In an exclusive interview with CanadianSME Small Business Magazine, Shawn Chang, General Manager of the System Business Group at ASUS North America, shares insights into how Canadian businesses can rethink technology as a strategic driver of growth rather than a routine operational expense. As organizations navigate increasing demands around productivity, security, hybrid work, and artificial intelligence, Shawn discusses the critical role that modern business devices play in helping teams stay agile, efficient, and competitive.
Interview By SK Uddin
Shorter version: Shawn Chang is General Manager, System Business Group, ASUS North America, where he leads regional ASUS One PC business strategy and growth across consumer and business portfolios. Drawing on more than 20 years at ASUS, Shawn brings deep experience across sales, marketing, product strategy and go-to-market leadership in multiple regions, including Africa, APAP, Europe and North America.
In his current role, Shawn is focused on scaling enterprise-ready solutions, strengthening channel partnerships, accelerating AI-enabled PC adoption, and helping organizations translate innovation into practical value. His leadership approach is grounded in design thinking, data-driven execution and operational rigor, with a focus on delivering meaningful business outcomes while preserving the premium technology experiences ASUS is known for.
Canadian SMEs are facing rising costs, lean teams, and constant pressure to stay competitive. Why do you believe business owners should stop thinking of laptops and workplace devices as simple “commodity IT purchases,” and start treating them as strategic tools for productivity and growth?
For many SMEs, the laptop has become the center of the workday. It is where teams communicate, serve customers, manage operations, create content, protect information and make decisions. When that device is slow, unreliable or not secure enough, the impact is not just technical. It affects productivity, employee experience and customer service.
That is why business owners should look beyond the idea of a PC as a basic IT purchase. The right device can help a lean team move faster, collaborate more smoothly and reduce friction throughout the day. It can support hybrid work, improve security and give employees the confidence that their tools can keep up with the pace of the business.
This is exactly why ASUS continues to invest in business-ready portfolios such as ExpertBook and ExpertCenter, including premium AI PCs like the ExpertBook Ultra. These devices are designed around mobility, performance, durability, security and modern collaboration, which are all critical for growing businesses.
For SMEs, every person and every hour matters. The right technology investment should help the business work better.
When small and medium‑sized businesses plan their next PC refresh, price is often the first filter. Beyond cost, what should Canadian SMEs prioritize—performance, mobility, durability, security, AI readiness, manageability—and how do you recommend they weigh those factors?
Price will always matter for SMEs, but it should not be the only filter. I recommend starting with the work your team actually does, then choosing devices around those needs.
Performance is important because employees are multitasking across video calls, cloud tools, spreadsheets, presentations, creative work and AI-enabled applications. Mobility matters because work is no longer tied to one desk, so weight, battery life and connectivity become practical business needs. Durability and reliability matter because downtime is costly for a small team.
Security and manageability should also be part of the decision from the beginning, especially for businesses without large IT departments. Secure sign-in, hardware-level protections, reliable updates and business-grade support can help reduce risk and complexity.
The ASUS ExpertBook Ultra is a good example of this balance, combining a premium lightweight design, Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors, up to 50 TOPS of NPU performance, ExpertCool Pro thermal design and enterprise-grade security features.
The best investment is not simply the lowest-cost device. It is the device that supports productivity, security and growth over time.
AI is everywhere right now, but many business owners are still unsure what it really means for them. How should Canadian SMEs approach AI adoption in a practical way, and what does “AI‑ready” technology actually look like for a small business that wants better workflows without unnecessary complexity?
SMEs should approach AI by starting with real business problems, not buzzwords. AI is most valuable when it helps a team save time, improve quality, organize information, communicate more clearly or make everyday workflows easier.
For a small business, a practical example is meetings. Many SMEs spend a lot of time on calls with customers, partners and internal teams, but it can be difficult to capture every action item or follow-up. ASUS AI ExpertMeet is designed to help with this by supporting AI meeting minutes, real-time translation, transcription, summaries and automatically generated to-do lists, helping teams turn conversations into clear next steps.
That is what AI-ready technology should mean for SMEs: not complexity, but useful support built into everyday workflows. It also means having the right hardware foundation, including modern processors, NPU performance, memory, battery life and security, so AI-enabled tools can run smoothly.
At ASUS, our approach is to make AI purposeful and practical. AI should enhance how people already work, create and collaborate. For SMEs, the key question is simple: will this help my team work better, faster or more securely?
Many SMEs don’t have large IT departments or dedicated admins. What should they look for in business laptops and PCs that are easier to manage, secure, and scale—so they can support hybrid work, protect data, and reduce downtime without adding a lot of IT overhead?
SMEs should look for business devices that reduce complexity. Many small businesses do not have dedicated IT teams, so the technology needs to be secure, reliable and easy to manage from the start.
That begins with strong built-in security, such as secure authentication, hardware-level protection and features that help protect business and customer data. It also includes dependable performance, durable construction and devices designed for long-term daily use. For a small team, downtime can quickly become a business problem.
This is where business-focused solutions such as ASUS ExpertBook laptops and ExpertCenter desktops can help. For example, ASUS ExpertGuardian is designed to provide multi-layered protection across hardware, software and firmware, while ExpertCenter P600 AiO brings AI PC capabilities, ASUS AI ExpertMeet and business-grade security into an all-in-one desktop format.
Hybrid work adds another layer. Employees need devices that are portable, have strong battery life and support collaboration from the office, home, client sites or while travelling. The right business PC should help people stay productive and protected without adding unnecessary IT overhead.
Drawing on ASUS’s experience across consumer, creator, gaming, and commercial devices, what recent innovations are most relevant for Canadian entrepreneurs and growing teams—and what one key takeaway would you want SME leaders to remember as they plan their next technology investments in an AI‑enabled world?
One of ASUS’ strengths is that we learn across many types of users. Consumer, creator, gaming and commercial customers all push technology in different ways, and those learnings can help shape better business devices.
For example, innovations in OLED displays, lightweight materials, thermal design, AI performance, battery life and dual-screen experiences are not only exciting for consumers or creators. They also reflect where work is going. Entrepreneurs and growing teams are creating content, joining video calls, managing data, presenting to customers and working across more applications than ever before.
Recent ASUS products show this direction clearly. The ExpertBook Ultra brings premium business mobility and AI-ready performance. The Zenbook A16 offers a large 16-inch 3K OLED workspace with Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme and up to 80 TOPS NPU performance. ROG Zephyrus DUO shows how dual-screen innovation can expand multitasking and creative workflows.
My key takeaway for SME leaders is simple: technology should be treated as a growth enabler, not just an expense. The right investment should help your team work more productively, securely and confidently in an AI-enabled world.
Disclaimer:The views and opinions expressed in this interview are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CanadianSME Small Business Magazine. Our platform is dedicated to fostering dialogue and sharing insights that inspire and empower small and medium-sized businesses across Canada.
