At the Tencent WorkBuddy Ecosystem Conference held on September 2nd, the WorkBuddy Open Platform (open.WorkBuddy.cn) was officially launched, welcoming over a hundred ecosystem partners at its inception. The platform opens up its underlying Agent capabilities to smart hardware, industry applications, and developers. Notably, this marks the first open platform in China's domestic AI Agent sector to simultaneously connect the three layers of hardware, applications, and developer ecosystems.

This event represents not only the first major ecosystem showcase since WorkBuddy's launch but also sends a clear signal to the market: the next phase of competition in AI Agents will be defined not by individual strength, but by the scale of the ecosystem. Liu Yi, Vice President of Tencent Cloud and Head of Tencent CodeBuddy & WorkBuddy, stated at the conference, "True productivity has never depended on how powerful a single tool is, but on how many capabilities it can connect and how many scenarios it can enter."

Nine co-branded smart hardware products made their debut at the event, with partners including Plaud, Rokid, Insta360, iFlytek, Anker, MOMA, and Jing Dong Manufacturing (J.ZAO). Additionally, more than 30 industry applications were integrated concurrently, spanning over 20 sectors such as finance, law, healthcare, education, and public welfare. With this move, WorkBuddy is transitioning from "building a stronger tool" to "becoming a platform that carries all tools," positioning itself as an operating system for the Agent era.

Opening Up Core Agent Capabilities: One-Time Hardware Integration and Multi-Device Flow with WorkBuddy

As AI moves beyond the screen, how far can the reach of Agents extend? WorkBuddy's answer is: into your glasses, voice recorders, earphones, and keyboards. AI has developed rapidly in recent years, primarily passing through two stages. The first was generative AI, which enabled the creation of text, images, and videos. The second is task-oriented AI, where systems like WorkBuddy can break down steps, schedule tools, and independently complete complex tasks. However, both have limitations; they still operate within traditional internet entry points, requiring users to open an app to access AI, meaning the interaction model hasn't fundamentally changed.

Tencent believes AI is entering a third stage. Human interaction with the world goes beyond keyboard typing to include five key contact points: "listen, see, record, chat, and coordinate." Headphones, glasses, and microphones are all interactive carriers. The core philosophy behind WorkBuddy's hardware strategy is enabling the same "Buddy" to seamlessly flow across various hardware devices. This focuses on three key principles: uninterrupted accounts, unified and organized data and outputs, and AI's ability to genuinely execute tasks. AI is no longer just a "mobile app" or a "web chat window" but can be embedded into every device used in daily life.

Hardware manufacturers do not need to build their own AI or change their product's form factor. A single integration connects across hardware, apps, PCs, and the web. The nine co-branded hardware products launched at the event all come from well-known manufacturers, including Plaud, Rokid, Insta360, Ulanzi, iFlytek, Anker, MOMA, and J.ZAO. Many of these represent the first time these product categories have integrated an Agent. Taking Rokid's smart AI glasses as an example, the glasses are responsible for data collection, while WorkBuddy handles understanding, planning, and execution. A user can enter a meeting wearing them, and the entire workflow of transcription, minutes, and to-do items is completed in one chain.

Currently, Tencent WorkBuddy has integrated with over a dozen product categories, including smart glasses, recording cards, earphones, keyboards and mice, PCs and tablets, wearables, and smartphones, involving more than 30 brands.

Built on the WorkBuddy Foundation: Buddy Applications Cover 20+ Vertical Sectors in the First Batch

Beyond hardware, WorkBuddy's ecosystem expansion in software applications is equally rapid. For industry applications, WorkBuddy has officially introduced the "Buddy Application." This is a branded AI workstation built by partners on the WorkBuddy foundation, tailored for specific industries and scenarios. It operates on WorkBuddy's Agent foundation, meaning industry application partners do not need to develop their own AI applications. By integrating industry scenarios, business context, tool capabilities, and their brand into WorkBuddy's open capabilities, they can obtain a complete AI Agent office product with their own distinct form.

For users, there is no need to be aware of the underlying system or operating environment, nor do they need to switch between multiple apps or interfaces. By simply selecting the Buddy Application entry point on WorkBuddy, users receive an AI assistant with vertical scenario context, tool capabilities, and brand identity, ready to use out of the box. The first batch of "Buddy Applications" covers more than 20 fields, including finance, SaaS, law, healthcare, education, public welfare, and design.

Tencent is currently co-building Buddy Applications with over 30 partners, including Tongdaxin, GF Securities, Tencent SSV (for public welfare, education, and cultural heritage), Tencent Health, PKU Law, Weimob, Beisen, FanRuan, and Meitu Studio. Taking the "Public Welfare Buddy" as an example, it deeply integrates with Tencent Charity platform data. Based on the actual working methods of public welfare organizations, it consolidates information into 11 scenario capsules and 42 scenario capabilities, supported by 15 collaborative intelligent agents. This covers processes such as funding applications, invoice processing, due diligence analysis, and interpretation of charity law.

Full Open Access to Skills, Experts, and Connectors: Obtain Complete Agent Capabilities via Standard APIs

For the broader developer community, the WorkBuddy Open Platform simultaneously opens three core capabilities: Skill, Expert, and Connector. Developers can easily integrate with WorkBuddy through standard protocols, providing users with professional systems, tools, and know-how. Currently, over 100 partners are co-creating on the platform, covering more than 10 industries including finance, SaaS, education, and healthcare. The Expert marketplace supports both Agent-type and Team-type forms. The Connector supports both MCP and CLI solutions, allowing integration with any external service.

WorkBuddy also revealed that the platform's payment capabilities and distribution channels are being accelerated, aiming to better reward the professional expertise of developers and enterprises, ultimately bringing more benefits to users. This also signals that the construction of AI capabilities is shifting from "monopoly by big tech" to "collaborative ecosystem building." Any developer can build their own intelligent agent based on WorkBuddy's capabilities and distribute it to users through the platform. This parallels the App Store model, where Apple provided the iOS system and development tools, and thousands of developers created millions of apps, collectively forming a vast ecosystem.

Tencent WorkBuddy Open Platform: A Platform Capable of Carrying All Tools

Since its release in early March 2026, WorkBuddy has maintained high-frequency iteration, completing over 50 versions. It has become the most popular AI office agent and is accelerating its adoption across more than 50 industries, including government affairs, education, retail, finance, media, and transportation. According to data released by third-party research firm Analysys, Tencent WorkBuddy achieved 20.97 million visits on domestic PCs in June, ranking first among similar domestic products and exceeding the combined visits of the second and third place competitors.

The first phase of the WorkBuddy Open Platform offers five major ecosystem capabilities: Buddy Applications, Experts, Skills, Connectors, and Hardware. Each of these can be understood as a "new entry point." Ecosystem construction is never a solo endeavor. The launch event is just the starting point. Tencent aims to invite more developers, hardware partners, and industry application partners to co-build the ecosystem, create the future together, and share the dividends of the AI era. This also serves to create a new benchmark for AI Agent office solutions for users.

As Liu Yi, Vice President of Tencent Cloud, emphasized, Tencent hopes to make WorkBuddy the operating system for the Agent era—not by creating a stronger tool, but by building a platform capable of carrying all tools.