For years, WhatsApp has been a communication platform for businesses of all sizes around the world. Meta is now introducing artificial intelligence at this level in an effort to turn WhatsApp into a viable workflow software for small and medium businesses.
The company announced on Wednesday that it is making its AI customer support bot, now known as Meta Business Agent, available globally on WhatsApp. The launch comes as Meta has spent nearly two years testing AI agents on WhatsApp Business to support customers in countries such as India and Mexico.
Meta said the AI agent can answer customer questions, recommend products, book appointments, qualify leads and reroute inquiries to a person if needed. The company is also making the bot available in Instagram DMs.
Meta said it is testing a way for the Business Agent to provide daily updates on conversations that took place overnight and provide insights. The company is testing this feature with select accounts on WhatsApp Business, Instagram Pro, Messenger and Meta Business Suite.
The company said it is working to add features such as market research, highlighting product features, managing user diaries and linking to tools to extract competitive intelligence.
Meta said it’s also working to allow Agent to show businesses when you search for one or share contact information in chat. And it’s creating a platform that allows larger businesses to build custom agents that can connect to systems like Shopify, Zendesk, and Shopee.
Meta plans to charge businesses to use this AI agent by including it in certain tiers of the WhatsApp Business Premium subscription. The company noted that large businesses will pay for the agent based on how many brands they use.
This is critical for WhatsApp, which has relied on businesses paying for click-to-WhatsApp messages and ads.
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