Poke, a startup that simplifies AI agent interactions to the level of a text message, has become the first AI agent approved to run on Apple's Messages for Business platform. The milestone, announced just days before Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference, marks a significant expansion of what kinds of software can now operate within Apple's iMessage ecosystem for commercial interactions.
Launched in March 2026, Poke is purpose-built to bring AI agent capabilities to everyday users who are not developers and have no interest in working with command-line tools or complex agentic setups. The service currently operates over SMS, Telegram, and in select markets WhatsApp, and will now add iMessage as a supported channel.
What Apple Messages for Business Actually Is
Apple's Messages for Business platform is not a consumer app or chatbot store -- it is an enterprise-facing infrastructure layer that allows companies to conduct conversations with their customers through Apple's iMessage interface. Businesses that gain access can appear as verified entities in iMessage threads, providing customer service, order updates, or in this case, agentic AI assistance, in a familiar and trusted messaging environment.
For Poke, the approval opens up a distribution channel that reaches hundreds of millions of iPhone users globally. Marvin von Hagen, co-founder of The Interaction Company of California -- the Palo Alto-based startup behind Poke -- said that his team chose to pursue the platform because Apple charges a per-user fee, creating a shared revenue incentive that aligns both parties on driving real adoption.
Apple WWDC Context
The timing of the announcement is not accidental. Apple is expected to use WWDC 2026 to introduce a heavily AI-optimized version of Siri alongside broader developer frameworks for agentic functionality. Poke's approval signals that Apple is selectively opening its messaging ecosystem to external AI providers -- but doing so through a tightly controlled enterprise channel rather than a wide-open marketplace. This approach preserves Apple's quality standards while allowing the company to benefit from third-party AI innovation.
Why It Matters
For enterprise technology buyers and product managers, Poke's approval is a useful early indicator of where AI-assisted customer interactions are heading. As AI agents become capable of booking appointments, answering complex product questions, and handling workflows autonomously, the integration point between agent software and trusted consumer messaging platforms becomes a key battleground. Apple's deliberate, gated approach to this integration suggests that AI agents on iMessage will be held to higher trust and reliability standards than those deployed via open web channels.
For businesses evaluating how to reach customers through AI, the move underscores that first-mover advantages on verified enterprise messaging platforms may be significant -- and that securing early approvals from platforms like Apple could prove to be a meaningful moat for startups like Poke.