For over a decade, the smartphone industry has evolved in power, polish and, of course, pricing. During these years, we have seen the transition from 60 Hz to 120 Hz, quad-core to deca-core, 8-megapixel sensors to 200-megapixel monster sensors, and so much more. And yet, the fundamental way we use our phones still looks suspiciously similar to 2007: a grid of apps, a lock screen, a home screen, and a long list of chores the user must manually execute every day.
During the Digit Zero1 Awards 2025, Akis Evangelidis, Co-Founder and President, India at Nothing, argued that this status quo is about to collapse. And when it does, AI won’t just be a feature; it will be the operating system.
During the panel discussion, Akis stated that the focus should be on more practical AI features that can help you in day-to-day tasks, not something fancy. He also stressed a seamless user experience.
‘I used to be someone quite organised,’ he laughed. ‘But with Nothing getting intense in the last four years, I forget things. That’s where we built Essential Space; it’s basically a place where you dump everything that comes to mind. Voice notes, texts, reminders. It organises and builds your to-do list, especially the things my wife thinks I shouldn’t forget,’ he added.
He stated that his focus isn’t on flashy AI tricks, but on practical relief from everyday mental clutter. ‘For me, the key thing is handling the non-essentials,’ he said. ‘Think about putting an alarm, scheduling things. This device has access to my calendar. It can take away that mental bandwidth. That’s coming as soon as next year,’ he added.
For Akis, today’s smartphones cause ‘too much friction’. Even simple tasks, such as checking flight details, retrieving a booking ID, digging through an email and switching apps, feel a bit difficult in a world that claims to be intelligent.
‘The smartphone experience hasn’t changed since the first iPhone,’ he said. ‘We’re still tapping through home screens and lock screens. That hasn’t changed since the first iPhone. Meanwhile, our reliance on the smartphone has changed drastically.’
Most AI on phones today, he argued, is still just a feature layer. Useful, yes. Transformative? Not quite.
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While talking about AI taking over the smartphone industry, Akis said that it will be more ‘hyper personalised’. The devices in the future will be context-aware and offer fluid computing.
‘It won’t be one operating system for a billion users. It will be a billion operating systems for a billion users,’ he added. ‘Imagine a system that senses when you leave home and automatically resumes yesterday’s audiobook. Or even detects when you’ve mentally zoned out and pauses playback,’ he said. ‘Some of this is already possible with early brainwave-based tech,’ he stated.
And, interestingly, the idea is not science fiction. Akis suggests it’s next year’s reality.
Nothing has already begun experimenting with the ‘post-app world’ through Essential Space and its new ‘Essential Apps’, micro-apps that generate instantly based on a user’s needs.
‘These aren’t traditional apps you launch. They appear when you need them,’ Akis explained. ‘Start building that future. The future is quite near, and I’m quite excited,’ he added.
His vision is an aggregated interface that surfaces actions instead of apps, agents that complete mundane tasks without user intervention, and compute that flows seamlessly across phone, earbuds, watch and glasses.
‘The smartphone will remain the main gateway, because it has unmatched access to user context. But the experience will move fluidly from audio to smartwatch to glasses. It won’t be a sole reliance on the phone,’ he added.
Akis believes we’re at the same turning point today as when multitouch first appeared, but this time, the change isn’t about hardware; it’s about experience. While many brands are adding AI to cameras, keyboards and apps, Nothing is asking a bigger question:
‘What if AI rewrites the fundamental interaction layer itself?’
His examples were simple: alarms, boarding passes, reminders or zoning out during an audiobook. That’s exactly why they matter. A smart device shouldn’t just boost productivity; it should reduce mental load.
‘You shouldn’t have to tell the phone to do every little thing. It should understand context, anticipate your needs, and act,’ he said. ‘AI should take away the mental bandwidth of things you don’t need to think about. And this will happen as soon as next year,’ he added.
He also shared a glimpse of the convenience he envisions:
‘Eventually, the mic should capture the noise of the door slamming when I leave, and pick up my audiobook exactly where I left off. If I zone out, it knows, and it pauses automatically. Everything should be seamless,’ he said.
Nothing’s vision, as Akis puts it, is bold: the smartphone won’t just be a grid of apps anymore. It will become an AI-driven, anticipatory assistant: personal, aware and friction-free.