For years, WhatsApp has been a communication layer for businesses of all sizes around the world. Meta is now infusing AI into that layer in a bid to turn WhatsApp into viable workflow software for small and medium-sized businesses.
The company said Wednesday that it will make its customer service AI bot, now known as Meta Business Agent, available globally within WhatsApp. The launch comes as Meta has spent nearly two years testing AI agents on WhatsApp Business for customer service in countries including India and Mexico.
Meta said the AI agent can answer customer questions, recommend products, book appointments, qualify leads and redirect inquiries to a person if necessary. The company also makes the bot available in Instagram direct messages.
Meta said it is testing a way for the business agent to provide daily reports of chats that occurred overnight and provide insights. The company is testing this feature with select WhatsApp Business, Instagram Pro, Messenger, and Meta Business Suite accounts.
The company said it is working to add capabilities such as conducting market research, highlighting product features, managing user calendars and connecting with tools to extract competitive information.
Meta said it’s also working on allowing Agent to show businesses when you search for one or share contact details in chat. And it’s building a platform to allow larger businesses to create custom agents that can connect to systems like Shopify, Zendesk, and Shopee.
Meta plans to charge companies to use this artificial intelligence agent by including it in some levels of its WhatsApp Business Premium subscription. The company noted that large companies will pay for the agent based on the number of tokens they use.
This is critical for WhatsApp, which has relied on businesses paying for messages and click-through ads on WhatsApp.
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