Salesforce Snaps Up Voice AI Startup Cresta in $2.7B Deal

Salesforce is buying its way deeper into the phone call. The company announced on November 2, 2026 that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cresta, an AI startup that builds software for customer service calls. The Information reported the price at around $2.7 billion.

Cresta does two things at once. Its platform runs autonomous voice agents that can handle calls start to finish, and it coaches human representatives in real time while they're on the line. That hybrid approach matters to big companies — many want automation but aren't ready to hand every furious customer with a cancelled flight to a bot.

The client roster is the real prize. Cresta counts Marriott, Comcast, Alaska Airlines, United Airlines and Cox Communications among its customers, giving Salesforce instant credibility in a market it wants to own.

The numbers behind the check are steep. Cresta was founded in 2017 out of Stanford's AI Lab and has raised more than $270 million since. It reportedly hit an estimated $100 million in annual recurring revenue as of April 2026 — making the roughly $2.7 billion price about 27 times that figure, and roughly ten times the capital it has raised. CEO Ping Wu previously co-founded Google Contact Center AI.

This isn't a one-off splurge. Salesforce has been collecting AI companies, most notably Braze, which it acquired at an enterprise value of $5.66 billion. Cresta's tech is expected to land inside Service Cloud, letting existing Salesforce support customers add voice automation and live coaching without hiring another vendor.

Now comes the wait. The transaction needs regulatory approval and is expected to close in Salesforce's fiscal first quarter of 2028 — roughly February to April 2027 on the calendar — though that timeline could shift. A multiple near 27 times estimated revenue doesn't leave much slack if growth cools after the paperwork is signed.