WhatsApp To Focus On Richer Chats, Easier Tasks & AI: Kunal Shah

WhatsApp wants to make staying in touch richer, everyday tasks simpler and AI quietly useful, its global head Kunal Shah has said on X after nearly four months in the role. He outlined three priorities for an app used by over three billion people - more expressive ways to communicate, bill payments, and AI that finds information and tracks bookings.

Shah, who took over as WhatsApp's global head in June 2026, spent his first four months listening to what users want from the platform. He compared the app to a shared language that people shape themselves, from voice notes to a parent to stickers that settle arguments. Users, he wrote, show the company what comes next through how they communicate.

Shah put numbers on that behaviour: more than 10 billion voice messages and over 4 billion stickers are sent on WhatsApp every day. WhatsApp also handles over 100 billion messages and 2 billion calls daily, according to the post. As communication habits change, he said, the company will update these formats with them.

The second priority is reducing the number of steps between starting something in a chat and finishing it elsewhere. Shah cited paying a bill, borrowing money and staying connected while travelling as tasks that currently send people out of the app. WhatsApp is working with financial services and telecom partners so that completing such tasks feels as easy as sending a message, he said. He did not name the partners or give launch timelines.

The third priority is AI. Shah said it should find what people need, get things done and make sure they never miss a booking or an appointment, freeing time for the connections that matter.

He tied the plans to trust, calling it something that takes years to earn and moments to lose. The app, he said, must remain simple, reliable and private, and personal messages and calls will stay end-to-end encrypted. What happens inside WhatsApp matters, he wrote, for what it makes possible outside it, including more time together and stronger communities. He signed off with a single word, "Onwards."