Emergent, an Indian startup recognized for its vibe-coding platform, has introduced Wingman, an autonomous AI agent focused on messaging, thereby expanding into the burgeoning field of background software that completes tasks—a trend popularized by tools like OpenClaw and Anthropic’s Claude.
The Bengaluru-based startup initially gained prominence for its vibe-coding platform, which competes with offerings such as Cursor and Replit, allowing individuals without technical expertise to build full-stack applications using natural language prompts. With Wingman, Emergent is now moving beyond creation into execution, aiming for AI agents to manage routine tasks across various tools and workflows.
“The obvious next step for us was, can we help them not just build the software, but actually operate more autonomously through it?” stated Mukund Jha, co-founder and CEO of Emergent. “You move from software that supports the business to software that can actively help run it.”
Emergent reported that over 8 million developers have utilized its vibe-coding platform to create and deploy software, attracting more than 1.5 million monthly active users. Founded in 2025, the startup secured $70 million in January, achieving a valuation of $300 million, with backing from investors including SoftBank, Khosla Ventures, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Wingman is engineered to function through messaging platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram, enabling users to delegate and monitor tasks via chat. Concurrently, the agent operates in the background across interconnected tools such as email, calendars, and workplace software. It can execute routine actions autonomously but seeks user consent for more critical steps, as stated by the startup.
This launch arrives as autonomous AI agents are emerging as a significant area of competition in the industry, with an increasing number of companies striving to develop tools capable of completing tasks on behalf of users. Projects such as OpenClaw—previously known as Clawdbot and Moltbot—have gained traction among early adopters, while major players including Anthropic and Microsoft are also developing their own agent-based systems to address this sector.
Emergent aims to differentiate itself by embedding Wingman into popular messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Apple’s iMessage, allowing users to interact with the agent through chat rather than adopting a new interface. The startup also introduced what it terms “trust boundaries,” which permit the agent to execute routine tasks independently while requiring user approval for more consequential actions. This approach seeks to alleviate concerns surrounding fully autonomous systems.
Jha informed TechCrunch that the decision to integrate Wingman into messaging platforms was driven by existing work habits. “A lot of real work already happens through chat, voice, and email — asking for something, following up, sharing context, making a decision,” Jha explained. “Increasingly, they’ll be the main ways we work with agents too.”
Like many nascent AI agents, Wingman still presents limitations. Jha noted that the system struggles “around consistency in really ambiguous situations, messy edge cases, unclear goals, or workflows where a lot of human judgment is needed.”
Wingman is being launched with a limited free trial, after which access will be paid, with current Emergent users able to utilize the agent through their existing accounts.