20 Aug 2026
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Mike Boland
AWE Talks: Qualcomm Scales the Personal AI Ecosystem
Welcome back to AWE Talks, our series that revisits the best AWE conference sessions. With AWE USA recently concluded, there's a fresh batch of stage footage to keep us occupied for weeks.
We continue the action and insights this week with a look at the escalating smart glasses market. Can Qualcomm's new START program scale and democratize the development of world-class AI glasses?
See the summarized takeaways below, along with the full session video. Stay tuned for more video highlights each week and check out the full library of conference sessions on AWE's YouTube Channel.
Speakers
Nima Shams, Sr. Director - Product Management, Qualcomm
Key Takeaways & Analysis
- Smart glasses are having a moment, with no sign of slowing and 15 million+ lifetime units sold
- Meta has validated the market and the GTM formula that incorporates a top fashion brand.
- This approach has counteracted some of the style crimes that plagued past AR and AI glasses.
- Given that market validation, several other fashion and eyewear brands are ready to pounce.
- Qualcomm has observed this trend and met the moment with the well-timed START program.
- Short for Scalable Turnkey AI Ready Toolkit, it’s an end-to-end resource to build smart glasses.
- This includes the fire-tested AR1+ chip to power on-device AI and situational intelligence.
- It also includes a software stack to save time and dev resources so brands can focus on style.
- And the START program's development partners give brands resources for custom development.
- Altogether, it's a comprehensive and vertically integrated toolkit to accelerate time to market.
- To get the ball rolling, Qualcomm has partnered to create 3 white-label models as a starting point.
- The bottom line is that it lets eyewear and fashion brands focus on the parts they do best.
- It's already getting started with launch partner Inspecs, which develops Oneil and other brands.
- This is all well-timed for the accelerated growth and market validation in smart glasses, as noted.
- But Qualcomm isn't stopping there; START will extend into other wearable device categories.
- Those programs should likewise lower barriers to entry for the coming AI wearables age.
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