Meta Platforms has introduced its Meta Business Agent, an AI system designed to help businesses handle customer communications across messaging services including WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram.
The company says the tool will allow businesses of all sizes to automate customer service and provide personalised experiences in multiple languages.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Access deeper industry intelligence
Experience unmatched clarity with a single platform that combines unique data, AI, and human expertise.
Meta states that the Business Agent can be configured in minutes or integrated directly into existing enterprise infrastructure. It is designed to answer business-specific enquiries, recommend products from a catalogue, book appointments, qualify leads, and close sales.
Businesses can also set parameters for when a human team member intervenes to offer support.
The system is being made available globally and can be activated at no cost, with future access set to include paid subscription tiers tailored to different business needs. Meta says the agent adapts to use each business’s tone and responds in customers’ local languages.
Alongside the core agent, Meta is launching the Meta Business Agent Platform. This infrastructure enables businesses to build, customise, and deploy their own AI-powered agents at scale.
According to the company, the platform can connect agents to hundreds of established tools and services such as Shopify, Zendesk, and Shopee, allowing the agents to take action on behalf of the business.
For larger organisations, enterprise-grade controls, guardrails, and measurement features are included, providing tools to define business rules and assess performance.
The Business Agent is also being added to Instagram, expanding its presence across Meta’s major messaging channels. In addition to responding to customers, the AI agent can function as a partner for businesses by providing a morning briefing.
The tool can summarise missed chats and offer insights on existing conversation threads.
Further capabilities, including support for running business operations such as market research and managing calendars, are being piloted with select businesses. These businesses are using the WhatsApp Business app, Instagram Pro, Messenger, and Meta Business Suite.
Meta said that it is planning improvements to the discovery process on WhatsApp, enabling users to find businesses with a Business Agent by searching for their name or sharing contact information in chats with others.
In a separate legal development, the European Union’s General Court in Luxembourg upheld the European Commission’s decision to apply the ‘gatekeeper’ label to Meta’s Messenger app. The court confirmed the app’s role as an important channel for business user interaction under the Digital Markets Act, reported Reuters.
The court annulled the same designation for Meta’s Marketplace, noting the Commission’s rationale was insufficient, though Marketplace’s label had already been removed after user numbers declined.
Separately, in April, Meta entered into an agreement with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to use AWS Graviton processors at scale to support its upcoming AI workloads.
