Salesforce Buys Cresta, a Company That Answers Business Phone Calls With AI

Salesforce announced on November 2 that it has agreed to buy Cresta, a company whose AI voice agents handle customer phone calls from start to finish. Cresta's software also coaches human reps while they are on a live call. Salesforce did not say what it is paying.

What we know about the price

The Information, citing a person familiar with the deal, reported a price of $2.7 billion. Salesforce has not confirmed that figure. The deal is described as a definitive agreement, meaning both sides have signed. Cresta's customers include Marriott, Comcast and Alaska Airlines, and the company will keep supporting the phone systems its customers already use.

Why Salesforce wants it

This is one of several 2026 purchases aimed at customer service. Salesforce has already bought Fin, the AI service agent formerly known as Intercom, for about $3.6 billion. In October it agreed to buy Braze, a customer engagement platform, for roughly $5.66 billion.

With Cresta, Salesforce will own one agent built for text and another built for voice. It plans to fold both into Service Cloud, its customer service product. Salesforce itself called voice the place where service is hardest to get right, which is why owning it is valuable.

What it means for small businesses

For years, AI customer service lived mostly in chat windows and email. A price tag this size suggests answering live calls with AI is becoming a core business tool, not an experiment.

Expect bundling. Companies already on Salesforce will likely be offered voice AI as an add-on, which should push prices down and raise what customers expect. Enterprise suites are built for large call centers with long setups. Smaller firms that miss calls after hours or while staff are on jobs can get the same core benefit, an AI that answers, qualifies and books customers, from lighter and faster tools.

What to do

• Count the calls that go unanswered or to voicemail each week, then estimate what a new customer is worth.
• Start the AI with booking, basic questions and lead capture.
• Send complaints, complex quotes and sensitive situations to a person.
• Ask any vendor how calls are logged, how handoffs work and where customer data lives.

That last question matters more as big platforms consolidate. Being able to move your data and switch vendors is worth protecting.