The future of RCS: From a messaging channel to an artificial intelligence (AI) experience layer

For more than three decades, the text message has been one of the most successful yet least sophisticated interfaces in technology, due to its simplicity and universal reach. Every mobile phone had a phone number, every phone could receive a text message, and users did not need to download an app, create an account, or learn a new interface. Over time, Short Message Service (or SMS) evolved from person-to-person into essential business infrastructure, powering everything from authentication codes and fraud alerts to delivery updates and appointment reminders. Yet despite its scale, the product itself has barely evolved from its original purpose: Transmitting short strings of text with little native interactivity.

A text message can notify a consumer that a flight has been canceled or a package has been delayed, but taking action typically requires leaving the conversation for a website or app, creating a long-standing trade-off between the reach of SMS and the functionality of digital applications. Rich Communication Services (RCS) has the potential to close that gap by modernizing SMS and Multimedia Messaging Service (or MMS) and bringing app-like functionality into the native messaging inbox. It already supports features that most take for granted, such as iMessage, WhatsApp, photos/videos, and read receipts (to name a few). But beyond RCS is an even more interesting product known as RCS for Business. Through verified business profiles, rich media, product cards, suggested replies, and embedded calls to action, RCS could enable consumers to not only receive information but also act on it within the conversation itself. For example, an airline could present alternative flights; a retailer could display suggested products; a delivery company could offer different time or location options. The message is no longer simply a piece of text—it starts to resemble an app.

RCS as the front end for AI-powered experiences

There are two possible versions of the RCS thesis. The first is that RCS becomes a richer replacement for app-to-person SMS where businesses could send more attractive marketing messages and engagement improves modestly. It would be useful, but incremental. The second is that RCS becomes more than an upgraded messaging standard and serves as an AI-native interaction layer, allowing consumers to communicate directly with business-specific AI agents to discover products, receive personalized services, complete tasks, and more.

ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other AI products are teaching consumers a new way to engage. Think of how a user may currently interact with AI: Open a product, like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, and ask for help. Rather than navigating menus, searching through pages, or completing lengthy forms, it begins with a text box, simply describing what they want and refining their request in a conversational interaction. Text has become the default interface through which many experience AI, but most of these exchanges take place inside a stand-alone AI product. This, too, has limitations because while these platforms can understand what the user is asking, they cannot fully execute the underlying transaction due to lack of access to the relevant company’s customer data, inventory, permissions, etc. RCS could invert this model, so rather than requiring the user to visit an AI application, a company’s AI agent could meet the user inside the native messaging inbox. The text interaction would already feel familiar, but the difference is that the agent could be connected to a verified business and their company’s internal systems.

Imagine receiving a message from an airline: “Your flight has been cancelled. How would you like to proceed?” The user could respond with: “Put me on the earliest flight tomorrow after 10 a.m. but avoid a connection through Frankfurt.” The airline’s AI agent could interpret the request, access the reservation system, and return three eligible alternatives as rich cards, allowing the user to select a flight, confirm the fare difference, and receive an updated boarding pass without opening an app, visiting a website, or calling customer support. The same interface could be used to return a product, schedule an appointment, or change a wireless plan. 

A new model for AI agents to meet consumers where they are

Today, the common assumption is that agents will live inside apps, websites, or AI assistants. RCS offers a different possibility where business-specific agents are embedded directly within the conversations that consumers are already having with companies. RCS is uniquely positioned to support these workflows because it combines the flexibility of natural conversation with the structure needed to turn intent into action. The native inbox becomes the distribution layer, the verified business profile provides trust, the company’s system supplies context, and the AI agent delivers intelligence, all of which helps reduce app sprawl. Consumers don’t want a dedicated app for every airline, retailer, or delivery service. If the native inbox can provide the same secure, interactive experience, many lower-frequency interactions could shift from apps and websites into conversations.

The bottom line is RCS does not replace the underlying software. Airlines still need a reservation system, banks still need a transaction infrastructure, and retailers still need a commerce platform, but RCS is now at the front end of the experience, connecting consumers to enterprise systems and meeting them where they already are.