.
- Comfort operating in early-stage environments where messaging, pricing, and positioning are still evolving.
- Strategic thinking capability to connect individual customer engagements to broader market opportunities.
- Strong executive presence and relationship-building skills with senior technical and business stakeholders.
- Passion for emerging technologies and bringing breakthrough innovations to market.
Required Qualifications
- 8+ years of experience in enterprise business development, strategic sales, customer development, or early-stage commercialization within technology-driven organizations.
- Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Business, or related field.
- Proven experience securing new enterprise opportunities for emerging or early-stage products.
- Experience managing pilot customers, proof-of-concepts, or design partner programs.
- Strong ability to build relationships and open doors in enterprise environments.
- Experience working closely with product, engineering, or technical teams to shape product direction based on customer feedback.
- Demonstrated success in consultative or solution-based selling methodologies.
- Ability to operate effectively in ambiguous, fast-moving 0→1 environments.
- Strong communication and storytelling capabilities with executive stakeholders.
Preferred Qualifications:
- MBA or equivalent experience preferred.
- Familiarity with AI, advanced computing, or emerging technologies is highly desirable.
- Experience in startup, venture-backed, or corporate incubation environments is a plus.
