Salesforce signs deal to buy Cresta and bring voice AI into Service Cloud

Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cresta on November 2, 2026, targeting software that both handles customer calls and helps human representatives respond. The planned combination with Service Cloud would connect those conversations to customer histories and business systems, rather than treating the call and the customer record as separate pieces.

Salesforce did not disclose a purchase price. It expects the transaction to close in the first quarter of its fiscal year 2028, subject to customary closing conditions, including required regulatory approvals. The agreement is a proposed acquisition, not a completed transfer of ownership.

Two ways to handle the same call

Salesforce says Cresta’s voice agents can handle complex customer calls from start to finish. It describes agents that hold real-time conversations and handle interruptions, with Marriott, Comcast and Alaska Airlines among the brands using Cresta’s technology. Those capabilities are Salesforce’s description of the platform, not new performance results accompanying the deal.

The platform is not limited to automated calls. It also gives human representatives guidance during conversations and analyzes customer interactions. Salesforce says Cresta provides tools to test and improve voice agents, while holding automated agents and human representatives to the same quality standard. The acquisition therefore covers both direct automation and assistance for people doing service work.

Voice is where service is hardest to get right, and where it matters most to customers

Kishan Chetan, Salesforce EVP and GM of Agentforce and Service Cloud

Connecting the conversation to the work

Salesforce’s stated rationale draws a distinction between understanding a conversation and acting on it. Cresta supplies conversation analysis and voice agents; Salesforce supplies the customer’s history and the systems used to get work done. The company argues that insights from calls too often remain isolated from the customer information and tools needed to respond.

With Service Cloud, Salesforce intends to connect each conversation to the customer and the outcome it produces, including issue resolution, customer retention and revenue. Cresta CEO Ping Wu described the goal as embedding real-time conversation intelligence and AI-agent experiences directly into Salesforce’s customer-service platform. That integration is the intended result of the transaction, not a newly available Service Cloud feature.

The integration plan also comes with a continuity commitment for existing customers. Salesforce says Cresta will continue supporting the contact-center and telephony platforms its customers currently rely on after the deal closes. The proposed move into Service Cloud is therefore not presented as a requirement to replace those existing platforms.