I’m in love with Lenovo’s desktop AI companions and could use their help

Lenovo brought some adorable AI concepts to MWC 2026, one of which you’ll soon be able to purchase.

Katie Collins Main writer

Katie is a UK-based journalist and features editor. Officially, she is CNET’s European correspondent, covering technology policy and Big Tech in the EU and UK. Unofficially, she is Taylor Swift’s correspondent on CNET. You can also find his writings on technology for good, ethics and human rights, the climate crisis, robots, travel and digital culture. She was once described as a “living synthesizer” by London’s Evening Standard for having a microchip injected into her hand.

How well are you focused at work? For me, it depends a lot on how I’m feeling that day, what else is on my mind, and various other factors. One technique I use quite successfully to stay focused is a pomodoro timer, and at Mobile World Congress 2026 I found what I think could be the perfect AI pomodoro companion.

I first saw Lenovo’s Magic Bay Tiko at last year’s MWC, but at the time it was just a concept. The small circular module is perched on top of your Lenovo laptop’s screen, attached via the magnetic Magic Bay on the back. The module hosts an adorable animated companion called Tiko, who you can interact with via text or voice.

Accessories with AI agents are becoming increasingly popular, especially in the wearables space, with many companies starting to offer pins and pendants. They can take on a variety of tasks, such as life recording and transcription. They can also do tasks for you, like adding items to your calendar or checking your calendar to see if you’re busy.

Tiko has a number of standard agentic AI capabilities: it can start and stop your music, open a web page for you, or answer a question. You can also interact with it using emoji. Give him a book emoji, for example, and he’ll put on his glasses and sit reading with you while you work. But my favorite Tiko feature effectively turns it into a body-double companion, which I thought would be helpful in keeping me on track on distracted days.

Body doubling is a technique in which you work alongside someone else – physically or virtually – to keep you on track and accountable. Tiko comes with a timer, allowing you to track a focused work session. When you need a break, you can switch to a “wellness break” for 10 minutes of relaxation before continuing. You can even choose to add 1 minute of breathing exercises, which Tiko will do with you, to keep you calm.

A traditional Pomodoro timer is 25 minutes of work followed by a 5 minute break, but it’s flexible. I’m enticed by the idea of ​​a physical manifestation of the timer perched above my screen, with a sweet animated friend to help me stay in control.

The good news for me is that Tiko is no longer a Lenovo concept. The company wants to sell the Magic Bay accessory later this year, although it’s not sure when or how much it will cost. The less good news is that you’ll need a Lenovo laptop with a Magic Bay port, which I don’t. It might not be practical to consider buying a new laptop just for Tiko, but it might sway me if I was already in the market for a computer.

Lenovo AI Workmate concept

Another AI companion concept from Lenovo that remains a concept for now is its AI Workmate. It’s a sort of stationary tabletop robot, similar to the Pixar lamp, but with an orb for a head.

Using a combination of cameras, microphones and projectors, AI Workmate can undertake a variety of tasks, including helping you generate and display presentations or transform your written or artistic work into a digital asset.

I asked the colleague to give me a presentation on giraffes. Using Lenovo’s proprietary templates, he generated a three-slide presentation titled “The Majestic Giraffe: Nature’s Great Enigma.” It was factually accurate, as far as I could tell, although it was unfortunately devoid of images. Its robotic head swiveled and projected the slides onto the wall next to me.

I also asked Workmate to generate a postcard from Barcelona for me. He pointed to the work on the table in front of me and I scribbled text over it. The colleague then scanned the entire image, including my handwriting, and sent it directly to the printer for me, leaving me with a tangible take-home memory of our meeting.

I can’t say I’d necessarily want something that big and bulky on my own desk, and I’m not exactly sure what practical use I have for the AI ​​Workmate concept at this point. But it was still fun to play with, and interesting to see how tech companies are dreaming up ways to bring AI into physical life so they can help us in our jobs.