Bento, the AI-powered email marketing and automation platform serving over 4,000 small businesses, today announces Tanuki AI — an AI marketing agent that transforms plain-English descriptions into complete, production-ready email automations and campaigns.
Instead of dragging and dropping nodes or learning complex interfaces, users simply describe what they need: "create a welcome series for new subscribers" or "build an abandoned cart recovery flow." Tanuki generates the complete workflow — triggers, delays, conditions, and email content — in seconds.
Tanuki AI includes two operating modes: Ask mode, which confirms actions before execution, and YOLO mode for users who want fully autonomous building. Every AI action can be reversed with one-click undo. The assistant works across all of Bento's email editors — visual, plain text, and raw HTML — adapting to each user's preferred workflow.
For developers, Bento's MCP Server integration brings Tanuki's capabilities directly into tools like Cursor and Claude Code, enabling teams to iterate on email copy and automation logic without leaving their development environment.
"We've built Cursor for email," said Jesse Hanley, founder of Bento. "Small business owners shouldn't need to hire consultants or spend weeks learning software to send effective marketing emails. With Tanuki, you just describe what you want and it happens."
The launch reflects Bento's broader mission to make enterprise-grade marketing tools accessible to small businesses. The platform consolidates email marketing, automation, transactional email, and AI-powered customer support into a single system with simple pricing: $0.01 per contact, no per-seat fees, and no feature tiers.
Bento achieved SOC 2 Type II compliance in 2025 with zero audit exceptions and maintains HIPAA compliance, delivering enterprise-level security without enterprise complexity.
About Bento
Bento is an AI-powered email marketing, automation, and CRM platform built for small businesses. Founded in 2019, the company serves more than 4,000 businesses worldwide with an AI-native approach that lets users create production-ready marketing automations using plain English. Bento replaces multiple point solutions with a single, unified platform and offers simple, transparent pricing. The company is SOC 2 Type II compliant, privately held, and independently operated, with a 4.9/5 rating on G2 and a 5/5 rating on Capterra. For more information, visit bentonow.com.
Media Contact
Jesse Hanley
Founder, Bento
jesse@bentonow.com
