Meta Unveils WhatsApp Business AI Agent that Can Sell and Support Customers 24/7
In Focus
- Meta Business Agent runs on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger
- The AI-powered tool can respond to customer queries and recommend products
- The AI agent will be part of the business-focused subscription tier, Meta One
Meta is adding a customer support AI agent to WhatsApp Business and is rolling the update out globally. The move is aimed at turning WhatsApp into a workflow software for small and medium-sized businesses. The new Meta Business AI Agent runs on WhatsApp, Instagram, and Messenger.
“I want to introduce Meta Business Agent, giving every business, of any size, an agent to talk to customers and help run your operation. Now, a clothing shop in Birmingham or a bakery in São Paulo can offer the same always-on, highly-personalized experience as a major brand,” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said at a London event as per CNBC.
How Does Meta Business Agent Work?
Meta’s AI agent for businesses can respond to queries and recommend products to customers. The agentic tool can also reroute queries to designated individuals where needed. It can qualify sales leads, and even book appointments.
Currently, Meta is running tests to see whether the Business Agent can provide daily briefs of messages received overnight and generate actionable business insights. This feature is being tested with specific accounts on Meta’s Business Suite, Instagram Pro, WhatsApp Business, and Messenger.
Meta plans to add more capabilities to the WhatsApp Business AI agent. These include product feature highlights, market research, and user calendar management. The tech company is also working on linking the AI agent with other tools to generate competitive insights for users.
Additionally, the company will be enabling the Meta AI agent to display businesses when users search or share contacts on chat. The company is developing a platform to enable large companies to build custom agents that connect to systems such as Shopee, Shopify, and Zendesk.
Focus on Revenue Generation
The launch of Meta Business Agent represents the company’s effort to expand its revenue sources beyond ads. Meta’s advertisement business has been thriving since Facebook started running targeted ads back in 2007. The ads business accounts for roughly 98% of the company’s revenue and AI is helping to expand it.
The WhatsApp Business AI agent will be part of the company’s business-focused subscription tier, Meta One. The social media giant unveiled Meta One last week as a premium services package targeting enterprises and creators.
Meta started testing subscriptions for AI features on WhatsApp and Instagram early this year. The company is charging companies that already use its new AI feature based on consumption. The social media giant uses the same approach for messages they send to customers through the messaging app.
What Next for Meta?
The tech company is developing agentic tools that can perform complex tasks like suggesting how business owners can grow their businesses and provide competitive intelligence. Meta, which already personalizes ads and content with AI chats, had rolled out a test version of this tool in select markets in October 2025. At the time, the company called it Businesses AI.
In the AI industry, Meta is competing with tech companies such as Microsoft and Amazon, which have already introduced agentic tools. The company is also competing with OpenClaw, the open-source AI agent platform that has become popular among users because it’s freely available.
