AI Assistants You Can Text Like a Contact Are Multiplying

Your daily brief on leadership and business

A growing number of AI agents skip the app download. A user texts a request, and the agent remembers context, connects to the services the person already uses and carries out the task, whether that is booking an appointment, organizing a calendar, researching a trip, sending an email, making a reservation or shopping online.

One of the best-known names is Instinct. It raised $350 million at a $2.5 billion valuation, then $1 billion in September 2026 at a $10 billion valuation. Users reach it by text or voice and connect email, calendar and Google Workspace. Early users have had it plan trips, buy groceries, book tickets and cancel subscriptions. In September it began giving each assistant its own email address, and it is rolling out support for placing calls. That level of autonomy has raised privacy and security concerns. Instinct remains in private beta.

General-purpose assistants

Poke launched in March 2026 and handles calendars, planning, health and fitness, smart-home controls and photos. In June 2026 Apple approved it as the first AI agent on Apple Messages for Business, and a month later its parent, The Interaction Company of California, was acquired by the coding startup Cognition in a deal valued in the low nine figures.

Folk works through iMessage, WhatsApp and Telegram, runs on its own private cloud computer and can execute multi-step tasks. It launched in beta in May 2026 and is free, with a Pro plan at $8.33 a month. Martin is reachable by SMS, phone, WhatsApp, email, Slack and an iOS app, with plans starting at $21 a month. Maverick, free in beta on iMessage, asks permission before acting; its Pro version costs €27 a month. Ask Proxy charges $1 a day for the personal version and offers a work version priced from $15 per employee per month.

Caddy, in public beta since April 2026, lives in iMessage and RCS and turns details buried in emails and chats into calendar events, reminders and follow-ups. Comma is free to start and open source, and it can be reached through Signal, Telegram and WeChat. Tomo can join group conversations, with a basic plan from $19.99 a month.

Family planners

Several agents target households. Fambot sends a nightly summary of the next day, including events, to-dos and details such as uniform or packing needs. It launched in beta in early September 2026, has raised $3.5 million in pre-seed funding and is free during the beta. Ohai starts at $9.99 a month. Ollie, launched in June 2026, says it is one of the first mainstream family assistants with SOC 2 compliance, and its paid plans start at $25 a month. Orbits is backed by the Andreessen Horowitz Speedrun fund, N49P and Garage Capital.

Work, travel and content

Town gives users a "Townie" that learns how they work. The company raised a $55 million Series A in June 2026, led by Andreessen Horowitz and Forerunner. Szn says it has served more than 7,500 businesses in 16 countries. Stanley acts as an AI head of content for creators, and Miso handles travel over iMessage with support from a dedicated travel team.

Tab came out of stealth in early October with a $300 million valuation. Wajo's agent, Fo, launched publicly in September 2026 with its own email address, phone number and payment card, and can bring in a human assistant when it gets stuck. Underdog, in invite-only beta since early October 2026, runs entirely on the user's device and supports Mac and Windows first. Skye, from Signull Labs, is an "agentic homescreen" for the iPhone that has been in private testing since April 2026.

Source: TechCrunch