Emergent, a Bengaluru-based startup known for its no-code platform, has launched Wingman, an autonomous AI agent designed to run tasks through messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram rather than requiring users to adopt new software interfaces. The launch marks a significant pivot for the company, which raised $70 million in January at a $300 million valuation with backing from SoftBank, Khosla Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners .

Wingman represents a different approach to the growing autonomous AI agent space, which has seen competition intensify among companies like OpenClaw and Anthropic. Rather than building a standalone application, Emergent embedded its agent directly into messaging platforms where people already work, allowing users to assign tasks and monitor progress through chat .

Why Are Messaging Platforms Becoming the New Home for AI Agents?

The decision to build Wingman inside messaging platforms reflects how work actually happens in practice.

"A lot of real work already happens through chat, voice, and email, asking for something, following up, sharing context, making a decision. Increasingly, they'll be the main ways we work with agents too," said Mukund Jha, co-founder and CEO of Emergent.

Mukund Jha, Co-founder and CEO at Emergent

This insight drives a fundamental difference between Wingman and other agent frameworks that require users to learn new interfaces or adopt additional software .

Emergent's platform already has significant traction in the no-code space. The company reports that more than 8 million builders have used its vibe-coding platform, which lets non-technical users build full-stack applications through natural language prompts, with over 1.5 million monthly active users . Wingman extends this capability from software creation into software operation, allowing agents to handle routine tasks autonomously across connected tools like email, calendars, and workplace software .

How Does Wingman Balance Automation With User Control?

One of the key differentiators for Wingman is its approach to trust and autonomy. Rather than fully autonomous operation, the agent implements what Emergent calls "trust boundaries," enabling it to carry out routine tasks without human intervention while requiring user approval for more consequential actions . This hybrid approach attempts to address growing concerns about fully autonomous systems while still delivering meaningful productivity gains.

The agent's capabilities and limitations reflect the current state of AI agent technology. Wingman can handle routine, well-defined tasks across multiple platforms, but the startup acknowledges real constraints in its system.

"The system struggles around consistency in really ambiguous situations, messy edge cases, unclear goals, or workflows where a lot of human judgment is needed," explained Jha.

Mukund Jha, Co-founder and CEO at Emergent

This candid assessment highlights why the trust boundary approach makes practical sense for real-world deployment .

Steps to Understanding Wingman's Operational Model

• Messaging Interface: Users interact with Wingman through WhatsApp, Telegram, and Apple's iMessage, eliminating the need to learn a new platform or switch between applications.
• Background Execution: While users communicate through chat, the agent runs in the background across connected tools including email systems, calendar applications, and workplace software like Slack or Microsoft Teams.
• Trust Boundaries: The agent autonomously handles routine tasks but pauses for user approval on consequential decisions, creating a middle ground between full automation and manual control.

Wingman's launch comes as autonomous AI agents emerge as a major competitive battleground across the technology industry. Companies including Anthropic, Microsoft, and numerous startups are racing to build tools that can complete tasks on behalf of users, with varying approaches to autonomy, safety, and user experience . Emergent's messaging-first strategy represents a distinct bet that the path to widespread AI agent adoption runs through platforms people already use daily rather than new specialized interfaces.

The startup is rolling out Wingman with a limited free trial, after which access will be paid. Existing Emergent users can access the agent through their current accounts, creating a natural pathway for adoption among the platform's large existing user base . This go-to-market approach leverages Emergent's position as a creator platform, allowing it to introduce agents to millions of builders who already trust the company's tools.

The broader significance of Wingman extends beyond Emergent itself. The launch demonstrates that the AI agent space is not consolidating around a single architectural pattern or interface paradigm. Instead, different companies are experimenting with fundamentally different approaches to how users interact with autonomous systems, where those systems operate, and how much autonomy they should have. Emergent's bet on messaging platforms suggests that the most successful AI agents may not be the most autonomous, but rather those that integrate seamlessly into existing workflows and communication patterns.