Cresta has appointed the former Google AI executive Ping Wu as its new CEO.
Wu, who has worked with Cresta since 2021 and served as its interim CEO since February 2023, takes over full-time from the Cresta co-founder, Zayd Enam.
Enam will now be taking on an advisory role at Cresta, having previously ended his tenure as CEO on a high, with a record-breaking quarter. It is not yet clear why he has chosen to step down, however.
Ping Wu, CEO at Cresta, said:
I’m grateful to the Cresta board for their confidence in my leadership and Zayd for his support and partnership.
“Cresta is an early pioneer of generative AI technology in the contact center, and I can’t wait to continue innovating and bringing new world-changing products to market.
“We have the opportunity to shape the future of generative AI in the contact center and make a meaningful impact on both the agent and customer experience.”
Wu has a lot of experience working in AI, which Cresta has long championed as a differentiator in its offerings.
In 2017, Wu co-founded Google’s Contact Center AI Solution.
There, he also managed the development of its Conversational AI Products, such as Cloud Dialogflow, Cloud Translation, Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Speech.
In 2018, Wu co-founded Google Cloud AI Platform products, including Vertex AI and AutoML.
In March this year, Wu oversaw the introduction of several new solutions and enhancements to the Cresta Real-Time Intelligence Platform, aimed at helping companies to grow their revenues and retain customers.
These include the new Cresta Sales for Revenue Growth solution, the Cresta Post-Call solution, plus several enhancements to the Cresta Intelligent Automation solution.
The outgoing CEO, Zayd Enam commented: “I’m proud of what Cresta has accomplished over the past few years and how the company has made its mark as a leading provider of Generative AI solutions for contact centers.
Ping’s passion for Generative AI will drive the company to continue pioneering innovative products that turn Generative AI into a strategic necessity for businesses.
Cresta has already laced its Real-Time Intelligence Platform with generative AI for leaders, managers, and agents. Its innovation aims to enable them to work together to increase revenue, maximize agency efficiency, and result in excellent customer experiences.
Cresta analyses behaviors, sentiments, emotions, and complex statements to get a deeper understanding of customer conversations than traditional contact center tools.
In late March 2023, Cresta shared that its customer had seen sales increase by 10 percent, CSAT grow by 20 percent, and agents have saved as much as five hours in repetitive tasks per week.
Porsche, Intuit, CarMax, Earthlink, Holiday Inn Club Vacations, and Blue Nile are some examples of companies that are using Cresta’s solutions.
Cresta also has partner ties to other big names in the industry, including Zoom, Five9, and Genesys, which invested in Cresta during its Series C funding round in March last year.
Medallia also teamed up with Cresta earlier this month to combine its experience insights and sentiment data with Cresta’s generative AI.
