Messaging apps often serve as more than chat tools. In many Asian markets they also support payments and commerce inside the same app. Companies are now beginning to add AI agents to automate customer support and sales within these platforms. That structure has made them an important channel for businesses that want to interact with customers directly.
A new AI agent platform from LINE Plus shows how these apps are starting to automate some of those interactions.
LINE Plus recently introduced ActEngine AI, a system designed to automate customer service and sales tasks through AI agents. Businesses can use the platform to build agents that respond to customer questions and manage complaints. The system can also send targeted promotions through chat.
The system is already in use within LINE MAN Wongnai, a food delivery and services platform in Thailand. Its rollout offers a real example of how AI agents may fit into everyday commerce rather than remaining limited to experimental chatbot tools.
Messaging platforms as business channels
LINE operates as a super-app in several Asian markets, where users rely on it for messaging, payments, and other services. ActEngine AI is built for that setting and introduces two main types of agents.
The first is a customer service agent, which manages support requests and customer questions through automated conversations. Companies manage these agents through a central dashboard. The second is a sales agent that helps merchants reach customers directly through chat. It analyses user behaviour and order data to determine when promotional messages should be sent.
The messages can target users based on factors such as previous purchases or order frequency. Price sensitivity may also play a role. This approach turns messaging conversations into a place where customer support and marketing activity can occur at the same time.
Early use in Thailand
The first large deployment of ActEngine AI took place in LINE MAN Wongnai, which operates a delivery and services platform across Thailand.
The company formed in 2020 after a merger between the LINE MAN delivery service and the restaurant review platform Wongnai. The service now connects consumers with more than 700,000 merchant partners, including restaurants and other local businesses. This scale makes the platform a useful test case for automation tools.
According to LINE Plus, the AI customer service agent now handles roughly 360,000 merchant inquiries each year on the platform. The system reduced support handling time by more than 60 per cent and improved response accuracy by 16 per cent compared with human agents. These figures show how automation may reduce support workloads in large digital marketplaces.
Support and marketing for small merchants
The merchant base on LINE MAN Wongnai includes many small businesses. According to LINE Plus, around 80 per cent of restaurant partners on the platform are small businesses run by one or two people.
These merchants often manage customer communication themselves. Responding to messages, handling complaints, and promoting new offers can take time away from daily operations. The sales AI agent attempts to automate some of this work.
Using customer data from the platform, the system can send promotional messages or discounts to users who may be interested in ordering again. For example, it may target customers who have not placed an order recently or offer time-limited promotions during slower hours.
LINE Plus refers to this capability as “Outbound Action,” where the AI system selects the audience and timing for promotional messages. The goal is to allow merchants to maintain regular communication with customers without needing to manage each campaign manually.
AI agents move into operational roles
The deployment of ActEngine AI reflects a broader shift in how companies use AI tools.
Earlier chatbots focused on answering simple questions. AI agents, by contrast, are meant to take on larger tasks within business workflows, such as resolving support issues or sending promotional messages based on user data. Messaging platforms suit this model because conversations already happen in real time, which allows automated responses to blend with human interactions.
In practice, AI agents may manage routine requests while human staff step in for more complex cases.
What AI agents mean for marketing technology
The early use of AI agents within the LINE ecosystem highlights several changes in how digital platforms support business activity.
Messaging apps are becoming operational channels where businesses can manage support and promotions within the same conversation. Transactions can also take place there. Automation tools may extend digital marketing capabilities to smaller merchants that do not have dedicated marketing teams. Data collected inside super-app ecosystems gives AI systems a closer view of customer behaviour and purchase history. That may help businesses tie promotions more closely to customer activity than older marketing channels do.
Deployments such as the one in Thailand suggest that AI agents may play a growing role in how businesses communicate with customers inside messaging platforms.
See also: Ford campaign shows brands testing longer streaming ads
Find out more about the Digital Marketing World Forum series and register here.
