Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) throws another $8 billion at its vision for autonomous AI agents
It’s been nearly nine months since Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM) introduced plans for AI agents that can help companies automate a wide range of tasks. The customer relationship software giant is now doubling down on its prediction that a billion-strong force of autonomous bots will be the next big thing, with an $8 billion purchase of data integration firm Informatica (NYSE: INFA).
“Salesforce and Informatica will create the most complete, agent-ready data platform in the industry,” CEO Marc Benioff said in a statement on Tuesday. “We will enable autonomous agents to deliver smarter, safer, and more scalable outcomes for every company, and significantly strengthen our position in the $150 billion-plus enterprise data market.”
It’s a grandiose vision, and at the heart of the deal is Salesforce’s belief that Informatica’s data catalog and metadata management will help it build the architecture it needs for “truly autonomous, trustworthy AI agents” that are already being deployed to automate tasks ranging from customer support to employee onboarding. It’s paying a hefty premium to do so, offering $25 in cash for each share that had been trading around $19 before reports about the transaction first surfaced.
“This proposed acquisition will be a key enabler for Salesforce’s next phase of AI-driven growth,” Salesforce CFO Robin Washington added. “We will move quickly to integrate their capabilities and unlock synergies on a fast timeline, particularly in areas like Public Sector, Life Sciences, Healthcare, and Financial Services.”
Paying customers flip the switch
Benioff was upbeat about the AI agent platform—known as Agentforce—in the company’s previous earnings call, saying it would be “incredible” heading into the company’s fiscal 2026; just 90 days after going live, Salesforce had 3,000 paying customers for the new service “experiencing unprecedented levels of productivity, efficiency, and cost savings.” He said companies including Equinox and Jacuzzi were already using Agentforce for social media campaigns, while jewelry-maker Pandora was “flipping the switch” to use the product to deliver 30% to 60% of service cases.
OpenTable, meanwhile, is using Agentforce to handle 73% of all restaurant web queries, a 50% improvement from its previous tool. Salesforce also highlighted ways companies from Goodyear (NASDAQ: GT) to Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) to Singapore Airlines would be able to deploy it. Despite the hype, Salesforce shares have churned mostly sideways over the past year, suggesting investors are still waiting for proof that the AI push will pay off.
Whether AI agents can really deliver for clients as promised—and boost Salesforce’s bottom line as a result—remains to be seen. But in the meantime, the race to acquire similarly-sized data management companies like Informatica could become just as hot as the buzz about the AI agents themselves. That means Alteryx (NYSE: AYX), Confluent (NASDAQ: CFLT), Elastic N.V. (NYSE: ESTC) and MongoDB (NASDAQ: MDB) might all emerge as interesting targets.
