Copilot+ PCs: What Levi’s Teaches IT Leaders

How Levi’s used Copilot+ PCs to fix crashing, inconsistent devices

Levi Strauss & Co. shows how Copilot+ PCs solve real problems: crashing laptops, inconsistent builds, and devices that choke on large spreadsheets. By standardizing on Windows 11, Microsoft Intune, and AI-ready hardware, Levi’s created a stable, high-performance baseline that finally keeps up with data-heavy, modern retail work.

Before the shift, finance teams at Levi’s were wrestling with 20,000-line files that routinely crashed older devices and lost work. One finance manager went through multiple laptops that simply could not handle the workload. At the same time, employees worldwide joined meetings differently, requested apps differently, and received devices configured in inconsistent ways, creating friction at every step.

Levi’s tackled this device chaos first. They deployed Microsoft Intune across all endpoints and made Windows 11 the new standard. That meant a new hire could open a laptop anywhere in the world, sign in, and automatically receive the right apps and security policies. On top of that foundation, they introduced Surface Copilot+ PCs so those same employees could work with AI-powered workloads without stalls or crashes.

What Copilot+ PCs and Intune changed for IT and employees

For Levi’s IT team, Windows 11 and Intune turned endpoint management from firefighting into planning. With a single pane of glass, they can see compliance, push updates, and report on the global fleet. Application deployment became predictable, and future hardware planning shifted from guesswork to data-driven decisions.

On the employee side, Surface Copilot+ PCs delivered tangible quality-of-life gains. The finance manager who used to dread end-of-month reports now runs those same 20,000-line workbooks without crashes, describing the change as “phenomenal.” Lighter devices, long battery life, and instant performance reduced anxiety while still supporting complex analysis work.

AI integration is built into the experience. With a dedicated Copilot key, help is one click away inside Windows 11 and Microsoft 365 apps. Instead of learning yet another standalone tool, Levi’s employees interact with Copilot where they already work—Teams, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint—making adoption far easier than a separate analytics or automation platform.

Turning year-long projects into one day with Microsoft 365 Copilot

Levi’s used Microsoft 365 Copilot to attack slow, document-heavy processes. In one case, a team faced thousands of Standard Operating Procedure documents that needed review and simplification. Leaders estimated the work would take about a year of manual effort—and it would be tedious, error-prone work.

By building a Copilot agent to read, summarize, and flag opportunities to streamline SOPs, they cut that timeline down to a single day of results. Instead of line-by-line reviews, humans focused on decisions and changes, not scanning pages. That shift—from reading to deciding—is where AI + modern devices showed clear business value.

Another internal agent, “Ask Ben,” helps employees navigate complex benefits information. Built with Copilot on Windows, the HR team went from idea to an executive-ready demo in about three weeks. Success with Ask Ben sparked demand for more agents, illustrating how one well-executed AI use case can create pull for broader adoption.

Lessons for IT leaders planning an AI PC rollout

For IT leaders, the Levi’s experience highlights a key point: AI PCs are only as valuable as the groundwork you lay. Standardize first with Intune and Windows 11 so every user, department, and region shares the same secure, manageable baseline before you introduce Copilot+ PCs at scale.

Use concrete business cases—not hype—to justify the investment. Levi’s didn’t start with abstract “innovation”; they tackled device crashes, inconsistent onboarding, and a year-long SOP review. Backed by independent research, AI PCs can deliver strong ROI: a 2025 Forrester study on Copilot+ PCs projected roughly 137%–367% three-year ROI for a composite enterprise, driven by productivity and IT efficiency gains (Microsoft).

Start with 2–3 targeted pilots: a finance reporting scenario, a document-heavy process, and one employee-support agent in Teams. Measure time saved, crash reduction, and help-desk volume. Then, use those metrics—and examples like Levi’s—to build a roadmap that moves your organization from scattered devices to a consistent, AI-ready endpoint strategy.