Meta has rolled out Business Agents, AI assistants that answer questions, recommend products, book appointments and complete sales across WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger. More than a million businesses are already using them. Free to start, paid by token usage soon.
The conversation was always the highest-intent moment you had. Now it runs whether you are awake or not. The only question is whether you engineered it or Meta did.
Meta has launched Business Agents, built-in AI assistants that handle customer conversations across WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger. They answer questions, recommend products from your catalogue, qualify leads, book appointments and complete transactions. More than a million businesses are already running one.
The scale is the point. Meta says there are more than a billion active threads with businesses across its messaging apps every day. That is a billion conversations where a customer is already leaning in, and most businesses answer slowly or not at all. A Business Agent responds around the clock and can connect to hundreds of systems like Shopify and Zendesk to actually act on the business's behalf.
It is free to start today. That will change. Meta has confirmed a paid subscription is coming, with larger businesses billed on token usage. The more the agent processes, the more you pay.
Why it matters
For Australian businesses that sell through DMs, and plenty do, this closes a real gap. Speed to reply is one of the biggest levers in conversion, and most small teams cannot staff it. An agent that recommends the right product and books the appointment at 11pm is genuine volume. The risk is handing the highest-intent moment in your funnel to a tool you have not trained on your own numbers, your own margin and your own edge cases. A generic agent will sell your cheapest product to everyone and call it a win.
Active daily conversations between people and businesses across WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. Source: Meta.
What to do about it
Map your current DM response time. If it is measured in hours, an agent is worth a serious look.
Train it on your real catalogue and margin, not just your product list. You want it steering to what makes you money, not what is cheapest.
Set the guardrails before you scale. Decide what it can offer, discount and promise, then watch the transcripts for a fortnight.
Watch the token pricing. Free today is a customer acquisition tactic. Model what it costs at your real conversation volume before you depend on it.
The agent will have the conversation either way. Decide now whether it is having your conversation or a generic one.