Amelio began his career with IBM Corporation in 1979 and worked his way up to General Manager Worldwide Operations, Distribution and Reengineering of the Personal Computer Division before leaving for AlliedSignal in 1997.

Amelio, who started with the firm in 1997, was initially responsible for Turbocharging Systems and reestablished AlliedSystems as the industry leader in the technology.

As Lenovo's president and CEO, he oversaw the integration of the IBM PC Division, which the company purchased in 2005 for $1.75 billion.

During that period the company grew its brand internationally and, for seven successive quarters, had sales profits greater than the market.

A month later, he led the acquisition of UK-based Premier Farnell,[12] a distributor of technology products and solutions and also known for manufacturing and distributing more than half the world's Raspberry Pi single board computers.