TL;DR: A new Siri AI agent could arrive as early as 2027, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman. In his November 8 Power On newsletter, Gurman reported that Apple CEO John Ternus pushed software chief Craig Federighi to “accelerate” Apple’s roadmap and move beyond simply fixing Siri. Nearer-term, Siri is expected to gain finer control of Apple’s own apps around iOS 27.3 and third-party app actions around spring. None of this is announced by Apple; it is reporting based on Gurman’s sources.
The idea of a true Siri AI agent, one that keeps track of a goal and works toward it without you tapping through every step, just moved from wishful thinking to a reported plan. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple’s new CEO wants the company to move faster on AI, and Siri could start behaving “more like an agent” as soon as next year. Here is what was reported, what is expected sooner, and what it could mean for iPhone users and app developers.
What Gurman reported about a Siri AI agent
In his weekly Power On newsletter on Sunday, November 8, 2026, Gurman compared today’s Siri AI with always-on assistants from rivals. As quoted by MacRumors and The Verge, he wrote that “Dots, Muse and Grok can keep track of goals, determine what needs to happen next and continue pursuing objectives without the user initiating every individual step.”
He added: “Apple ultimately wants to go in this direction, I’m told, and I believe the company could make Siri more like an agent as early as next year.” The Verge’s version of the quote continues that Apple doesn’t have “much of a choice, given current consumer and market demands.”
Two points are worth keeping in mind. First, the 2027 timing is Gurman’s own belief based on what he has been told, not an Apple commitment. Second, MacRumors notes that even if the plan moves forward, “the exact implementation remains to be seen.”
Ternus reportedly told Federighi to speed up
The bigger story behind the Siri report is about Apple’s leadership. According to Gurman, as summarized by 9to5Mac, Ternus held a closed-door meeting in recent weeks with Federighi, who became Apple’s AI czar after the company dismissed its former AI leader last year. Gurman reports that Ternus, frustrated by what he sees as reluctance to embrace AI with the same urgency as competitors, pushed Federighi to accelerate the road map and “move quickly beyond merely making necessary improvements to Siri.”
The same report includes several other details about how Apple builds software:
- Management style: Gurman describes Federighi as very hands-on, with some employees feeling they have limited influence over product direction.
- Planning horizon: Federighi reportedly plans on a 12-to-18-month timeframe, compared with the multi-year road maps used in hardware engineering.
- Siri leadership: Mike Rockwell, the Vision Pro creator who now leads Siri engineering, is reportedly still seriously considering stepping down, possibly next year.
- New workflow: Apple is reportedly experimenting with a development pipeline that gives engineers 50% more time to code and explore, helped by improving coding agents.
There is no indication in the report that Federighi is leaving. 9to5Mac notes he has made succession planning a low priority.
What is expected before a full Siri agent
According to The Verge’s summary of Gurman’s reporting, two smaller but meaningful steps come first:
| Expected change | Reported timing | Example from the report |
|---|---|---|
| Fine-grained control of Apple’s first-party apps | iOS 27.3 | Rotating and cropping images in Photos, organizing Safari tabs |
| Integration with third-party apps | Later, around spring | Ordering through Grubhub or booking a table through OpenTable |
| More agent-like Siri that pursues ongoing goals | As early as 2027 (Gurman’s estimate) | Tracking an objective and taking the next steps without a prompt for each one |
The first two are about Siri doing things inside apps when you ask. The third is a different kind of assistant: one that keeps working on a task over time. That is the core idea behind agentic AI, and it is why the comparison with rival agents matters.
Why “agent” is a big jump for Siri
A classic voice assistant waits for a command, does one thing and stops. An AI agent is given a goal, breaks it into steps, uses tools such as apps or web services, checks its progress and keeps going. Our explainer on agentic AI vs generative AI covers the difference in more detail.
What an agentic Siri might need
Based on how agents work elsewhere, a Siri that acts more like an agent would likely depend on a few building blocks. This is general background, not reporting on Apple’s design:
- App actions: a reliable way for apps to expose what Siri is allowed to do inside them, which is what the third-party integration step is about.
- Memory and context: knowing what you asked for yesterday and what has already been done.
- Planning: deciding the next step toward a goal, similar to how reasoning models work through problems.
- Permissions and safety: asking before spending money, sending messages or sharing data.
Standards such as the Model Context Protocol (MCP) show how other AI companies connect models to tools, though nothing in the report says which approach Apple will use.
What it means for iPhone users and developers
For iPhone users
In the short term, the practical change to watch for is iOS 27.3. If the reporting holds, you should be able to ask Siri to do more specific things inside Apple’s apps. Third-party app actions would follow. A Siri that handles multi-step goals on its own is further out, and its timing is still a forecast.
Apple’s AI rollout also varies by region. In China, for example, Apple Intelligence is arriving through a partnership model, as we covered in our report on Apple Intelligence in China with iOS 27.3.
For app developers
If Siri gains third-party app control and later agent-style behavior, apps that clearly expose their key actions to the system could be easier for Siri to use. That is an inference from the reported direction, not guidance from Apple, so developers should watch Apple’s official documentation and WWDC sessions for specifics.
What we still don’t know
- Whether Apple will officially confirm an agent-style Siri, and under what name.
- Which devices and regions would get it first.
- How Apple will handle privacy and on-device versus cloud processing for long-running tasks.
- Whether leadership changes, including Rockwell’s reported deliberations, affect the timeline.
The bottom line
The reported plan for a Siri AI agent shows Apple’s leadership wants to close the gap with rivals faster. For now, the confirmed facts are limited: these are Bloomberg reports relayed by other outlets, and Apple has not announced an agentic Siri. The near-term milestones to watch are richer first-party app control in iOS 27.3 and third-party app integration in the spring.
Sources
- MacRumors: Siri AI Rumored to Become ‘More Like an Agent’ as Early as Next Year
- The Verge: Apple is racing to make Siri more agentic
- 9to5Mac: Report: John Ternus pushing Craig Federighi to speed up Apple software engineering
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