Apple Plans Agentic Siri Features by Next Year, Gurman Says

Apple is preparing a significant evolution in its virtual assistant capabilities, with plans to transform Siri into a more autonomous, agent-like system. According to a report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the tech giant aims to introduce these proactive features as early as next year. This strategic pivot marks a departure from the incremental updates that have characterized recent Siri releases, signaling a more aggressive stance in the competitive artificial intelligence landscape.

The concept of an agentic AI assistant involves a system that can independently track user goals, determine necessary steps, and execute tasks without requiring the user to initiate every individual action. Gurman notes that competitors have already moved in this direction. Meta’s Muse, OpenAI’s Dots, and xAI’s Grok Bot are cited as examples of agents that operate in the background, managing objectives and delivering results with minimal user intervention. These systems often utilize their own virtual machines to handle complex workflows, setting a new benchmark for user experience in the AI sector.

Apple’s ambition to catch up with these industry leaders appears to be driven by internal pressure to innovate faster. In a recent closed-door meeting, Apple CEO John Ternus reportedly instructed Craig Federighi, the company’s senior vice president of software engineering, to accelerate the software roadmap. The directive emphasized moving quickly beyond merely making necessary improvements to Siri, suggesting that leadership views the current pace of development as insufficient for maintaining market relevance.

While Apple has recently shipped a personalized version of Siri with iOS 27, fulfilling promises made in 2024, the assistant still lacks the ability to proactively take actions on behalf of users. Gurman suggests that Apple is well-positioned to close this gap. The company’s extensive framework, including App Intents, provides a foundation that could allow Siri to perform tasks more efficiently. Unlike some competitors that rely heavily on computer-use automation, Apple’s approach may leverage its integrated ecosystem to execute actions with lower computational costs and higher reliability.

The company is also experimenting with a new engineering pipeline designed to facilitate faster development. This infrastructure could enable Apple to roll out complex features more rapidly, addressing the need for speed highlighted by Ternus. However, Gurman cautions that the exact implementation of these agentic features remains to be seen. While the goal is clear, the specific mechanics of how Siri will interact with users and third-party apps in this new capacity have not been detailed.

This development comes amid broader scrutiny of Apple’s product strategy. Gurman has previously reported on supply chain challenges and pre-order issues, such as those surrounding the iPhone Duo. The push for advanced AI features may be an attempt to offset hardware sales fluctuations by enhancing the software value proposition. By making Siri more capable, Apple hopes to increase user engagement and retention within its ecosystem.

The competitive landscape for AI assistants is intensifying. Meta and OpenAI have invested heavily in agentic interfaces, positioning them as central to their future platforms. Apple’s entry into this space with Siri could reshape user expectations, particularly if it can deliver a seamless, privacy-focused alternative to existing solutions. The success of this initiative will depend on Apple’s ability to balance automation with user control and data security.

As Apple moves forward, the tech community will be watching closely to see how it interprets the concept of an AI agent. The company’s reputation for polished user experiences suggests that any new Siri features will likely emphasize simplicity and reliability. However, the technical challenges of building a truly proactive assistant are significant, requiring robust backend infrastructure and sophisticated machine learning models.

The timeline for these updates remains tentative. While Gurman believes a debut could occur as early as next year, he does not confirm that the plan is finalized. Apple typically keeps its product roadmap closely guarded, and changes in development priorities are not uncommon. The company’s ability to execute on this vision will be a key test of its software engineering capabilities in the coming months.

Key takeaways

• Apple aims to make Siri function as a proactive agent by next year, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
• CEO John Ternus has directed software chief Craig Federighi to accelerate the company’s software development roadmap.
• Competitors like Meta, OpenAI, and xAI already offer agents that execute tasks without continuous user input.
• Apple is testing new engineering pipelines to enable faster development of advanced AI features.
• The shift leverages Apple’s App Intents framework to potentially reduce reliance on complex automation.