Is Cresta profitable in 2026?

No profitability figures are disclosed. Cresta is a private, venture-backed company that reported surpassing $100M in annual recurring revenue as of April 30, 2026, per Axios, but no net income or profitability data has been made public.

How much revenue does Cresta actually make?

Cresta claims it surpassed $100M ARR as of April 30, 2026 (Axios). This conflicts with a third-party Latka estimate of only about $52M ARR from November 27, 2025, a gap that has not been reconciled in audited disclosures.

Cresta is privately held and venture-backed, with investors including a16z, Sequoia, Greylock, Tiger Global, J.P. Morgan, Qatar Investment Authority and World Innovation Lab. It has raised about $276M total, most recently a $125M Series D on November 19, 2024.

Could AI replace Cresta's product?

Cresta's own AI Agent line already automates conversations its original Agent Assist product helped humans handle, and rivals like Sierra shipped comparable tools (Ghostwriter, March 2026). Frontier model providers offering general agent APIs could commoditize parts of its stack over time.

Who is Cresta's biggest competitor?

NICE is the most direct competitive threat after acquiring rival Cognigy, bundling AI into its CXone contact-center platform. Salesforce's Agentforce/Fin and peers Sierra and Decagon are also pushing comparable AI-agent capabilities as of 2026.

Is Cresta raising a new funding round?

As of April 30, 2026, no new round had been announced despite crossing $100M ARR; Sequoia's Doug Leone became board chairman and Carl Eschenbach rejoined the board that same date, which analysts flagged as a possible precursor to a future Series E.

AI companies and labs · United States

Cresta

cresta.com ↗

Cresta sells AI tools that help contact center agents talk to customers better.

Losing its protection

Assessed 20 July 2026 · Evidence as of 20 July 2026

The structural protection is eroding.

On the recordSince 20 July 2026 · Checkable from within 12 months of Apr 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Resolution of ARR gap ($52M Latka estimate vs $100M Cresta claim) in audited disclosure, plus any second NICE/Genesys peer acquisition

The call

Cresta has real customers and real revenue, but the vendors who own the contact center pipes are now shipping their own AI layer.

Cresta builds AI tools that listen to customer service calls, coach agents in real time, and automate routine conversations. The company has real customers like United and Marriott and has built switching costs by learning how each company operates and connecting deeply into their existing phone and CRM systems. But Cresta is now under heavy attack: NICE bought a direct rival called Cognigy, Salesforce is pushing its own AI layer called Agentforce with much easier sales access, and the giant companies that run the core phone systems (like NICE and Genesys) can simply add AI to what they already own and offer it for free or cheaper. The one thing that matters most is whether Cresta's biggest customers actually stick around and keep paying extra when their phone system vendor offers a similar AI tool bundled in, or whether they switch to the cheaper, simpler bundled option instead.

Why

AI pressure: Sierra, Decagon, and frontier model APIs (Claude, GPT-4) building agent automation. Rivals claim feature parity and foundation models keep getting easier to wire into contact centers, narrowing Cresta's edge. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.

Bigger players: NICE (via Cognigy acquisition), Genesys, Salesforce Agentforce. NICE bought Cresta rival Cognigy and bundles AI into CXone; Salesforce pushes Agentforce with bigger distribution. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.

What protects it. Deep integrations and customer-specific data at accounts like United, Marriott, and Hilton raise switching costs.

What would change this call

NICE or Genesys acquires another Cresta peer (Sierra, Decagon, Observe.AI) within 12 months. Would show incumbents consolidating the AI layer, squeezing Cresta's independent position.
United, Marriott, Hilton, Cox, or CarMax drop or shrink their Cresta contract at renewal. Would show the switching-cost moat failing against bundled incumbent AI offers.
Cresta's audited ARR at next funding round lands near $52M rather than the claimed $100M. Would show the growth narrative was overstated and financial credibility is weaker than presented.

Key numbers

$100M ARR claimed (Apr 2026)
$52M ARR estimated by Latka (Nov 2025)
$1.6B valuation, set at 2022 Series C (Mar 2022)

Named risks

ARR figures conflict: $52M (Nov 2025 estimate) vs $100M (Apr 2026 vendor claim) remains unreconciled. Severity: high
NICE and Genesys can bundle competing AI directly into owned contact-center platforms, undercutting independent positioning. Severity: high
Core product built atop third-party frontier models (Claude, GPT-4, Falcon-40b) exposes Cresta to platform commoditization. Severity: medium
Cresta's own AI Agent automation cannibalizes its original Agent Assist product wedge. Severity: medium
No public pricing or audited financials increases opacity for buyers and investors. Severity: low

Rivals, as read in July 2026

Rival	Direction	Evidence
NICE	gaining on	Acquired direct rival Cognigy, bundling AI into CXone platform, noted in Cresta's own Feb 2026 alternatives guide
Salesforce	gaining on	Agentforce/Fin push into contact-center AI with superior distribution, cited across 2026 competitive guides
Sierra	contesting	Shipped Ghostwriter (Mar 2026) and Agent Data Platform memory (Nov 2025) matching Cresta features
Genesys	contesting	Incumbent contact-center platform not structurally barred from building competing AI layer
Decagon	contesting	Named peer claiming feature parity in AI agent automation as of Dec 2025 comparisons

Questions people ask

Is Cresta profitable in 2026?: No profitability figures are disclosed. Cresta is a private, venture-backed company that reported surpassing $100M in annual recurring revenue as of April 30, 2026, per Axios, but no net income or profitability data has been made public.
How much revenue does Cresta actually make?: Cresta claims it surpassed $100M ARR as of April 30, 2026 (Axios). This conflicts with a third-party Latka estimate of only about $52M ARR from November 27, 2025, a gap that has not been reconciled in audited disclosures.
Who owns Cresta?: Cresta is privately held and venture-backed, with investors including a16z, Sequoia, Greylock, Tiger Global, J.P. Morgan, Qatar Investment Authority and World Innovation Lab. It has raised about $276M total, most recently a $125M Series D on November 19, 2024.
Could AI replace Cresta's product?: Cresta's own AI Agent line already automates conversations its original Agent Assist product helped humans handle, and rivals like Sierra shipped comparable tools (Ghostwriter, March 2026). Frontier model providers offering general agent APIs could commoditize parts of its stack over time.
Who is Cresta's biggest competitor?: NICE is the most direct competitive threat after acquiring rival Cognigy, bundling AI into its CXone contact-center platform. Salesforce's Agentforce/Fin and peers Sierra and Decagon are also pushing comparable AI-agent capabilities as of 2026.
Is Cresta raising a new funding round?: As of April 30, 2026, no new round had been announced despite crossing $100M ARR; Sequoia's Doug Leone became board chairman and Carl Eschenbach rejoined the board that same date, which analysts flagged as a possible precursor to a future Series E.

Timeline

2026-06-10Cresta launches Conductor, a developer tool for building and deploying AI agents
2026-04-30Cresta reports surpassing $100M ARR; Doug Leone named board chair, Eschenbach rejoins board
2026-03-17Cresta launches Knowledge Agent, a proactive assistant for human agents
2026-02-25Cresta publishes Cognigy alternatives guide following NICE's Cognigy acquisition
2026-01-01Cresta named to Forbes America's Best Startup Employers for third consecutive year
2025-12-01Revelio Labs estimates Cresta headcount at 563, up from 187 in 2023
2025-11-27Latka estimates Cresta ARR at about $52M against a $1.6B valuation
2025-06Forrester names Cresta a Leader in Conversation Intelligence Solutions Wave
2024-11-19Cresta closes $125M Series D, total funding reaches about $276M
2022-03-21Cresta raises $80M Series C at $1.6B post-money valuation, cites 210% NRR

Revision history

20 July 2026

First assessed. Losing its protection. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.

In the same band

Safe Superintelligence Inc.Mistral AI Cohere