At Robust Data Solutions we connect artificial intelligence to all the software a company runs on. Videos are going around these days claiming that “Claude has killed WhatsApp chatbots.” That's not the case, but something has happened: Meta has released official AI tools for WhatsApp and for its ads. They're good, and they're the newest floor of a tower that is growing very fast: the tower of programs that each come with their own AI.
Data checked as of October 17, 2026, against Meta's official announcements and HubSpot's published pricing.
What Meta has launched, with dates
- An official connector to set up WhatsApp Business with AI (September 15, 2026). From Claude, ChatGPT and other assistants, it creates the account, verifies the number, prepares the templates and sends test messages. It doesn't answer your customers: Meta positions it for development and testing, not for sending at scale.
- Meta Business Agent (June 3, 2026). This one does answer: it responds to questions, recommends products, books appointments and hands the conversation over to a person, on WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. According to Meta, more than a million businesses use it. Getting started is free; paid subscriptions are coming in the next few months.
- An ads connector (July 16, 2026) that creates campaigns and pulls reports by talking to the AI.
What Meta hasn't made clear about Business Agent: whether it's available in Spain and the European Union, how it avoids making up answers, where your customers' data is processed and how much it will cost.
We tried it this weekend with our Meta developer account: the WhatsApp connector isn't available to us yet, because Meta is rolling it out gradually. As soon as it arrives, we'll test it and share what we find.
The new Tower of Babel
Every tool now comes with its own AI: one for WhatsApp, one for ads, one for the CRM, one for the ERP… Each with its own dashboard, its own price and its own data, and sometimes with a surcharge: at HubSpot, each conversation its customer service agent resolves costs about $0.50, according to its official pricing. A thousand conversations come to about $500, on top of what the plan includes.
It's a more modern Tower of Babel, but a Tower of Babel all the same. The WhatsApp AI doesn't know what your accounts say, and the marketing AI doesn't know which customer owes you money. And the one translating between them all is your team, by hand.
A single Central: one AI on top of all your software
We do the opposite: one AI on top of all your software, in a single Central (that's what we call the platform we set up for each company), with per-person permissions and a log of every operation. So you can ask “Which customers messaged us on WhatsApp this week and have unpaid invoices?”: with a Central, it's one question; without one, half a morning cross-checking two programs.
Ours isn't free either: our AI also has usage costs, and they're paid. The difference is that you pay for one AI that works with all your software, with usage in plain sight, instead of a different surcharge in every tool. And you keep your software: the tool no longer calls the shots; your data does.
| Every tool with its own AI | A single Central | |
|---|---|---|
| Your data | Scattered: each AI sees only its own | Together, based on each person's permissions |
| Working across programs | No: each AI speaks its own language | Yes: one question spans the ERP, email and WhatsApp |
| What you pay for AI | A surcharge in every tool | One AI for everything, with usage in plain sight |
A chain of hearing care centers, in a single Central
It's our most complete case: all of the company's tools in a single conversation, typing or talking, from a phone too.
- Clinical management: the schedule for every center, each patient's record and the day's dashboard. The clinician dictates the medical report by voice and confirms it before it's saved.
- WhatsApp: the patient confirms the appointment with a button. Without a “yes,” it isn't treated as confirmed.
- Accounting: sales flow over from the clinical software without being retyped, and purchase invoices are read automatically and go through review.
- Email: search, summarize and draft; nothing goes out unless a person approves it.
- Automated processes: supply alerts, hearing aid trial follow-ups, reports and rescheduling appointments when a clinician is out. Plus the sales area, with commission settlements for its partners.
- Its own dashboard: permissions by person and by center, an inbox to approve what the AI prepares, a log of every operation and AI usage in plain sight.
And in-house: WhatsApp inside our Central
We sell what we use: our CRM, the ERP, the accounting, three email accounts, WhatsApp and our documents are all in a single Central. You ask the AI to check a customer's or a supplier's WhatsApp; if there's an invoice, it downloads it, reads it and gets it ready in the accounting system, with the document attached, for you to approve. In the same conversation and with your permissions.
And as a channel with customers: at a set of vacation rental apartments, an assistant looks after guests on WhatsApp, at any hour and in their own language, and alerts the team when needed.
WhatsApp, the law and what Meta confirms
WhatsApp messages always travel over Meta's network, with us too. The difference is who processes them with AI, and under which signed contracts. Before we touch a single piece of data, we sign the non-disclosure agreement and the data processing agreement, and every project goes through a regulatory compliance review with our partner Forrellat Consultors, a Data Protection Officer registered with the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD).
Meta releasing official tools confirms we're on the right track. Registering the number and the templates goes through its official channel, for which we are a verified Meta Tech Provider. And our AI never decides on its own: it proposes, and a person always makes the final decision. That’s what we call Human in the Loop.
More in Connect ChatGPT or Claude to Your ERP, the email you've always had and AI agents with a person in charge. On Thursday we're publishing “We don't install connectors: we build them.”
If every program in your company already comes with its own AI, tell us how you work and we'll show you what it would look like in a single Central.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Meta's official WhatsApp Business connector replace an assistant that answers my customers?
No. It's for setup: it creates the account, registers and verifies the number, prepares the templates and sends test messages. Meta positions it for development and testing, not for serving customers at scale. To have someone answer your customers, you need an assistant with your business information, its rules and a person in charge.
What is Meta Business Agent, and how is it different from what you do?
It's Meta's assistant for businesses: it answers, recommends products, books appointments and hands the conversation over to a person on WhatsApp, Messenger and Instagram. It's a good tool for what it does. We don't set up a standalone assistant: we connect WhatsApp to the rest of your software in a single Central, with your permissions, your log and your signed contracts. As of today, Meta hasn't said whether Business Agent is available in the European Union or how much it will cost.
So, is your AI free?
No. Our AI also has usage costs, and they're paid. The difference is that it's just one AI, it works with all your software and you can see what it uses, instead of paying a different surcharge in every tool. An example with public pricing: at HubSpot, each conversation its customer service agent resolves uses 50 credits, at $0.010 per credit, which comes to about $0.50 per conversation. Plans include a monthly credit allowance that doesn't roll over to the next month, and anything used beyond it is billed separately. We work out what your Central would cost in the diagnosis, based on the programs that need to be connected.
Do I have to give up my software or its subscriptions?
No. We add, we don’t replace. Your ERP is still your ERP and your email is still your email. If you ever stopped working with us, you’d keep invoicing and reading your email exactly as you do today. And you have a documented exit plan to get your data back in a usable format.
If I use one of your assistants, do my WhatsApp messages still go through Meta?
Yes. WhatsApp is Meta's network and every message travels over it, whatever the provider. What changes is who processes them with AI, where they're stored and under which signed contracts. With us, the non-disclosure agreement and the data processing agreement are signed before we touch a single piece of data.
Can the AI answer my customers on WhatsApp on its own?
It can answer whatever your company decides: opening hours, policies, the status of an appointment. With rules so it doesn't make things up, and letting customers know they're talking to an AI. Anything sensitive, such as money, contracts or personal data, goes through a person, and when someone from the team is needed, the assistant lets them know.
What if some of my software is very old?
It can be integrated too, though sometimes it needs a preliminary step. If it’s a very old program —say, a custom database built years ago— the professional approach is to rescue its data first and move it into a modern program, custom-built if needed, that can then be connected securely. We assess it in the diagnosis, before we start.