Meet Nishi Vijan, Middle East HR Partner at Lenovo. With over 15 years of experience in Human Resources across high-tech organisations in the Middle East, Africa, and Türkiye, she works at the intersection of business strategy and people management. In this interview, Nishi reflects on balancing business performance with employee advocacy, leveraging HR data analytics, and building inclusive corporate cultures across diverse regions.

Interviewed by Nafisa Raihana

You have over 15 years of experience in Human Resources within the high-tech sector, and you have navigated massive shifts in how companies operate. What specifically drew you to HR in the technology field, and how has your role evolved since you first started, particularly amid the rapid rise of AI and its impact on the workplace?

My tech journey started because I got an internship at a high-tech company, and I had the opportunity to grow into the role from there. In hindsight, I am very glad I did because I absolutely love the industry. What's amazing about technology is that it is constantly changing and disruptive. When I started off, tablets were entering the market, and people predicted the decline of notebooks. Then came the pandemic, and everyone needed notebooks again. Now, we are navigating the AI disruption.

I have been fortunate to work in companies where HR has never been viewed as just a process or compliance function. While basic operational hygiene is essential, what I truly enjoy is sitting with the business, understanding financial numbers, and connecting them directly to people strategies. AI has helped me move away from repetitive, day-to-day administrative tasks. It gives us time to focus on strategic organisational design, such as developing a blueprint for what our organisation should look like over the coming years. Every year brings a new shift, which keeps me deeply engaged and energised.

What I truly enjoy is sitting with the business, understanding financial numbers, and connecting them directly to people strategies.

With the rapid rise of AI, do you feel it is truly transforming the HR role, or what is your personal take on how much AI can actually handle?

To be honest, I am probably using about 7-10% of the AI capabilities out there. It is a vast world. AI definitely helps us clean up data and run analytics faster. However, you quickly realise that errors come along with it.

Human intervention is essential. In HR, we operate in a grey area where everything is context dependent. There are always a story and a human reasoning behind a number that AI simply cannot understand. AI is a helpful tool that relies heavily on the quality of input you give it, but it will never replace human judgment and context.

In a fast-paced, high-performance tech environment like Lenovo, how do you balance business priorities with ensuring that employees feel supported, heard, and represented? How has that balance evolved with the rise of hybrid and remote work?

I do not view high performance and employee priorities as opposing factors; they go hand in hand in a give-and-take relationship. In the organisations I have worked for, we have placed a lot of effort into supporting our employees through everyday life. Giving flexibility for personal needs, whether it is school runs, doctor appointments, or taking a break during the day to spend time with family, builds genuine loyalty. When employees feel supported, they want to give back to the business.

Regarding hybrid work, having laptops allows us to connect from anywhere, but coming to the office remains crucial. Conversations over video calls can be limited, whereas informal "coffee talks" in person hold immense value. Seeing people in person helps you understand their tone, mindset, and context far better than an email ever could. Achieving the right balance comes down to transparency: pursuing ambitious business targets while remaining deeply sympathetic to your people.

High performance and employee priorities are not opposing factors; they go hand in hand in a give-and-take relationship.

As a data-driven professional who enjoys leveraging analytics, how does Lenovo use analytics to make more informed decisions around recruitment, retention, and employee experience?

Data helps replace reliance on pure gut feeling or intuition by backing up your decisions or showing you are off track. For example, Lenovo is a complex global organisation, and it can take new hires time to navigate its complexity. When we analysed our attrition data, we noticed a clear pattern: we were losing talent primarily within their first one to two years, whereas those who stayed past that threshold tended to have long tenures.

Having data to confirm this reality allowed us to act strategically. We revamped our onboarding experience and created a more comprehensive induction program to bridge that early transition gap. Analytics is not just about collecting numbers; it is about asking the right questions over those numbers.

How is data analytics specifically helping you improve the recruitment process?

While I do not handle talent acquisition directly, our recruitment teams work with comprehensive dashboards. We track metrics such as the number of days to close a position, the volume and quality of incoming CVs, and the overall company investment per recruit. Having this data allows the talent acquisition team to measure investment efficiency and continuously refine their sourcing strategies.

Analytics are not just about collecting numbers; they are about asking the right questions over those numbers.

Your career has spanned the Middle East, Africa, and Türkiye, and you've led regional expansions. What are the unique challenges of building a unified, collaborative company culture across such culturally diverse places, and how do you ensure global strategies land effectively on a local level?

In our Dubai office alone, we work with around 40 different nationalities. Across the region, each market brings distinct strengths, from the incredible hospitality in Saudi Arabia to the enthusiasm of our South African teams and the meticulous attention to detail in our Chinese teams.

The key to unifying diverse teams is aligning core principles and values. You cannot simply plug in a global strategy and demand that local teams follow it blindly. You need buy-in from local leadership and employees. You must understand how to adapt and localise the initiative while maintaining its essence.

It requires asking questions, being curious rather than judgmental, and understanding which elements might cause pushback so you can adjust them to foster genuine acceptance.

You are deeply passionate about championing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). From your perspective as an HR leader at a major global technology firm, what are the most effective ways organisations can move beyond DEI as a corporate buzzword and build truly inclusive environments where women can thrive in leadership?

Real inclusion is not built through massive, one-off corporate programs; it is built through every day, step-by-step actions. It starts at the bottom by ensuring that our daily way of working provides everyone with equal access to high-visibility projects, promotions, and leadership sponsorships.

It also requires examining our unconscious biases. For instance, in a recent DEI workshop, we discussed how job postings often demand "relevant high-tech industry experience." While hiring managers want plug-and-play candidates to minimise risk, we must question whether such rigid requirements unconsciously exclude qualified talent from other backgrounds. DEI is not about giving unfair advantages to a specific group; it is about systematically removing barriers so that no group is prevented from accessing opportunities.

DEI is not about giving unfair advantages; it is about systematically removing barriers so that no group is prevented from accessing opportunities.

From your experience in the tech industry, what is your perspective on hiring biases against women, particularly when stepping into leadership roles?

In the companies I have worked with, DEI has always been actively promoted. For example, in our Türkiye market, women represent 50% of our workforce and around 35-40% of leadership roles. Personally, I have not experienced pushback in my organisation simply because I am a woman.

However, women globally do face distinct societal hurdles and gender roles. To counteract unconscious biases, organisations must establish structured, equal-opportunity practices. At Lenovo, we do not allow one-on-one hiring without proper processes, and for mid-level positions and above, we aim to ensure at least one female candidate is in the final interview rounds. It is about building equal access rather than forced inclusion.

You also have a strong passion for empowering the next generation of leaders. For young professionals, particularly young women looking to enter into the tech sector, what is the most valuable piece of advice you can offer them as they start their careers?

First, be curious and build deep expertise in your field, but also build a strong financial understanding of your business. Understand revenue, margins, costs, and what drives the bottom line. When you can speak the financial language of different business functions, your presence is immediately felt in the room.

Second, do not shy away from asking questions or sharing your ideas. It can be intimidating to sit in a room full of experienced leaders using company jargon, but asking questions helps clarify ambiguity and earns trust. Be your own self-advocate. Quietly doing a good job is great, but speaking up about your achievements helps leaders recognise your capabilities for future sponsorship. Lastly, stay authentic to yourself. Learn from role models while developing your own style and invest in building long-term relationships.

Be your own self-advocate. Quietly doing a good job is great, but speaking up about your achievements helps leaders recognise your capabilities for future sponsorship.