Grab Merchant AI Assistant helps Southeast Asian small businesses run operations
Grab launched a Merchant AI Assistant inside its merchant app that updates menus, runs marketing and analyzes finances for merchants, with Grab reporting a 15% GMV boost for engaged users.
AI agents are having a real moment right now. But here’s our test: can they help more people earn a better living? Southeast Asia is home to some of the world’s smallest business owners. On top of serving customers, they’re finance, marketing and operations teams all-in-one. They don’t have business tools. Some are only just coming online. And many struggle to reach customers themselves. Grab’s Merchant AI Assistant is an agent within the Grab Merchant app that recommends and executes business tasks on their behalf. Taking operational gruntwork – and guesswork – off their plates. Restaurant merchants use it to update menus, run marketing campaigns, analyze financials, sales and orders. And they’re asking for more, from personalizing review replies to benchmarking competitors. Their message is clear: understand my business. Help me grow my business. And help me get stuff done. We see this demand in the numbers. Merchant AI Assistant has driven a 15% boost in GMV for engaged users since we launched it in 2024. The Philippines, Myanmar and Vietnam are some of our top markets driving adoption. Really cool to see how people are using AI to support their livelihoods in parts of the world far removed from Silicon Valley. That’s how we see the bar for agents at Grab: turn convenience into greater economic freedom. $GRAB