Meta Rolls Out AI Business Agent Across WhatsApp Messenger and Instagram

Meta has announced the global expansion of its Business Agent to help businesses automate customer interactions across WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram.

The company said more than one million businesses are already using a Meta Business Agent on WhatsApp and Messenger, with over one billion active conversations between people and businesses taking place daily across WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram.

“Today, we’re introducing Meta Business Agent – AI that lets every business show up for every customer as if they had an infinite team behind them,” the company said in a statement.

Businesses can set up the agent within minutes or integrate it with existing enterprise systems. The tool can answer business-specific questions, recommend products from a catalogue, book appointments, qualify leads, escalate conversations to human agents when required and complete sales transactions.

Meta is also extending Business Agent support to Instagram. The company said businesses can initially activate the feature for free, while paid subscription plans will be introduced in the coming months.

Alongside customer support functions, the AI agent will provide business owners with a daily briefing summarising missed conversations and insights from customer interactions.

“Because the Meta Business Agent responds to customers, it doubles as a partner that can deliver a morning briefing to catch you up on chats you missed overnight and provide insights on your threads,” Meta said.

The company said it is initially rolling out these management features to a select group of businesses using the WhatsApp Business app, Instagram Pro, Messenger and Meta Business Suite. Future updates will allow the agent to assist with tasks such as market research, product analysis, calendar management and competitive intelligence.

Meta also unveiled the Meta Business Agent Platform, a new infrastructure layer that allows companies to build, customise, and deploy AI agents at scale. The platform can connect with hundreds of third-party systems, including Shopify, Zendesk and Shopee, allowing agents to perform actions on behalf of businesses.

According to Meta, the platform includes enterprise controls, guardrails and measurement tools that allow companies to define operational rules and deliver personalised customer experiences through messaging applications.

The company is also introducing new discovery features on WhatsApp. Users will soon be able to find businesses powered by Meta Business Agent by searching for a business name or by sharing business contact information within chats.

Meta said the updates are intended to help businesses manage customer interactions and improve accessibility across its messaging platforms.