Project Solara is a chip-to-cloud platform for “agent-first devices,” starting with two enterprise concept designs: a smart badge and a desk companion. Best Buy, CVS Health, Levi’s, and Target are piloting it
Microsoft unveiled Project Solara at Build 2026, a chip-to-cloud platform for “agent-first devices” that run AI agents instead of traditional apps. Two concept devices, a wearable badge and desk companion, are being piloted with Best Buy, CVS Health, Levi’s, and Target.TL;DR
Microsoft unveiled Project Solara at Build 2026, a new chip-to-cloud platform designed from the ground up for devices that run AI agents instead of traditional applications. The platform includes a lightweight operating system built on AOSP, enterprise-grade security and management through Intune and Entra ID, and what Microsoft calls “just-in-time UI,” the ability for agent experiences to adapt their interface dynamically to whatever device they are running on. Two concept device reference designs were shown: a wearable badge and a desk companion, both targeting enterprise workers.
The announcement is significant because it represents Microsoft’s first attempt to build an operating system and hardware platform around the premise that apps are being replaced by agents as the primary way people interact with computers. Google, Salesforce, and OpenAI are all building agent platforms, but Microsoft is the first to extend the concept to purpose-built hardware that is neither a phone, a PC, nor a tablet.
The badge concept reimagines the corporate access badge as an always-connected AI companion. It includes a touchscreen display, a fingerprint sensor for Hello for Business authentication, a far-field microphone array and speaker for voice interaction, a side-facing camera, and WiFi, Bluetooth, 5G, and satellite connectivity, all powered by Qualcomm wearable silicon. A nurse, a retail associate, or an office worker wearing it can glance at upcoming meetings, tap to record an in-person conversation with full transcription, or ask their agents questions hands-free.
The desk concept is a small stationary device with a touchscreen, dual microphone array, speaker, UWB presence sensor, and MediaTek IoT silicon. It authenticates via facial recognition (Hello for Business) and provides ambient access to AI agents while the user works. Plugged into an external display via USB-C, it transforms into a Windows 365 cloud PC client, giving enterprises a single device that serves as both an agent companion and a thin client.
Both devices are explicitly not designed to run traditional applications. There is no app store, no browser-first experience, no traditional desktop. The entire interaction model assumes that the user’s relationship with software is mediated by agents rather than by opening and navigating individual applications.
Project Solara runs on MDEP (Microsoft Device Ecosystem Platform), an enterprise-grade operating system built on the Android Open Source Project. This is notable: Microsoft is building its next-generation device platform on Android’s open-source base rather than on Windows, a pragmatic choice that gives the platform access to Android’s hardware compatibility and driver ecosystem while allowing Microsoft to layer its own agent shell, security model, and management stack on top.
The platform is built on three pillars. First, enterprise readiness: Intune device management, Entra ID authentication, Hello for Business biometrics, and physical privacy controls including a hardware mic mute button. Second, an agent-driven interaction model with just-in-time UI that adapts across different screen sizes, form factors, and input modes. Third, extensibility for multiple agents, both Microsoft’s own (Copilot, Researcher, Facilitator, a new Priority Agent) and third-party agents built on Microsoft 365 Agents SDK, Copilot Studio, or the Microsoft Agent Framework.
Enterprise AI agents are already being deployed in retail, financial services, and healthcare, but they run on existing devices. Project Solara’s thesis is that purpose-built hardware, shaped around how agents work rather than how apps work, can deliver better experiences in specific workflows and environments.
The most technically ambitious element of the announcement is just-in-time UI. Traditionally, every new device form factor requires developers to redesign their applications for the new screen size, resolution, and input method. This is one reason new device categories are expensive to create and why they struggle without a strong app ecosystem.
Microsoft’s answer is that agents should generate their own interfaces. On a small badge screen, an agent might render a minimal card with a single action. On a desk device, the same agent produces a richer visual layout. On a connected display, it generates a full dashboard. The agent adapts its presentation to the device rather than requiring developers to build separate experiences for each form factor.
Today, this works through semi-structured approaches like adaptive cards. As AI models improve at generating layouts and interfaces, Microsoft expects the system to move toward increasingly dynamic and eventually fully generative UI. The company is explicit that fully generative UI “is not here yet” but is investing in the middle of the spectrum between responsive design and unconstrained generation.
Hundreds of Microsoft employees are already using the concept devices internally. The company has also announced a private pilot programme with AccuWeather, Best Buy, CVS Health, Levi’s, and Target, a list that spans retail, healthcare, and consumer services. GitHub Copilot and Dragon Copilot (Microsoft’s healthcare AI) are both exploring agent-first experiences on the platform.
The enterprise agentic AI market is consolidating rapidly, and Microsoft is betting that the next competitive advantage is not just having the best agents but delivering them through the best-suited devices. A nurse wearing a Solara badge that captures patient interactions, surfaces relevant records, and tracks follow-up tasks is a fundamentally different value proposition from the same nurse typing into a laptop between patients.
Whether enterprises will adopt yet another device category, with all the procurement, management, and change management that entails, is the central question. Microsoft’s answer is that agents reduce the cost of specialisation: because the agent adapts to the device, not the other way around, the barrier to creating new form factors drops. The platform is designed to make it possible, not inevitable. The pilot partners will determine whether it is also desirable.
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