WhatsApp To Make Connections Richer, Use AI To Save Time; Privacy Unchanged: CEO Kunal Shah

WhatsApp will focus on making connections richer, letting users complete tasks such as paying bills within chats and using AI to improve efficiency, while keeping personal messages and calls end-to-end encrypted, CEO Kunal Shah said on Wednesday.

Shah, who took charge of the Meta-owned messaging platform in June this year, said he has spent the last few months listening to users and understanding what they wanted from WhatsApp.

"What I heard is simple: help people stay close to those who matter to them, and get more done on WhatsApp. So that's what we'll build," he said in a post on X.

He stated that people send over 10 billion voice messages and over 4 billion stickers on WhatsApp every day.

"First, we want to make connections richer. Sometimes hearing someone's voice, sending a joke, agreeing on a plan or knowing they're safe is the whole point. As the way people communicate evolves, we will evolve these experiences with them. We'll make voice notes, groups, stickers and video simpler and more expressive, because how people feel close keeps changing," he said.

On the second priority, Shah said too many tasks start in a chat and then need several more steps elsewhere, such as paying a bill, borrowing money or staying connected while travelling.

Noting that each handoff to another task costs time, Shah said WhatsApp is working with financial services and telecom partners so that "finishing something feels as easy as starting it".

The third focus area would be artificial intelligence (AI), which Shah said should quietly find what users need, get things done and make sure they never miss a booking or an appointment.

"The best technology saves you time, so you can get back to the connections that matter," he said.

Shah said WhatsApp handles over 100 billion messages and 2 billion calls every day, and that the platform must remain simple, reliable and private.

"Trust takes years to earn and a moment to lose, and I don't take that lightly," he said, adding that personal messages and calls would stay end-to-end encrypted and the quality bar would not change.

Meta appointed Shah, the founder of fintech platform CRED, as WhatsApp's global head in June. He succeeded Will Cathcart, who had led WhatsApp since 2019.

As part of the move, Meta led a funding round of about Rs 8,550 crore (about USD 900 million) in CRED, which placed the Bengaluru-headquartered firm at a valuation of Rs 43,239 crore (USD 4.5 billion).