Meta expands AI business agents globally, pivoting to subscription model

Meta has officially launched the Meta Business Agent, an artificial intelligence tool designed for businesses operating on WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger. Announced at the company’s Conversations event in London, the platform allows business owners to delegate routine tasks such as customer interaction, appointment booking and sales closure, while retaining the ability to intervene in conversations at any point.

The launch marks a significant shift in WhatsApp’s monetisation strategy, moving away from its historical reliance on businesses paying for messaging services and click-to-WhatsApp advertisements. For large businesses, the agent will be included in certain tiers of WhatsApp Business Premium, with charges based on token usage, a metric that tracks the volume of data processed by the AI.

Meta has been testing the agents for nearly two years, initially rolling them out in select markets including India and Mexico. The company reports that more than one million businesses signed up during the trial phase in India, Mexico and Brazil. The service is currently free to start but is scheduled to move behind a subscription model in the coming months, though the specific timeline and pricing tiers have not been fully detailed.

Co-founder Mark Zuckerberg stated the long-term vision is for these agents to eventually "run your whole business," encompassing behind-the-scenes operations such as market research, product insights and calendar management. These advanced agentic capabilities are not yet widely available but are accessible via a waitlist for interested parties.

While Meta has previously allowed businesses to automate customer replies, the new Meta Business Agent represents a more ambitious approach to business automation. The company aims to transform WhatsApp from a simple communication layer into comprehensive workflow software for small and medium-sized businesses, a move that depends on future advancements in the company’s underlying AI models.

The transition to a paid model introduces uncertainties regarding the exact structure of the new subscription offerings. Additionally, the extent to which the AI models will advance to meet Zuckerberg’s goal of agents running entire businesses remains dependent on technological developments. The specific timeline for the transition from the free tier to the paid subscription model is described only as "in the coming months," with no exact date provided.

This expansion into global markets follows a period of cautious testing, highlighting Meta’s effort to balance innovation with monetisation. The introduction of token-based pricing for large businesses within WhatsApp Business Premium tiers signals a maturation of the platform’s commercial strategy, aiming to capture value from the increased efficiency and automation provided by agentic AI.