Cresta
Cresta helps enterprise contact centers automate and improve every customer conversation with AI.
Cresta is an AI-first enterprise contact center platform that transforms customer conversations into revenue opportunities. The platform combines an AI Agent for automated customer interactions, Agent Assist for real-time guidance to human agents, and Conversation Intelligence for actionable business insights. Built by former Google and OpenAI leaders, Cresta serves Fortune 500 companies like Hilton, Cox Communications, and CarMax to improve customer satisfaction, resolution rates, and operational efficiency.
Problem solved
Enterprise contact centers struggle with high operational costs, inconsistent customer experiences, low agent productivity, and inability to scale quality service without proportional cost increases.
Target customer
Enterprise contact centers and customer service operations at Fortune 500 companies and mid-market businesses with 100+ agents handling significant call/chat volumes.
Founders
P
Ping Wu
CEO
Co-founded Google's Contact Center AI Solution and led development of Cloud Dialogflow, Vertex AI, and other AI products at Google Cloud before joining Cresta in 2021.
T
Tim Shi
Co-Founder & CTO
Stanford Computer Science Ph.D. candidate who left studies to co-found Cresta; former research scientist at OpenAI with deep learning expertise.
S
Sebastian Thrun
Co-Founder
AI pioneer and Stanford professor, founder of Google X, robotics and autonomous vehicle expert.
Z
Zayd Enam
Co-Founder (Advisory)
Stepped down from CEO role to focus on advisory responsibilities.
A
Andre Esteva
Co-Founder
AI researcher and machine learning expert.
Funding history
Seed
$500K
December 2018
Led by Unknown
· Unknown
Series B
$50M
Unknown
Led by Sequoia Capital
· Unknown
Series C
Unknown
Unknown
Led by Tiger Global
· Unknown
Series D
$125M
November 2024
Led by World Innovation Lab (WiL), QIA
· Accenture, EnvisionX Capital, LG Technology Ventures, Qualcomm Ventures, Workday Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners, J.P. Morgan, Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global
Total raised:
$282M
Industries
Pricing
Subscription-based starting at $60K-$150K annually with usage-based incremental fees ($1.20 per chat, $1.50 per call). AWS Marketplace lists $150K/year for up to 125K chat sessions or 100K calls. Custom enterprise packages available. Annual contracts with multi-week implementation.
Notable customers
Alaska Airlines, BBVA, Brinks Home, CarMax, Cox Communications, Hilton, Intuit, Quicken, Singapore Airlines, Verizon, Vivo, Vodafone
Integrations
AWS Marketplace, Amazon Web Services
Tech stack
Swiper (JavaScript libraries)
jQuery Migrate (JavaScript libraries)
jQuery (JavaScript libraries)
Webpack
LottieFiles
HTTP/3
WordPress (Blogs)
Zoominfo (Analytics)
HubSpot Analytics (Analytics)
Ahrefs (SEO)
Linkedin Insight Tag (Analytics)
reCAPTCHA (Security)
HSTS (Security)
WP Rocket (Caching)
PHP (Programming languages)
Apple iCloud Mail (Webmail)
Google Workspace (Email)
Unpkg (CDN)
cdnjs (CDN)
Cloudflare (CDN)
6sense (Marketing automation)
MySQL (Databases)
Linkedin Ads (Advertising)
Google Tag Manager (Tag managers)
Yoast SEO (SEO)
Yoast SEO Premium (SEO)
Amazon Web Services (PaaS)
WP Engine (PaaS)
Usercentrics (Cookies compliance)
Website
Competitors
Gong
Broader conversation intelligence platform but less focused on real-time agent guidance and automation capabilities.
Balto Software
Focuses primarily on real-time agent coaching with less emphasis on AI automation and conversation insights.
Medallia
Customer experience platform with broader survey and feedback capabilities but less specialized in contact center automation.
Outreach
Sales enablement and engagement platform rather than contact center focused; targets different buyer personas.
Why this matters: Cresta achieved $100M+ ARR and nearly quadrupled revenue in two years by combining the founding team's deep AI expertise (Google Cloud AI, OpenAI) with a laser focus on automating expensive contact center operations. Named a Leader by Forrester in Q2 2025, the company is pioneering the shift from contact centers as cost centers to revenue-driving hubs through GenAI.
Best for: Enterprise contact centers and customer service operations that want to reduce operational costs, improve agent productivity, and enhance customer satisfaction through AI-powered automation and real-time guidance.
Use cases
AI Agent for Self-Service Troubleshooting
Brinks Home deployed Cresta's AI Agent to guide customers through complex multi-step troubleshooting scenarios for home security issues. The AI handled intricate workflows autonomously, significantly improving resolution rates and customer satisfaction without requiring human agent intervention.
Real-Time Agent Assistance During Peak Volume
Large telecommunications companies use Cresta's Agent Assist to provide real-time tips and guidance to customer service representatives during high-volume periods. Agents receive contextual suggestions for handling complex customer issues, reducing average handle time while improving resolution quality.
Post-Call Insights and Performance Coaching
Conversation Intelligence capabilities enable contact center managers to analyze thousands of customer interactions, identify training gaps, and provide data-driven coaching to agents. This transforms historical conversation data into actionable insights that improve quality metrics and customer satisfaction.
Email Channel Expansion
As of August 2025, Cresta expanded Conversation Intelligence to email-based customer interactions, enabling consistent agent guidance and insights across voice, chat, and email channels for omnichannel contact centers.
Alternatives
Gong
Choose Gong if you need broader conversation analytics across sales and customer success; choose Cresta for contact center-specific automation and real-time agent guidance.
Balto Software
Choose Balto for real-time coaching delivered through screen pop-ups; choose Cresta for end-to-end automation, guidance, and intelligence in a single platform.
Google Contact Center AI
Choose Google's offering for a basic, cloud-native alternative; choose Cresta for more advanced AI automation, real-time agent assistance, and industry-specific use cases.
FAQ
What does Cresta do? +
Cresta is an AI platform for enterprise contact centers that automates customer conversations via its AI Agent, provides real-time guidance to human agents through Agent Assist, and delivers actionable insights through Conversation Intelligence. The platform analyzes and optimizes every customer interaction across voice, chat, and email channels to improve resolution rates, customer satisfaction, and operational efficiency.
How much does Cresta cost? +
Cresta's pricing starts at $60K-$150K annually on a subscription basis with usage-based incremental fees ($1.20 per chat, $1.50 per call). AWS Marketplace lists $150K/year for up to 125K chat sessions or 100K calls. Enterprise custom packages are available. Contracts are annual with multi-week implementation periods.
What are alternatives to Cresta? +
Top alternatives include Gong (broader conversation analytics), Balto Software (real-time coaching), Medallia (customer experience platform), and Outreach (sales enablement). Each has different strengths depending on whether you prioritize automation, coaching, or broader feedback collection.
Who uses Cresta? +
Cresta is used by Fortune 500 companies and large mid-market enterprises in telecommunications, airlines, automotive, and financial services. Notable customers include Verizon, Intuit, Alaska Airlines, Hilton, Cox Communications, CarMax, and Vodafone.
How does Cresta compare to Gong? +
Cresta is contact center-specialized with AI automation as a core feature, while Gong is a broader conversation intelligence platform serving sales and customer success. Cresta excels at real-time agent guidance and autonomous customer interactions; Gong provides deeper analytics across customer lifecycle stages.
Tags
AI automation
contact center
customer service
real-time coaching
conversation intelligence
enterprise software
voice AI