Samsung Chairman: ‘AI agents are getting closer thanks to smartphones’

“Up to now, there is still a gap between what AI promises to bring and the actual experience. Smartphones aim to narrow this gap,” Mr. TM Roh, CEO, President and Director of Device Experience Division (DX) Samsung Electronics, shared after the Galaxy S26 announcement ceremony in San Francisco on February 25.

According to him, every breakthrough technology goes through a similar journey: starting out as a miracle and rare, expensive and highly praised, but gradually sinking into oblivion over time, becoming infrastructure. At this time, infrastructure is a “responsibility” that must operate effectively for everyone, everywhere.

In the field of smartphones and AI, this is shown by the fact that many manufacturers are trying to bring artificial intelligence closer to humans. Mr. TM Roh assessed that AI technology is developing very quickly, almost every day. Meanwhile, mobile devices have been exploding for a long time, becoming almost an indispensable item for most users.

“AI agents are not only equipped on PCs, but are also especially suitable for mobile devices – highly mobile devices that are always with the user,” he continued. “This means that AI agents on mobile platforms (Mobile Agentic AI) are increasingly more important.”

He assessed that to bring the best Agentic AI experience, it is necessary to ensure three core elements including personalization, adaptation and autonomy. All three must operate closely and in sync with each other at all times.

“To do this, we need a device that appears in the most usage situations and is capable of collecting the most data,” explained Mr. TM Roh. “On that foundation, it is possible to continue to develop the user experience with mobile AI agents, combined with providing even better services. In addition, to expand the diversity of AI experiences, it is necessary to enhance environmental sensing capabilities.”

He also evaluated AI glasses and specialized AI-integrated devices that could create diversity in the market. However, they will develop around smartphones – the type of device with the most usage scenarios and the strongest computing capacity.

To best experience AI on mobile devices, according to him, smartphones need powerful hardware, especially processor chips, RAM, neural processing units (NPU) as well as many other processing capabilities to be optimized for AI tasks. Along with that, easy-to-use software is a factor that helps motivate users to use artificial intelligence features.

Regarding user trends, he commented that in Southeast Asia in general and Vietnam in particular, the young customer group has a very high level of interest and priority in using AI, so the frequency of using AI is also high and the corresponding level of satisfaction is also very positive. Citing data related to Galaxy smartphones, he said 9/10 young people in Southeast Asia use AI on mobile devices every day, 7/10 believe AI helps improve quality of life. Two popular functions are Circle to Search, which allows users to search directly on the screen; and Photo Assist helps edit and delete details in photos.

To further increase locality, Mr. TM Roh added that Samsung’s three R&D centers in Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines are optimizing Galaxy AI to suit the local language and environment.

Samsung has just announced the Galaxy S26 trio with many artificial intelligence upgrades through Galaxy AI towards personalization, adaptation and proactiveness. In terms of hardware, the new smartphone has a 39% more powerful NPU and a 19% faster CPU than the previous version. With the software, the company upgraded Photo Assist with the flexibility to change layouts and subjects. Circle to Search cooperates deeply with Google, allowing searching for multiple objects at the same time on photos in addition to the functions already available from its predecessor.

Along with that, the company also equipped Personal Data Management (PDE) technology on the Galaxy S26 series that learns from the device user’s preferences; Knox Enhanced Encrypted Protection (KEEP) protects and isolates data within individual applications; Knox Vault adds another layer of protection by securing sensitive information in a dedicated hardware environment.

In the interview, Mr. TM Roh also shared the issue of increasing smartphone prices, including the latest Galaxy S26 series. According to him, component costs as well as exchange rate fluctuations in some markets make price adjustments “difficult to avoid”. However, he said he is working closely with distribution partners to find ways to reduce cost pressure and deploy appropriate sales programs for users