AI
Five rules for an AI assistant on WhatsApp
November 5, 2026 · 3 min read
An assistant that answers your customers on WhatsApp can save hours every day. It can also damage a relationship in one message. While building Vale, our assistant for small businesses, we settled on a few rules we would apply to any assistant.
1. It never marks anything as paid
A customer sends a screenshot of a transfer. The assistant can thank them and tell the owner, but only a person confirms that money arrived. Screenshots can be edited; bank accounts cannot.
2. It does not write to people who did not write first
WhatsApp has clear rules for businesses: you can reply within 24 hours of the customer's last message, and outside that window only with approved templates. Respecting that keeps your number healthy and your customers comfortable.
3. The system does the math, not the AI
Prices, totals and balances come from your catalog and your records. The assistant can explain them, but it never calculates them on its own.
4. It knows when to hand over
A complaint, an unusual request or a customer who is clearly upset goes to a person, with a short summary so they do not have to scroll up.
5. It asks before it reminds
Payment reminders are sent when the owner asks, not on an automatic schedule, and never more than once every few days. Collecting money is personal; the owner decides when.
None of these rules are about technology. They are about trust, and trust is what a small business actually sells.