These days, it's not just people who need to find partners for work, AI is also starting to team up.
On September 2, the Tencent WorkBuddy open platform officially went online, debuting alongside 9 co-branded smart hardware devices, more than 30 industry applications, and over 100 initial ecosystem partners.
Glasses, sound cards, microphones, headphones, keyboards and mice... at the Tencent WorkBuddy Eco-Conference, I basically saw a wide range of popular AI hardware that's currently in vogue.
Yes, they are all connected to WorkBuddy now.
This is hardly an eco-conference... it's basically a small hardware exhibition
This is the first open platform in the domestic AI Agent track to simultaneously connect the three-layer ecosystem of hardware, applications, and developers. It is also the first time WorkBuddy has fully unveiled its open ecosystem strategy since its launch in March this year.
According to Liu Yi, Vice President of Tencent Cloud and head of Tencent CodeBuddy & WorkBuddy:
True productivity has never depended on how powerful a tool is, but rather on how many capabilities it can connect and how many scenarios it can be applied to.
At this eco-conference, Tencent hopes to develop WorkBuddy into an "operating system for the Agent era", making it a platform that can carry all tools.
Equipping AI with Ears and Eyes #
WorkBuddy's initial batch of co-branded hardware includes products from brands such as Plaud, Rokid, Ying Shi, You Lan Zi, iFlytek, Anker, Momax, and JD Jingzao.
A glance at the list reveals that products for recording and voice collection account for a significant proportion.
Why these devices?
Lin Zuolu, the person in charge of the open ecosystem for Tencent's WorkBuddy, explained that with the development of large language models to date, they can now understand a person's intentions from a single sentence and then plan tasks and call up tools.
Based on language-based interaction methods, voice-based hardware is a more natural fit.
Compared to sitting in front of a computer and typing, it's obviously easier to summon Agent by simply shouting a command on a mobile device.
Now, if you walk into a conference room wearing smart glasses that are responsible for audio recording and photography, WorkBuddy can automatically handle transcription, meeting minutes, task lists, and even draft follow-up emails in the background.
The same applies to external interviews. The content heard and seen along the way can be stored and recalled later, making it easy to follow up on previous conversations, such as "what did the client say last week", by simply asking.
The glasses take the lead, while Agent follows up. Even if you switch to a phone or computer halfway through, tasks, memories, and outputs can still continue uninterrupted.
In this combination, hardware manufacturers don't need to develop their own AI from scratch. After accessing WorkBuddy, devices become the ears and eyes of Agent in the real world.
Single sign-on enables seamless connectivity across multiple endpoints, including hardware, apps, PCs, and web platforms, with accounts, tasks, memories, and products flowing freely between devices.
Lin Zuoru stated:
We believe that hardware will be a very important external device agent in the future.
WorkBuddy has currently accessed over 30 brands and more than 10 types of hardware products, centered around five categories of "listening, watching, recording, chatting, and collaborating", covering products such as smart glasses, audio recording cards, microphones, headphones, desktop companion devices, keyboard and mouse, PCs and tablets, smart wearables, and mobile phones.
Tencent's Nubia to be Utilized by Industry Experts #
However, being able to hear and see is only the first step.
If Agent is to conduct research, look up legal clauses, and analyze operational data, it still needs to know how to perform these tasks. Tencent has also brought in another group of partners, those responsible for "teaching AI to work".
WorkBuddy has launched the "Buddy App" entry point, a branded AI workstation built by partners based on the WorkBuddy Agent platform, targeting specific industries and scenarios.
Partners do not need to develop AI in-house, they can integrate their own scenarios, business context, tool capabilities, and brand to obtain a complete AI Agent office product.
Partners including Tongdaxin, Guangfa Securities, E Fund, Beida Fabao, Weimob, Beisen, Fanruan, Meitu Design Studio, Tencent Healthcare, and Tencent SSV have integrated their data, tools, and workflows.
The initial batch includes over 30 industry applications, covering more than 20 fields such as finance, SaaS, law, healthcare, education, charity, design, and others.
Why are we recruiting so many people? Tencent said: Because we can't do it alone.
The WorkBuddy team excels at models, context management, and Agent runtime environments, but financial institutions possess research and investment data, legal platforms are familiar with search and practical procedures, and SaaS manufacturers are more aware of which tables and systems enterprises get stuck on every day.
So, Tencent provides the platform, and its partners bring in practical experience from various industries.
Lin Zhaolu also gave a simple definition of the currently popular Skill: "an instruction manual for models."
The model can make inferences, but it's not born with the ability to prepare lessons, conduct research, or manage business processes - these specific skills still need to be taught to it by people who are familiar with the field.
Developers can also contribute to the platform. Three types of capabilities, Skill, Expert, and Connector, have been simultaneously opened, allowing developers to add methods for Agents to perform tasks, provide professional assistance, and connect to external systems.
The Connector supports both MCP and CLI schemes, allowing it to connect to any external service.
Doubao Enters Government, Education, and Media Sectors in Less Than Half a Year #
WorkBuddy is actually a very young product - it was launched in March this year and has been online for less than half a year.
However, over the past half year, it has iterated at a rapid pace, with over 50 version updates, and has been implemented in more than 50 industries, including government affairs, education, retail, finance, media, and transportation.
A few representative cases are as follows:
In the public services sector, "Bay Engine·WorkBuddy" was officially launched in August, providing AI-powered smart office capabilities for the Guangdong government system, with the Guangdong Provincial Medical Insurance Bureau and other provincial units being among the first to carry out dozens of scenario connections and pilot projects.
In the education sector, more than 6,000 primary and secondary school teachers in Laizhou, Shandong Province are equipped with AI-assisted teaching tools. WorkBuddy, in conjunction with Tencent's Penguin Teacher Assistant, has introduced 33 educational experts and 15 teaching skills, covering all scenarios including lesson preparation and teaching research.
In the media sector, WorkBuddy "joined" the CCTV reporting team, deeply participating in CCTV's coverage of the Davos Forum and the WAIC World Artificial Intelligence Conference.
Lin Zhaolu mentioned that many traditional enterprises have a certain scale of sales, but their internal office efficiency and operational analysis efficiency are not high, and they are still using outdated software from several years ago, with updates requiring downloads of several terabytes of installation packages, and they are also worried about their reports crashing.
When they find that using WorkBuddy can quickly do business analysis and be more satisfied, the satisfaction of the first use is the most typical multiplier effect.
He said:
After working with our ecosystem partners to create more scenario-based Buddy applications, I believe this multiplier effect will double, or even increase exponentially.
In addition, among these applications, there is a special case: Gongyi Buddy.
The daily work of a non-profit organization is quite tedious, including organizing sign-in sheets, photos, and reports after events, updating records to advance projects, and handling invoices, filings, and donor data on a daily basis.
Tencent's SSV breaks down these tasks into 11 scenario capsules and 42 scenario capabilities, backed by 15 intelligent entities.
The Public Welfare Buddy can assist with processing funding applications, invoices, due diligence, and interpretation of charity laws, and can also generate daily, weekly, and monthly reports. During the 99 Public Welfare period, it can also generate the "99 Love Battle Report".
However, the AI-generated content cannot be directly submitted. According to the product settings, the generated content still needs to be reviewed and confirmed by the staff of the public welfare organization.
Institutions such as Yi Foundation have already participated in the initial trial. Institutions that have entered Tencent's charity platform or digital toolbox and completed certification can also apply for 5,000 WorkBuddy points per month in 2026.
Ecosystems Are the Outcome, Not the Goal #
Tencent's WorkBuddy has simultaneously connected with over 100 fellow applications, making for a grand spectacle.
However, when asked if the ecosystem is already in place, Lin Zuolü responded:
Openness is what we need to work on, and the ecosystem is the outcome.
His logic is that ecosystems cannot be fully planned, and they will not necessarily develop as one wishes.
Going back to the source, whether the product is good enough and the determination to be open and the design are reasonable is key. If enough people use it, talented individuals from various industries will be willing to invest in building capabilities and operating their own businesses.
Today marks the first day of the open platform's release, and Baijia is one of the partners we initially saw with a strong willingness to cooperate, but this does not equate to the outcome of the ecosystem.
He said the team values the scenario-based applications being frequently used by users with different professional profiles, and ecosystem partners gaining development benefits in the process.
Currently, the platform's payment, distribution, and operational tools for developers are still under construction. Some applications that have been integrated with WorkBuddy also have limited functionality compared to their original clients, such as some financial terminals that temporarily cannot import data in bulk.
Lin Zhaolu explained that it's not necessary for a partner to migrate all of their capabilities into WorkBuddy.
WorkBuddy is an intelligent entity where tasks are automated. Each buddy will independently determine which capabilities are more efficient in Agent scenarios and interact using natural language.
Reading a long article is a better experience in an immersive browser, rather than having an Agent read it and provide a 30-word summary, as the needs are different.
As for who is more proactive, his response was also very candid: WorkBuddy's willingness to open up is very firm and proactive from this perspective. However, the ability to attract what kind of developers and partners through openness depends on like-minded individuals joining in, and it's not possible to make a simple comparison.
So, interested friends can consider accessing the WorkBuddy open platform, the link is below:
WorkBuddy's official website is https://open.WorkBuddy.cn, providing users with convenient access to its services and products.