Microsoft has unveiled Project Solara, a new operating system and hardware platform designed to run AI agents on small, low-power devices – including a wearable access badge aimed at office workers that can see, listen, and act on behalf of the user.
The announcements came at Microsoft Build 2026, where CEO Satya Nadella and senior executives outlined a broader shift in company strategy – away from traditional software navigation and toward AI agents that carry out complex tasks autonomously.
What Is Project Solara?
Project Solara is a new platform built from the ground up to power AI agent-driven experiences on compact hardware.
Unlike Microsoft's existing software portfolio, it runs on Android – specifically Microsoft's own Device Ecosystem Platform – rather than Windows.
The choice was deliberate: Android allows the devices to run on lower-power hardware while retaining the security and management capabilities enterprise IT teams expect.
Microsoft Fellow Steven Bathiche described the platform as "highly flexible," designed to support a wide range of device form factors that hardware manufacturers can build around.
The Two Concept Devices
Microsoft demonstrated two prototype devices running Solara at Build.
The first is a desk unit – roughly the size and shape of an Amazon Echo Show – that unlocks via facial recognition and gives workers quick, voice and touch-activated access to their AI agents.
The second, and more striking, is a wearable access badge. Designed to hang around the neck on a lanyard or clip to a belt loop, the badge is roughly the size of a standard ID card and packs a small camera, a touchscreen, and a fingerprint scanner. A single press wakes an AI agent.
In one demonstration, Bathiche used his fingerprint to unlock the badge, then directed its camera toward the audience and asked the agent to capture and forward images of the crowd – a task it completed in moments.
The camera capability, Microsoft said, enables agents to perceive and respond to a user's physical surroundings."
Nadella was also shown wearing the badge on a lanyard during the keynote – a visual nod to the office access cards the device is clearly modelled on.
