As someone in charge of business applications (apps) at Microsoft (MS), sometimes I have to say uncomfortable truths, but I think the business apps we know are now truly over. (Charles Lamanna, corporate vice president, head of MS business apps and platform)
AI agents look set to take away the time people spend fiddling with apps. We are considering a future strategy for the era of AI agents. (an executive related to an app store)
Apple's App Store launched in the summer of 2008 with the iPhone 3G. Since then, an app-centric market has been set in motion. Today, most major tech products we encounter are developed with an app-first approach or are even offered only on an app basis. However, there is growing outlook that we are moving out of the era of using apps and into an era where AI agents are used as the means of interacting with digital products and services. On the ground, the change is already being felt, and preparations for the future are underway.
Market research firm Gartner last year projected that mobile app usage will drop 25% by 2027 with the rise of AI assistants. The idea is that people will use various functions via AI assistants like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Google's Gemini instead of apps. Emily Weiss, a senior consultant in Gartner's marketing institutional sector, said chief marketing officers (CMOs) should build scenario plans for the impact of declining mobile app usage.
For example, if a user asks the AI agent on a phone upon arriving at a parking lot for the first time, "Can you pay the parking fee here for one hour?", the device will be able to use the current location to identify the parking lot owner and fetch the parking fee and related terms directly. Through the AI agent, the user can complete payment simultaneously with facial recognition. In this case, the user does not have to download a parking app at all.
AI agents replacing apps could be a positive change for corporations that have not used apps, as it can reduce app development expense. However, it would be a major blow to corporations that have provided app-based services.
Satya Nadella, Microsoft's chief executive officer (CEO), said agent-style artificial intelligence can replace existing software as a service (SaaS) apps. Carl Pei, Nothing's CEO, said apps will disappear and noted that founders or startups whose core value is an app will face change, for better or worse.
Business outlet Forbes recently reported in a story headlined "AI agents are killing apps" that AI agents not only navigate instead of apps but are faster, more accurate, and tireless, so people no longer need to click through software one by one to get work done.