Five9, the cloud contact-centre software company, has agreed to buy Level AI, a startup that builds AI tools for customer-service conversations. The deal was announced on 5 November 2026, the same day Five9 reported its third-quarter results. Level AI will become a wholly owned Five9 subsidiary, and Five9's board approved the purchase unanimously.
“We built Level AI so every customer conversation makes the next one better, for customers and for the people who serve them.”
Ashish Nagar, founder and CEO, Level AI, in the announcement · sec.gov ↗
The price values Level AI at about $325 million, paid in cash from Five9's own balance sheet. Five9 expects to close in the fourth quarter, though its own release says only "in 2026". Either side can walk away if the deal has not closed by 5 February 2027, and no termination fee applies. Level AI's stockholders have already signed support agreements, so no further vote is needed. Until closing the two companies operate separately and Level AI's customers see no change. Centerview Partners advised Five9 on the financial side and Sidley Austin on the legal side.
Level AI sells AI agents, agent assist, quality management, coaching and voice-of-the-customer analysis, all running on one layer that analyses conversations. Its apps run on its own model family, Level AI Latitude, which it says costs up to 49 times less and responds four times faster than frontier models. Customers include Gusto, Chime and VistaPrint, and the platform handles more than a billion interactions a year. The two firms have worked together since 2022, when Level AI's apps first appeared in Five9's marketplace, and Five9 itself serves more than 4,000 customers across over 140 countries.
Five9 chief executive Amit Mathradas says the purchase brings in AI capabilities and AI-native builders so human agents can concentrate on harder work. He also sees a way into enterprises that want AI now but are not ready to move their contact centres to the cloud. Level AI's apps will be sold inside Five9's Genius CX Platform and on their own for on-premises or other-cloud setups. Level AI founder Ashish Nagar says joining Five9 takes the company's models to thousands more contact centres.
About Five9
Five9 is a cloud contact-centre software provider based in San Ramon, California, and listed on Nasdaq as FIVN. It says it has been cloud-native since 2001 and serves more than 4,000 customers in over 140 countries.
This is not the first time a large acquisition has been put to Five9. In July 2021 Zoom announced an all-stock deal to buy the company for about $14.7 billion. Five9 shareholders did not give the votes the deal required, so the agreement was terminated in September 2021 and Five9 stayed independent.
The deal comes as Five9 posted quarterly revenue of $323.3 million, up 13 percent. Its cash and marketable investments total roughly $700 million, so the price takes a large share of that liquidity. Gross margin slipped to 53 percent from 55 percent, and Five9 also authorised a $200 million share buyback. Net income came to $14.5 million against $18 million a year earlier, after $12.7 million in restructuring charges. Its Q4 and full-year guidance leaves out any Level AI contribution. One analyst reading sees the move as buying growth to speed up the company's push into agentic AI.