Amazon’s head of devices and services, Panos Panay, believes the era of the smartphone screen’s dominance could be approaching a turning point. Speaking at in San Francisco, he noted that increasing weariness with social media “doom scrolling” is clearing the path for a new age of “ambient intelligence”—one led by a generation that engages with technology in fundamentally distinct ways.
According to Panay, consumer technology’s future doesn’t hinge on better apps; instead, it’s about making technology fade into the background.
“There’s an entire younger generation coming up that I believe will eventually grow tired of doom scrolling,” he observed, adding that many young people feel “trapped” when it comes to social media. He argued this group—raised in an evolving “AI world”—will demand interactions that skip the friction of traditional computing.
“They’re just going to think differently,” he said. “You need to ensure you have products in their pockets, on their bodies, in their homes that they don’t anticipate… [but] expect to connect smoothly.”
The death of the ‘app’ experience
Panay outlined a user experience that removes the need to look at a screen to solve daily issues. “It’s such a pleasure because there’s no opening your phone, launching the app, tapping, searching… none of that,” he stated. “You just ask the question and get the answer back.”
He used a personal story to illustrate this shift: a family argument over which restaurant to choose. Instead of everyone retreating to their own spaces to stare at phones—a moment that usually breaks family connection—they simply asked Alexa. The AI remembered a conversation from months earlier about a restaurant they’d wanted to try, resolving the debate immediately. “It’s such a simple, joyful moment when ambient intelligence is around you,” Panay noted.
To back this screen-free future, Amazon is actively testing new hardware. While Panay declined to dive into specific product plans, he hinted that today’s smart speakers and phones aren’t the final destination.
“I don’t think we’ve seen the next device form factor for AI tools yet,” he said, adding Amazon has a “lab full of concepts,” though most won’t make it from prototype to market.
When pressed about whether Amazon would release wearables or glasses to compete with recent collaborations like OpenAI and Jony Ive’s io, Panay referenced Amazon’s product lineup, including the . “We have wearables, we have earbuds, and we’ve had glasses before.” He added he won’t disclose what’s coming next, but insisted: “I think you’ll want your assistant with you wherever you go.”
Security worries go hand in hand with these kinds of advancements too. When an audience member asked about the risks of placing listening devices in homes, Panay described security as an unbreakable agreement. “I see it as a contract with our customers, plain and simple. Break that contract, and we lose our customers.” He emphasized Amazon doesn’t “cut any corners” on security protocols, calling it the “first principle” of their product design.
The New ‘Alexa Plus‘
The link to this ambient future is the newly updated “Alexa Plus,” which Panay describes as a move from a command-focused tool to a full “home manager” and “butler.” Unlike “legacy Alexa,” which often required users to navigate complicated setups, the new AI has “unlimited depth of understanding” and contextual memory.
“If I’ve asked it two or three questions in the last few weeks… the understanding and personality will just shift and say it gets what I’m looking for,” he explained.
For Panay, the ultimate aim is to give users back their time, moving them away from screen distractions and toward meaningful activities. “I think learning is one of the greatest arts on Earth… and I believe reading fosters that,” he said, framing the shift away from doom scrolling as not just a technological change, but a cultural one.