Merge Automates Its Operations with GPT-6 Astra and Codex

The integration tools and AI agents publisher is massively deploying OpenAI models, even in the organization of executive dinners. Merge claims significant time savings while equipping its product teams with Codex and GPT-6 Astra, allowing employees the freedom to choose their tools.

Client Dinners Reduced to About 30 Minutes of Preparation

Merge organizes executive meals to maintain connections with its clients and prospects. In October 2026, the company reported that preparing guest lists, managing exchanges, and follow-ups, which previously required several dozen hours, now takes only about 30 minutes per event, based on tasks evaluated over the previous three months. During a dinner held in Dallas, an automated agent retrieved contacts from the CRM and Apollo, checked previous invitations and responses, and then drafted messages from Shensi Ding's email address. It managed guest follow-ups, generated a proposed seating plan, and added notes to the calendar to provide context for the sales and customer success teams. The model supports analysis and writing, while connectors developed by Merge allow access to various systems. Shensi Ding reviews, corrects anything she finds erroneous, and finalizes the guest list based on relational context unavailable to the bot. According to her, the bot connected to GPT-6 Astra integrates with Salesforce, Gong, Google Sheets, and Gmail, and can send emails on her behalf, recommend suitable profiles, and identify new participants. After Dallas, the team reported positive feedback on the invitations and opportunities for demonstrations. Merge indicated it held 16 dinners in the third quarter compared to 8 in the second and plans to organize more than 30 in the fourth.

Reliability and Tools: A New Connector and Claimed 99.9% Success Rate

Merge unveiled a tool for integrating connectors with AI products, with management emphasizing reliability as a priority. Shensi Ding stated that tool calls made via Merge succeed 99.9% of the time, compared to public MCP servers, which she estimates at around 60%.

Product Development with GPT-6 Astra and Codex

For development, the company uses GPT-6 Astra, described by Shensi Ding as fast and efficient in code review, while noting improvements in Codex and the perceived importance of the model's personality. She mobilized Codex to review a proposal for a new provisioning tab in Merge for Workforce, debating the transformation of the "Add Tool Pack" action into a separate link to clarify configuration. Codex provided feedback on the code, while product and implementation decisions remained the responsibility of the team. Engineers retain the responsibility to validate and deliver changes. Shensi Ding believes that GPT-6 Astra performs well on each task and fills in areas not explicitly covered by common sense where other systems overlook previous instructions.

Internal Distribution: Free Choice of Tools and Reusable Workflows

Merge allows each employee to choose their AI tools, which has sparked internal debate. Management describes extensive usage covering integrations, workflow automation, product enhancement, customer feedback integration, and feature building. Beyond the product, AI is used to prepare business updates and plan dinners. On the sales side, Charlie Lynch has built reusable workflows for contract approvals, forecasts, and renewal call follow-ups, which he uses to prepare content before decisions. The social media team leverages GPT-6 Astra in ChatGPT to identify relevant posts, and marketing has used it to clarify the launch message for Gateway Evaluations. Shensi Ding emphasizes that these capabilities particularly benefit non-technical profiles, who can now build.

Merge Products: Integrations, Agents, and Access Governance

Merge develops solutions aimed at creating interconnected software and AI products, covering both customer data synchronization and the activation of agents within business systems. Merge Unified focuses on customer data integrations. Merge Agent Handler ensures secure access to tools for AI agents. Merge Gateway offers model routing and cost control. The Merge for Workforce offering consolidates these capabilities within the company to manage models, tools, and systems accessible to employees. The entire suite is intended for both the software that companies build for their clients and AI-assisted internal work.

Leadership Practices and Perspectives on AI Usage

Shensi Ding recommends that leaders use the tools themselves, believing that their own comfort sets the level of AI fluency within the organization. She also advises experimenting in less risky spaces, citing tests conducted with her co-founder on a new product before clients depend on the code. Merge allows time and autonomy for each team member to learn, test, and, if necessary, make mistakes. The leader expresses the goal of being able to formulate an intention to the AI for it to execute. The company continues to leverage OpenAI technology to expand its teams' capabilities, both in its products and in management, while planning to ramp up the cadence of dinners from the third to the fourth quarter.