Business EconomyPosted at: Jul 8 2026 12:11PM


WhatsApp unveils Meta Business Agent for businesses in India

Bengaluru, July 8 (UNI) WhatsApp on Wednesday announced the launch of Meta Business Agent, an artificial intelligence-powered assistant designed to help businesses engage with customers round the clock, while also unveiling the Meta Business Agent Platform for large enterprises to build and deploy customised AI agents at scale.
The announcements were made at the third edition of WhatsApp's annual Business Summit held in Mumbai.
The Meta Business Agent is designed to automate customer interactions by answering business-specific queries, recommending products from business catalogues, booking appointments, qualifying leads, assisting with sales and handing over conversations to human agents whenever required. The AI assistant also provides businesses with summaries of missed conversations and customer insights to help improve operations and customer engagement.
Speaking at the summit, Arun Srinivas said India has emerged as one of the world's most dynamic markets for conversational business, with messaging becoming the preferred way for consumers and businesses to connect. He said the Meta Business Agent marks the next phase of AI-driven business transformation by helping companies strengthen customer relationships, improve efficiency and drive growth.
Meta also introduced the Meta Business Agent Platform for larger enterprises, enabling businesses to build and customise AI-powered agents while integrating them with existing business systems such as Shopify, Zendesk and Shopee. The platform works alongside the WhatsApp Business Platform and offers enterprise-grade scalability, controls and performance measurement.
The company said early adopters, including Swiggy, Madhulika Enterprises and Kaizen Adventours, are already using the platform to improve customer engagement and automate business operations.
According to Meta, Swiggy is using the AI agent to simplify onboarding of delivery partners through WhatsApp, while Madhulika Enterprises reported a 25-30 per cent increase in conversions and a significant reduction in repetitive customer queries. Kaizen Adventours said the AI assistant has helped reduce response times and manage peak-season customer enquiries more efficiently.
WhatsApp also announced new discovery features that will soon allow users to search for businesses by name directly within WhatsApp Search and share business contacts with friends and family, making it easier to connect with verified businesses.
The company said businesses interested in enabling Meta Business Agent can join the waitlist through Meta's business platform.
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