Presence is OpenAI's managed platform for enterprises to deploy and operate real-time voice agents and chatbots inside their own business environments. Launched on 22 July 2026, it bundles what companies otherwise assemble piecemeal: policy and SOP configuration, permissions, guardrails, simulation, evaluation tools, and a Codex-powered process for improving agents over time. Target workflows include customer support, insurance claims, billing issues and internal IT requests.
It is not a product you sign up for. Presence is in limited general availability, deployments are led by OpenAI forward-deployed engineers and select systems integrators, and OpenAI has not published pricing, terms or the cost of integration work. That makes it hard to judge on value, and the short time in market means we have little independent evidence on reliability. The case for it is that OpenAI is moving up from selling model access to owning the operational layer, with a strong emphasis on guardrails and compliance.
Buyers should compare it against established customer-experience agent vendors, which have longer production track records, before committing to a single-model-vendor stack.
Key Benefits
- Operational tooling included: Simulation, evals and guardrails come with the platform.
- Voice and chat in one: Real-time voice support alongside text agents.
- Vendor-led deployment: OpenAI engineers and partners handle integration.
- Governance focus: Policies, SOPs and permissions are first-class.
Use Cases
- Customer support automation — Handle billing and account issues by voice or chat.
- Insurance claims intake — Guide claimants through structured, policy-bound workflows.
- Employee IT help desk — Resolve routine internal requests.
- Agent testing and monitoring — Simulate conversations and evaluate behaviour before and after launch.
