Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon is preparing the chip giant for a future where people may rely less on opening individual apps and more on AI agents that can understand intent, move across devices, and complete tasks directly.
Amon said Qualcomm is working on more than 40 designs for new AI-powered devices, including wearables and smaller consumer gadgets built around personal AI assistants.
AI Agents Could Change How People Use Apps
Amon’s comments suggest that Qualcomm does not expect mobile apps to disappear immediately. Instead, the company sees a shift in how users interact with services on phones, wearables, and other connected devices.
CNBC reported that Amon said AI agents could become the new app as consumer devices change. Amon said apps are not dead, but that apps are going to change.
The idea is that users may eventually ask an AI agent to complete tasks instead of manually opening and navigating separate apps.
Benzinga reported that Amon described agents as systems that could understand user intent and perform tasks without depending on traditional app navigation.
Qualcomm Is Looking Beyond Smartphones
The more than 40 device designs show how Qualcomm is trying to position itself beyond the smartphone. The possible AI device categories include smart jewelry, earbuds with cameras, wearable pins, and watches. Amon said future AI devices could include smart jewelry, camera-equipped earbuds, pins, and watches that act as personal AI agents.
For Qualcomm, this shift is important because AI wearables will need chips that are powerful enough to process intelligent tasks but efficient enough to fit into smaller devices. Amon said Qualcomm’s roadmap is being upgraded to support smaller AI form factors.
Chip Architecture Becomes Central to the AI Device Race
The rise of AI agents could make chip design more important in everyday consumer technology. If agents are expected to listen, see, understand context, and respond quickly, more processing may need to happen directly on the device rather than only through the cloud.
Amon highlighted the need for changes in chip architecture to support smaller AI gadgets. Amon suggested the rise of AI devices could create new consumer hardware players and challenge major smartphone manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung.
That point matters because Qualcomm supplies chips used across smartphones, wearables, and connected devices. If AI agents become a major interface for users, Qualcomm’s opportunity is not only to power phones but also to provide the chips behind the next wave of personal AI hardware.
Stock Gains and Tenstorrent Deal Reports Add Market Context
Investors appeared to respond positively to Qualcomm’s AI positioning. Qualcomm shares gained 4.07 percent in Tuesday’s premarket trading and had risen 27.65 percent year-to-date.
The company is also being linked to possible AI chip expansion through acquisitions. Qualcomm is in talks to acquire AI chip startup Tenstorrent for $8 billion to $10 billion. Negotiations were still ongoing and that the valuation could change or the deal could fall apart.
Qualcomm reached a deal in May to supply TikTok parent ByteDance with application-specific integrated circuits for AI data centers. Qualcomm signed a multi-year deal in April with Snap to power future generations of Specs using Snapdragon system-on-a-chip solutions.
A Post-App Future Still Depends on Hardware
Amon’s prediction is not simply about software replacing apps. It is about a new hardware layer where AI agents may live across phones, glasses, earbuds, watches, pins, and other personal devices.
If Qualcomm is right, the next major shift in consumer technology may not be one app replacing another. It may be a move toward AI agents that sit between users and apps, deciding which service to use, what task to complete, and how much the user needs to do manually.
For Qualcomm, that future would make chips even more central. The company’s bet is clear: if AI agents become the new interface, then the devices running those agents will need the kind of processors Qualcomm wants to build.
