BusinessWire India
New Delhi [India], June 2: AI-first global cloud communication platform Infobip has released its Messaging Trends Report 2026, highlighting a clear shift to more AI-driven, conversational customer engagement.
Based on analysis of over 3.8 trillion messages globally over the past 20 years and 628 billion messages in 2025, the report shows a 70% growth in RCS interactions in India, with the user base reaching 550 million. Meanwhile, WhatsApp grew by 20%, reinforcing its role as a high-volume, engagement-driven channel.
The APAC region continues to be a powerhouse in messaging growth, with businesses deploying new messaging use cases across multiple channels, often in conjunction with AI. This is reflected in the sharp acceleration in growth, with annual messaging volumes rising from 51% in 2024 to 106% in 2025, more than doubling within a year.
Industries where secure, interactive messaging experiences provide an advantage are emerging as key drivers of RCS adoption in India, with marketing and advertising leading with a 2907% increase, followed by retail and eCommerce, finance and fintech, and real estate. This indicates a growing preference for richer messaging formats while also highlighting how RCS evolved into a more secure and trusted channel for verified, engagement-driven interactions.
A similar trend was observed on WhatsApp in India, where marketing and advertising grew by 1647%, followed by technology and software, and healthcare and fitness, reflecting sustained engagement across high-volume consumer communication channels.
Paritosh Gandhi, Director - AI Consulting and Strategic Partnerships, Infobip, said, "India continues to influence global messaging trends at a scale few markets can match. As businesses embrace more secure, interactive, and experience-led communication, channels like WhatsApp and RCS are playing an increasingly important role in the evolution of customer engagement. This momentum is clearly reflected in our platform data, with WhatsApp growing 314% between 2021 and 2025, while RCS continues to expand its strategic role in richer, more trusted brand communication."
The regional snapshot highlights a continued shift towards conversational channels in India, with WhatsApp and RCS driving growth. AI adoption is also advancing, moving beyond chatbots and automation towards agent-to-agent communication, with Infobip's AgentOS marking the early shape of this next phase in enterprise AI.
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