Nothing CEO Carl Pei Says Smartphone Apps Will Disappear as AI Agents Take Their Place

"Apps are going to disappear." That was the blunt prediction from Carl Pei, co-founder and CEO of consumer electronics brand Nothing, speaking at SXSW 2026. His vision for the AI-first smartphone — a device that acts on your intentions without being commanded — has significant implications for app developers, hardware makers, and consumers across the MENA region.

Pei's comments were not a casual observation. They reflect a thesis that helped Nothing close its $200 million Series C funding round, and one that the company is now actively building toward. The target is a new kind of smartphone operating system — not one designed around apps that humans navigate, but one designed around an interface that AI agents can use directly and frictionlessly.

The Problem with the Current Smartphone Paradigm

"The current way we use phones is very old-school. It's pre-iPhone," Pei said at SXSW. "There used to be Palm Pilots and PDAs back in the day. And if you think about the user experience, it's still very similar. You have lock screens, home screens, apps. You browse different apps. Each app is like a full-screen thing. There's some kind of app store that allows you to download more apps. So it hasn't really changed for like, 20 years."

Pei used a simple example to illustrate the friction: "Let's say we want to grab coffee. That's an intention. But to execute that intention, we have to go through so many different steps and so many different apps. It's probably like four apps to grab coffee with somebody — some messaging app, some kind of maps, Uber, calendar."

His proposed alternative is elegant in concept: a device that knows you well enough to infer your intention and execute it on your behalf, without you ever opening a single app.

Three Stages to the AI-First Device

Pei outlined a progression toward this vision. The first stage — AI that can execute discrete commands like booking flights or hotels — he dismissed as "super boring." It's table stakes, and several companies are already there.

The second stage is genuinely interesting: AI that learns your long-term intentions. If you want to be healthier, the device doesn't wait for a command — it surfaces nudges, reminders, and suggestions proactively. "When the system knows us so well, it will come up with things that we don't even [know] we wanted," Pei said, pointing to ChatGPT's memory feature as a primitive version of this direction.

The third and most transformative stage is where apps effectively cease to exist as user-facing constructs. The AI agent handles everything, and the "interface" is designed not for human navigation but for the agent itself to use efficiently. "That's not the future. The future is not the agent using a human interface. You need to create an interface for the agent to use. I think that's the more future-proof way of doing it," Pei said.

What This Means for App Developers

Pei was direct in his warning to founders: "If you're a founder or a startup and your app is like where the core value lies, that will be disrupted whether you like it or not." It's a stark message — but a nuanced one. Nothing's own operating system already lets users "vibe code" their own mini apps today, and Pei acknowledged that apps are not disappearing tomorrow. The transition will take years.

The companies best positioned to survive this shift are those whose core value is in data, relationships, or real-world execution — not in the app interface itself. A ride-hailing network, a restaurant inventory system, or a payment rail will all remain valuable to an AI agent that needs to call them. But an app whose primary value is its design or UX — the way users navigate and interact with it — faces a fundamental threat.

Sources: TechCrunch / SXSW 2026 — Carl Pei interview — March 18, 2026