The smartphone has been built around apps and taps for nearly two decades. Google thinks AI will fundamentally change that.
In this episode of The Deep View Conversations, we talked with Sameer Samat, president of Android ecosystem at Google, about what the company means when it says it's transforming Android from an operating system into an intelligence system.
Samat explains why the next generation of computing could shift us from micromanaging our devices to simply telling them what we want to accomplish. We dig into how AI agents could navigate apps and complete multistep tasks and why those agents need to follow us across phones, computers, cars, watches and glasses. And what happens to the app-centric model that has defined smartphones for the past 15 years?
We also get into some of the practical ways this is already taking shape. Samat discusses Google’s app automations and Rambler, the new Google Keyboard experience that can turn your voice brain-dumps into polished text. He also explains how Google is thinking about permissions, sandboxing and human oversight as AI agents gain the ability to take action on our behalf.
The conversation goes well beyond the phone. We talk about why smart glasses and cars could be especially powerful interfaces for AI agents, what Google learned from the original Google Glass, and why the best AI features may be the ones consumers barely think of as AI.
Other topics covered include:
• How AI is already changing work inside Google
• Why product managers can now build functional prototypes themselves
• Samat's favorite overlooked AI tool
• His "calendar cleanse" strategy for getting time back
If you’re trying to understand where mobile computing goes next, what AI agents will actually look like on phones, and how Google plans to weave intelligence across devices, this conversation offers insights into what the company is building and why.
📺 [Watch on YouTube](https://youtu.be/hlbuo_KbDPs)
🎧 [Listen in your favorite podcast player](https://tdv.transistor.fm/episodes/58-androids-big-leap-is-from-apps-to-agents-sameer-samat)
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