Overview
- Meta unveiled Meta Business Agent and the Meta Business Agent Platform Wednesday at Conversations 2026 in London as ready-to-deploy tools for companies using WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram.
- The agents can answer customer queries, recommend products from a business catalog, book appointments, qualify leads and autonomously complete sales while operating 24/7 in the user’s local language.
- The platform links agents to corporate systems such as Shopify, Zendesk and Salesforce so they can access live inventory, pricing and order data for accurate transactions.
- Selected accounts can try the service for free now and Meta said it will move to paid plans or pay-per-use billing later; Meta shares rose about 3% after the announcement.
- Meta positions the launch as a way to grow WhatsApp Business revenue and compete with cloud AI offerings, with regional partners like Tiendanube reporting large conversion gains and a Brazil case showing end-to-end booking and payment within WhatsApp, though payments are not yet global.