New Delhi

Cristiano Amon, President and CEO of Qualcomm, on Thursday said artificial intelligence (AI) is set to fundamentally transform how people perceive and use mobile devices, while also reshaping industries, networks and everyday experiences.

Speaking at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Amon said smartphones, which are currently viewed as inseparable personal devices, will evolve significantly as AI-driven robotics and automation expand across industrial and consumer ecosystems.

“We look at our smartphone as an inseparable device. In the future, the revolution is going to increase robotics in the industrial area, which will change the way we see our mobile device today,” Amon said.

Highlighting Qualcomm’s role in enabling this transition, he said the company is building both hardware and software platforms that support AI across a wide spectrum of devices — from ultra-low-power chips used in smart earbuds to high-performance processors powering data centres.

“We’re one of the few companies working on chips from sub-2 milliwatts for a smart earbud to nearly 2,000 watts for chips in data centres,” he said.

Amon underscored India’s strategic importance in this transformation, pointing to the country’s massive mobile user base and high data consumption levels.

“Look at what happened in mobile in India. India has one of the largest data consumptions per user in the world, and the internet here is primarily mobile. When you combine that with AI creating new devices, experiences and services, India is becoming a global manufacturing hub,” he said.

On next-generation connectivity, Amon said the telecom sector is approaching its next major shift with the advent of 6G, which will go far beyond faster speeds and lower latency.

“We’re heading to the next big transformation of the telecom sector. 6G is not just about faster connectivity. The big part of 6G is AI,” he said.

According to Amon, 6G networks will be AI-native, capable of large-scale sensing and real-time learning from network signals, enabling entirely new capabilities.

“One of the biggest features of 6G is that the network itself becomes a sensing network at scale,” he added, noting that such advances would unlock new devices, services and business models.

Linking AI to India’s development priorities, Amon highlighted its potential to power smart manufacturing, healthcare and education.

“With AI, you start smart manufacturing automation from the very beginning. The ability to use AI to increase scale, reach and access to healthcare, and to transform education, is incredibly powerful,” he said.

He also spoke about the rise of AI-powered assistants and emerging form factors such as smart glasses, which could revolutionise sectors like agriculture through context-aware computing.

Calling for inclusivity, Amon stressed the need to democratise AI technologies to enhance global welfare.

“It’s about meeting the ambition of democratising this technology for everyone,” he said, adding that innovation thrives through collaboration. “It’s not the job of one company to do everything. Innovation is about enabling many industries and partners.”

Amon concluded by saying Qualcomm is excited to contribute to what he described as “an incredible and exciting future enabled by AI.”