Cortana-like agents will replace the web: Satya Nadella, Microsoft

By Biz Carson

SAN FRANCISCO: First, we had the PC. Then we had the browser.

Next, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella thinks it will be the "agent", the sort of virtual assistant like his company’s Cortana that controls the apps on our phone or computer for us.

"To me, AI is going to happen," Nadella said, on-stage at the O’Reilly Next: Economy summit. "It’s technology that’s inevitable."

To Nadella, the new wave of " agents", or AI-assisted services like Cortana or Siri, are going to change how we browse the web.

It’s still browsing, but it’s different because you’re not invoking every app, Nadella said. Instead, if someone asks "do I need to bring an umbrella today?" it will be the agent who knows your location and can look up the weather to see if it’s raining and say yes or no.

To Nadella, the future will be a lot of people walking around talking to their agents naturally. "‘Hey Cortana’ is in my vocabulary. Having that become more pervasive is my pursuit," Nadella said.

Microsoft isn’t the first to consider this a marked change in user interface and how people will interact with computers.