Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon talks about the new world of AI agents

Imagine this. Let’s say you’re wearing glasses that have a built-in camera and display.

You are walking down the street and realize you need to make a reservation at a restaurant. Instead of using your smartphone to look up recommendations, you can simply speak to your digital assistant and various apps will complete it for you and send you a booking confirmation.

This is a new world of AI agents across new types of gadgets envisioned by CEO Cristiano Amon. Qualcomma chip company at the heart of many consumer devices.

The examples I provided include the use of several apps, such as restaurant reservation apps, payment services, and confirmation emails. Agents will be coordinating all of this, Amon said on the podcast “The Tech Download.”

Apps are “not dead,” he said, “but they’re going to change.”

“Those agents will be the new apps,” he added.

I’ve been talking to Amon for years about the changing nature of smartphones, which have become more advanced, such as being foldable and having very powerful cameras.

Many companies have tried to develop digital assistants, but apple Samsung to Bixby with Siri, but they haven’t quite delivered on that promise yet. As AI models evolve, so do the capabilities of these digital assistants.

It also means that the devices that power our digital lives are likely to change.

“Phones are all around agents. A new class of devices…will be around agents as well,” Amon told me.

These changes could also lead to a new wave of devices.

Amon said Qualcomm is working on more than 40 different designs of AI gadgets. These include jewelry, camera earphones, pins, and watches.

“The principle is something that you wear, something that you always have on you, something that allows you to see the world around you, so you have context and you can access the agent and talk to the agent,” Amon said.

But for now, he’s most bullish on smart glasses, predicting they could eventually become as big as smartphones. More than 1.2 billion smartphones were shipped last year.

We’re excited to see how the agent experience evolves on consumer devices. The potential use cases are vast, but success will depend on striking the right balance between privacy and functionality. As agents become more prevalent, privacy concerns become important.

I’m also interested to see what this means for the broader device landscape, and whether Apple and Samsung’s dominance will be challenged, or whether these companies will lead the wave of new AI gadgets.

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