What happened
On 2 November Salesforce said it had signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cresta, with close expected "in the first quarter of fiscal year 2028", subject to customary conditions including regulatory approvals (vendor, Salesforce). Futurum reads that as February to April 2027 (independent, Futurum). Salesforce has not disclosed a price.
Cresta sells voice agents that handle calls end to end, plus real-time assistance, conversation analysis, and coaching for human reps. Salesforce names Marriott, Comcast, and Alaska Airlines as customers (vendor). The named integration is Service Cloud: businesses will be able to "connect every conversation to the customer" (vendor).
The sentence to read twice
"After the transaction closes, Cresta will continue to support the leading contact center and telephony platforms" (vendor, Salesforce).
That matters because Cresta sits on top of other vendors' stacks. Sacra lists Genesys, Five9, and Amazon Connect (independent, Sacra). In 2022 Genesys and Five9 took part in Cresta's Series C, and Cresta was on the Genesys AppFoundry marketplace and used Five9's VoiceStream API (independent, CX Today). Those relationships are now with a company being bought by a competitor for the contact centre budget.
Read the sentence again. "Leading" is not a list. There is no term. Nothing on feature parity. Futurum makes the same point: buyers should get written terms on which platforms, how long, and whether features reach all of them at the same time (independent). We expect no bad faith here. A press release is simply not a contract.
The partner side matters as well. A support pledge from Cresta does not bind Genesys or Five9 to keep their APIs and marketplace terms open to a Salesforce company. Ask them too.
Find your row
| Your setup | Exposure | Action before close |
|---|---|---|
| Cresta on Genesys, Five9, Amazon Connect, or another non-Salesforce stack | Highest: the pledge has no term or named platforms | Get platform, term, and parity in writing, from both vendors |
| Cresta on Service Cloud | Roadmap and pricing may shift, in your favour or not | Ask how Cresta and Agentforce pricing will relate |
| Service Cloud, assessing voice agents now | Buying into a roadmap that is not published | Keep the first commitment short |
| Rival contact centre AI, no Salesforce | None directly | Expect your vendor to use this in its renewal pitch |
Five steps
- Step 1. Find your dates. Pull renewal date, notice period, and term for Cresta and your contact centre platform. Sacra describes Cresta as seat-based on typically annual contracts (independent), so check your own paper. Owner: contact centre technology owner.
- Step 2. Read the assignment and change of control clauses. Know what you can and cannot do when the deal closes. Owner: legal.
- Step 3. Send three written questions to Cresta. Which platforms are supported after close, by name? For how long? Will features ship on your platform at the same time as on Service Cloud? Owner: procurement.
- Step 4. Ask your platform vendor the mirror question. Will its integration programme and API access for Cresta continue after close? Owner: contact centre technology owner.
- Step 5. Size your exit. List what lives in Cresta: agent configurations, guardrails, tests, conversation data. Confirm you can export it. Owner: CX lead with data engineering.
Supporting the platforms is Salesforce's promise to keep. Getting it in your contract is your job.
Trade-offs
- Renew now on a longer term with protections. Locks in pricing and support if Cresta agrees. It also ties you in before the roadmap exists.
- Renew short. Keeps your options open past close. May cost more per seat, and you face the same talk again in 2027.
- Take a rival's migration offer. Futurum expects these to arrive (independent). Useful in a negotiation. Moving voice agents mid-flight for a risk that may never land is expensive.
- Wait and do nothing. Cheapest today and reasonable if your renewal falls well after close. It only works if you checked that date.
Missing
- The price. Salesforce has not disclosed one. Figures circulating trace to a report we could not read, so we do not print them.
- How Cresta relates to Agentforce. Salesforce's release names Service Cloud, not Agentforce Voice.
- Any technical integration plan or roadmap.
- Which platforms count as leading. Our list comes from Sacra and 2022 reporting, not from Salesforce.
- What Genesys, Five9, and Amazon have said. We found no statement from them.
- Regulatory timing. Futurum warns that scrutiny could push close past April 2027 (independent).
- Prestanda delivery experience with Cresta. We have none to cite. This is not legal advice; take your contract to counsel.
Frequently asked questions
When does Salesforce's Cresta deal close?
Salesforce expects the first quarter of fiscal 2028, which Futurum reads as February to April 2027, subject to customary conditions including regulatory approvals.
Will Cresta keep working on Genesys or Five9?
Salesforce says Cresta will continue to support the leading contact center and telephony platforms after close. It names no platforms and gives no term, so get your own platform and duration in writing.
Should Service Cloud customers wait before buying voice agents?
No need to freeze. Keep the first commitment short, because the Cresta and Service Cloud plan is not published and Salesforce has not said how Cresta will relate to Agentforce.
Living page. Last updated 4 Nov 2026. We update this note when the deal closes, or when Salesforce publishes platform terms or a roadmap.