Samsung bets on AI tools to win over stressed City workers
Samsung is pitching its new Galaxy S26 range as a productivity tool for professionals who increasingly rely on one device to manage work, travel and everyday admin.
The company has unveiled the S26 series, with UK vice president of product and marketing Annika Bizon describing the launch as a major step forward on hardware and AI, with features designed to cut down the friction of day-to-day phone use rather than simply add new gimmicks.
For business users, smartphone makers are expected to provide far more than just messages and email.
They have become wallets, cameras, travel planners, document viewers, diary assistants and, for a growing number of hybrid workers and small business owners, the main device through which work gets done on the move.
“The amount of admin and time it will take for a professional out of their lives, so they can get on and do the things they need to do, that’s the bit I’m super excited about,” Biznon told CityAM.
The pitch is built around three main features: a new privacy screen, expanded AI tools and changes to the camera.
Samsung says the S26 series is its thinnest and lightest yet, but the bigger commercial question is whether buyers see enough value to upgrade in a market where people are holding on to devices for longer.
Bizon described the device as a kind of daily assistant. “I get up in the morning, first of all, it’s sitting there giving me a complete breakdown of what my diary looks like for the day,” she said. “But not only that, it’s saying to me, ‘Do you know what, Annika, you’ve got to leave now because you’ve got a meeting at 9:00 and the traffic looks like this.'”
Bizon gave another example of the device using context from messages and calendar data to suggest next steps. “My friend texts me to say ‘Are we meeting for lunch?'” she said. “At that point, agentic AI will look at my diary and go, ‘Do you know what, Annika, you probably need to book an Uber.'”
She claimed the phone should work alongside the user: “It’s kind of working with my life instead of me sort of jostling”, she added.
Privacy and shelf-life
Samsung claims that its new privacy display setting is the launch’s “main exciting hook”. The phone-maker says it allows users to limit what other people can see from side angles, either across the whole display or just on chosen apps.
“I’m on the tube and the person beside me is shoulder-surfing me and I’m looking at it going, ‘Hang on a second, I’m looking at some private documents,'” Bizon said. With the privacy screen, she said, “I can see it, the person beside me can’t”.
The company is also leaning heavily on security and longer-term ownership of their items. Bizon said customers increasingly want reassurance that buying a premium phone is not just a short-cycle expense. “We want to give consumers confidence in the fact that when they buy into Samsung, they’re on a journey with us”, she added.
Samsung’s new Galaxy Club promises buyers some value back if they upgrade within a set window, as well as product care and protection.
In a market where flagship prices are high, making upgrading feel less like a managed subscription-style decision.
People seem to generally be keeping phones for longer, but those spending at the premium end still want the latest features when the value equation makes sense.
Bizon said Samsung’s job was to make that transition easier and “as affordable for them” as possible.