Who is Carl Pei? The Nothing CEO, who has predicted the end of smartphone apps

Carl Pei, the co‑founder and CEO of Nothing, is one of the most talked-about voices influencing the future of smartphones. At SXSW 2026, he discussed a bold idea he has been developing for years, that the way we use phones is about to change radically.


But why?
Thanks to AI!

According to TechCrunch, covering his SXSW interview, Pei said that “apps are going to disappear” and that AI agents will take over the jobs our apps do today.

This isn’t just a vague prediction; it’s a vision for a new kind of phone experience, where you don’t manually open apps but instead tell the phone what you want, and the system handles it for you in the background.


Pei’s comments are already shaking up how tech founders and app makers think about their business models, and they fit into a broader industry push toward AI‑first devices and operating systems.

Who is Carl Pei?

Carl Pei is the co-founder and CEO of Nothing, a consumer‑tech brand best known for its distinctive, design-forward smartphones and audio products. Before launching Nothing in 2020, he was a co‑founder of OnePlus and helped build the brand into a cult favourite among Android enthusiasts.



Today, he continues to grow Nothing as a challenger to big players like Apple and Samsung, with a strong focus on AI‑native devices and user‑centric software.

At SXSW 2026, Pei spoke about how AI is building and redefining the smartphone experience and once again stressed that the current app‑centric model may not last. “In terms of AI in software, I think people should understand apps are going to disappear,” he said during the interview, as reported by TechCrunch.



He warned founders and startups that if their entire business is built around an app, that core value will be disrupted, whether they like it or not.

Why apps are going to 'disappear'

Pei’s main argument is that today’s smartphone experience is old and clunky. According to reporting from TechCrunch and other outlets, he pointed out that it is still “very hard to get things done on a phone,” because a simple task like grabbing coffee can force you to juggle four or more apps, messaging, maps, ride‑hailing, and calendar.



In his view, the future lies in AI agents that act on your behalf. “If you’re a founder or a startup and your app is where the core value lies, that will be disrupted, whether you like it or not,” he said in the SXSW interview, as quoted by TechCrunch. He added that if your app represents your core value, you should think differently, by opening up your API or MCP so that AI agents can use it directly, instead of trying to “click around like a human” inside the app.

From one‑app phones to AI‑native devices

Pei has long suggested that the entire phone might end up with just one app, and that app will essentially be the operating system. In a previous interview, he told Wired that “there will only be one app on your phone, and that’s the operating system,” arguing that this system will know you well, predict what you want, and “agentically” handle tasks for you.

Bigger role for AI, new devices, and the US

In the same SXSW session, Pei talked about how the smartphone will still exist for at least five years, but will share space with new kinds of AI‑native devices.