AWS Unveils Game-Changing AI Agents and More at What’s Next Event 2026

At the 2026 What’s Next with AWS event, CEO Matt Garman, SVP Colleen Aubrey, CMO Julia White, and OpenAI leaders took the stage to showcase how AI agents are reshaping business operations. The event highlighted two major product expansions: Amazon Quick, a work assistant now with a desktop app and flexible pricing, and Amazon Connect, which evolved into a suite of four specialized agentic AI solutions. Below are the key questions and answers from the announcements.

1. What major announcements were made at the What’s Next with AWS event in 2026?

The event centered on two transformative product unveilings. First, Amazon Quick received a major upgrade: a desktop app (preview), new Free and Plus pricing plans, on-the-fly visual asset generation, expanded third-party app integrations, and the ability for users to build custom apps using natural language. Second, Amazon Connect transformed from a single customer service product into a comprehensive suite of four agentic AI solutions targeting supply chain planning (Decisions), talent acquisition (Talent), customer experience (Customer), and healthcare (Health). These tools are designed to integrate into existing workflows and augment human decision-making with AI teammates.

2. What is Amazon Quick and what new features were introduced?

Amazon Quick is an AI-powered work assistant that connects to multiple business tools, learns user preferences, and takes actions on behalf of the user. New features introduced at the event include a desktop app (preview) that works without a browser, Free and Plus pricing plans accessible with any email or social login (no AWS account required), the ability to generate visual assets like documents and infographics directly in chat, and expanded native integrations with Google Workspace, Zoom, Airtable, Dropbox, and Microsoft Teams. Additionally, users can now build custom apps using natural language—creating intelligent dashboards, web pages, and apps tightly connected to business data.

3. How does the new Quick desktop app work?

The Amazon Quick desktop app (currently in preview) allows users to maintain a personalized experience without relying on a web browser. It stays connected to local files, calendar events, and communication tools, enabling seamless access to information and the ability to execute tasks directly from the desktop. This eliminates the need to constantly switch between browser tabs and local applications, making the assistant more integrated into daily workflows. Users can interact with Quick through natural language commands to retrieve documents, schedule meetings, send messages, and more, all while keeping their data synchronized across devices.

4. What pricing plans are available for Quick?

Amazon Quick now offers two pricing tiers: Free and Plus. The Free plan is designed for individual users who want to explore Quick’s basic capabilities, such as chat-based assistance, limited integrations, and simple tasks. The Plus plan provides advanced features—unlimited visual asset generation, priority support, larger custom app builds, and faster processing. Both plans can be started in minutes using a personal email address or existing credentials from Google, Apple, GitHub, or Amazon—no AWS account is required. This low-friction sign-up aims to attract a broad user base beyond AWS customers, making Quick accessible to anyone needing an AI assistant for work.

5. What can users do with Quick's visual asset generation?

With the new visual asset generation capability, Amazon Quick allows users to create polished documents, presentations, infographics, and images directly from the chat interface. Users simply describe what they need in natural language—for example, “Create a three-slide presentation on quarterly sales trends”—and Quick generates the output instantly. No design skills or hours of formatting are required. This feature is ideal for professionals who need to produce high-quality visual content quickly, such as marketers preparing campaign materials, team leads drafting reports, or educators creating handouts. It leverages generative AI to handle layout, color schemes, and content structuring, letting users focus on message rather than mechanics.

6. Which new app integrations does Quick support?

Amazon Quick has expanded its native integrations to include five major applications: Google Workspace (Gmail, Drive, Calendar), Zoom (meeting scheduling and transcription), Airtable (database and project management), Dropbox (file storage), and Microsoft Teams (chat and collaboration). These join existing integrations with platforms like Slack and Salesforce. The added connectivity means Quick can now pull information from a user’s email, files, meetings, and shared workspaces to provide context-aware assistance. For example, a user could ask Quick to “summarize the emails from this week’s project team” and get a response that draws on Google Workspace data, or “schedule a Zoom meeting with the team next Tuesday” without leaving the chat interface.

7. What is the new Amazon Connect suite and what are its components?

Amazon Connect has evolved from a single contact center product into a suite of four agentic AI solutions: Amazon Connect Decisions for supply chain planning, Amazon Connect Talent for hiring, Amazon Connect Customer for customer experience, and Amazon Connect Health for healthcare. Each solution integrates AI teammates that adapt to business processes, learn from human feedback, and continuously improve. Connect Decisions leverages 30 years of Amazon operational science and over 25 specialized supply chain tools to shift teams from crisis management to proactive planning. Connect Talent (preview) offers AI-led interviews, science-backed assessments, and consistent evaluation to help recruiters hire faster while reducing bias. Connect Customer (formerly Amazon Connect) enables intelligent, personalized interactions across voice, chat, and digital channels with quick setup. Connect Health applies similar AI capabilities to healthcare workflows, though specific details were limited during the event.