Merge: Integrating OpenAI Technology into Product and Business Tools
Integration Platform and Products
The integration platform leverages GPT-6 Astra, ChatGPT, and Codex for diverse applications, including:
- Product reviews
- Marketing
- Business development planning
Merge offers a suite of products:
- Merge Unified: For syncing customer data.
- Merge Agent Handler: Provides secure access for AI agents to interact with business systems.
- Merge Gateway: Enables model routing and cost controls.
- Merge for Workforce: Facilitates management of employee access to models, tools, and business systems.
AI Applications Within Merge
Shensi Ding, CEO and Co-founder, and her team utilize AI for various tasks, such as:
- Code review using Codex for product development.
- Product testing and marketing with GPT-6 Astra.
- Automating workflows, improving product quality, and incorporating customer feedback.
Reliability and Performance
Ding highlights the platform's reliability:
- Tool calls through Merge succeed 99.9% of the time compared to public MCP servers (around 60%).
AI Tool Selection and Debate
Merge employees can choose their AI tools, leading to an internal debate. Ding notes the team's preference for GPT-6 Astra's speed, code review capabilities, and personality.
Code Review and Product Decisions
For a new provisioning tab in Merge for Workforce, Codex provided code review feedback. The team made product decisions and implemented changes, while engineers validated and shipped the updates.
AI in Executive Dinners
Merge utilizes AI for executive dinners:
- Pulling potential guests from CRM and Apollo.
- Checking previous invitations and responses.
- Drafting outreach emails.
- Maintaining attendee trackers.
- Proposing seating charts.
- Creating calendar notes with context.
Efficiency Gains
In October 2026, Merge reported significant efficiency improvements:
- Guest list preparation, outreach, and attendee tracking reduced from dozens of hours to approximately 30 minutes per event over three months.
Executive Dinner Growth
Merge hosted 16 executive dinners in Q3, an increase from eight in Q2, and plans to host over 30 in Q4.