Analysis
OpenAI introduced Presence on July 22, a fully managed platform for deploying production-grade AI agents across voice and chat channels, aimed squarely at customer support, sales, and high-risk internal workflows like IT service requests. Rather than selling raw model access, Presence packages company policies and standard operating procedures, permission controls limiting what data agents can touch, escalation rules that route conversations to humans, and pre-deployment simulations testing agents against edge cases before go-live.
OpenAI is using Presence internally first: the company says its own English-language phone support line now resolves 75% of inbound calls without human intervention, and a Codex-powered review loop cut human handoffs by 15 percentage points in just 10 days. Those are company-reported numbers on OpenAI's own workflow, not independent benchmarks, but they're the proof point OpenAI is using to court enterprise buyers.
“Those are company-reported numbers on OpenAI's own workflow, not independent benchmarks, but they're the proof point OpenAI is using to court enterprise buyers.”
Early named customers are still in testing rather than full production: BBVA is exploring Spanish-language voice banking support in Mexico, SoftBank is trialing natural Japanese-language conversations, and Australian insurer IAG is examining how Presence could handle claims during severe weather events.
The launch escalates competition with Salesforce's Agentforce, which has reportedly reached roughly $800 million in annual recurring revenue, alongside ServiceNow, Zendesk, and well-funded startup Sierra. Unlike Salesforce, which embeds agents inside CRM software, OpenAI is deploying agents directly using Forward Deployed Engineers alongside systems integrators -- a services-heavy model reminiscent of enterprise software's earliest days.
Watch whether OpenAI converts pilot customers like BBVA and SoftBank into paying production deployments, and whether rivals respond with their own bundled guardrail-and-deployment offerings.
