# Qualcomm CEO on the future of agents and devices | Satya Nadella at Microsoft Build 2026 *Microsoft* · https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MaIz4ElfBo ## Summary Satya Nadella and Cristiano Amon (Qualcomm) discuss the platform shift from apps to agents at Microsoft Build 2026's Device Lab. They talk about how agents change the nature of devices, requiring power-efficient silicon, real-time context, and many sensors from edge to cloud. They conclude that agents will drive the industry toward an open, horizontal ecosystem rather than today's vertical, phone-centered platforms. ## Key points - Cristiano Amon describes the move from apps to agents as a very big generational technology transition. - Agents will be closer to our senses—eyes, mouth, ears—and to things we wear, changing the definition of wearables. - Agent-driven devices need power-efficient CPUs, cloud-native silicon, and many sensors for real-time context from edge to cloud. - Nadella emphasizes the platform must be open: it's about any agent, not one agent. - The smartphone-centered world produced vertical platforms, but agent-centered experiences will push the industry toward an open horizontal platform. - The goal is for agentic systems to run across many devices carrying intelligence in different contexts. - Both speakers describe the Microsoft-Qualcomm partnership as just the beginning. ## Notes ### The platform shift - Satya Nadella and Cristiano Amon discuss the shift from building operating systems and devices for apps to building for agents. - Amon calls this a very big generational technology transition, because agents change the whole nature of the device itself. ### Agents closer to our senses - If an AI understands the world the way we understand it, it will be closer to our eyes, mouth, and ears, and to things we wear. - This is changing the nature of computing and even the definition of a wearable platform, with incredible new form factors appearing. ### Silicon and system requirements - Computing must be geared toward real-time context, from silicon to cloud. - Devices need a very power-efficient CPU, a cloud-native experience, and a lot of sensors for context. - This makes the experience much more personalized and bespoke than an app. ### Open ecosystem, not one agent - Nadella stresses it is not about one agent but any agent. - Today the smartphone is the center of digital life, so devices extend the phone, which naturally led to vertical platforms from one company. - When agents become the center of the digital experience, the industry will look for an open horizontal platform where agents interact with the best possible device for different applications. - The goal is to let anyone building agentic systems imagine many devices carrying intelligence in different contexts. - Both call the Microsoft-Qualcomm partnership a source of pride and just the beginning. ## Transcript [00:00] Cristiano, it's so wonderful having you here at Device Lab and to talk about these new reference designs. Very happy to be here I have been to this Device Lab a lot recently. You know, one of the things that you and I have chatted for a while is how there is a real platform shift. We're moving from building operating systems, devices for apps to agents. You want to talk a little bit about how you see this? Yeah, absolutely. In every generation of technology transition, we've seen a shift. And I think this one seems to be a very big one. Agents really changes, the whole nature of the device in itself, starting with the fact that you know, if an AI understands the world the way we understand it, [00:45] it's going to be closer to our senses. It's going to be closer to our eyes, to our mouth, to our ears, it's going to be things that we wear. And it's changing the nature of the computing. I think you need a computing that is now geared towards, real-time context and from silicon to cloud. I mean, this is sort of one of the reference designs we have, which I love. There is stuff happening at the edge here on this device, there's things on the cloud. You want to talk a little bit about the core systems and silicon implications for such a new ecosystem? You need a very power-efficient CPU. The whole silicon is designed for you to have a cloud-native experience, and then you have a lot of sensors. [01:25] Right. A lot of sensors for context. It's a much more personalized and bespoke experience than an app in itself. And I think that's changing the nature of devices, and even the definition of a wearable platform is changing in itself. And you started to see these incredible new form factors. That computing platform, one of the things that you and I have talked a lot about is how do you build it such that there is an open ecosystem, right? Because it's not about one agent. It's about any agent. This is what makes it very, very, interesting and exciting. Because the smartphone today is at the center of your digital life, the job of those devices today is to be extending the functionality of the smartphone. [02:13] And because of that, you actually saw that many of those platforms became vertical. It was a natural thing to have a vertical platform from the same company because the phone was at the center. That changes dramatically when you think about agents, and agents becomes the center of your digital experience. And I think the industry is going to be looking for an open horizontal platform that actually enable the agents to be interacting with the best possible device for different applications. And I think that's what's exciting. And we want to make it possible for anybody who is thinking of an agentic system to not just be bound to current devices, but to imagine that they can be many, many devices [02:59] that carry that intelligence in different contexts. And so that's the open ecosystem we want to build together. And again, it's so great to be partnered with you to get this started. That's awesome. We're very proud of this partnership and it's just the beginning.