Amazon exec Panos Panay: AI-powered ambient devices will reduce app reliance

At TechCrunch Disrupt on Oct. 15, Panos Panay, Amazon's senior vice president of devices, Alexa and Leo, shared his vision for the future of personal computing. He argued that the next era will start with ambient sensing devices that run in the background, using sensors and AI to anticipate user needs without waiting for explicit commands.

Panay compared this with today's smartphone interaction, where users must first decide what the tool should do and then tap through steps. Ambient-aware devices, he said, can let people focus on what is in front of them, get more done and spend more time with others. He also stressed that privacy must be built into such devices, giving users control. He cited Amazon's Bee device as an example of privacy being incorporated into the development of ambient computing hardware.

He said he believes that as AI takes on more tasks, ambient computing products like Bee could reduce people's reliance on apps. He predicted a new balance in which a generation no longer seeks an app for every task but expects the device to understand their needs directly. Still, he does not believe smartphones will lose their role as important personal computing devices. Instead, more sensor-driven devices will appear around users, and a smart layer will connect all of them.

Before Amazon, Panay spent 19 years at Microsoft, leading Surface device development. Amazon's Bee also launched a new AI wearable on Oct. 15.