Salesforce + Informatica: A Data Power Play That Raises CX StakesSalesforce + Informatica: A Data Power Play That Raises CX Stakes
For CX service providers, Salesforce’s acquisition reinforces how critical it is to pair fast data with smart automation.
May 30, 2025
Salesforce’s $8 billion acquisition of Informatica is more than a headline, it’s a signal that data is a key element in making generative AI reliable, useful and safe for the customer experience. With Informatica, Salesforce isn’t just buying technology; it’s securing the scaffolding that makes trustworthy, enterprise-grade AI possible.
Informatica’s software connects disparate systems, cleans and standardizes data, enforces governance, and offers visibility across the enterprise. With this deal, Salesforce gains the ability to manage and activate data across its stack, from Sales and Service Cloud to its increasingly strategic Data Cloud. As No Jitter reported earlier this month, Salesforce is hurtling toward providing “a data layer that facilitates access to real-time enterprise and customer data along with an agentic layer that includes studios to build AI agents, orchestration and observability capabilities and more.” Informatica gives Salesforce that layer by connecting systems, standardizing data, and ensuring governance and privacy. And it does this across structured and unstructured sources, across verticals, and at enterprise scale.
A Broader Strategy to Win on AI
Salesforce is betting that data intelligence is the new differentiator. As Steve Fisher, Salesforce’s President and CTO, said, “Truly autonomous, trustworthy AI agents need the most comprehensive understanding of their data.” That quote came as Salesforce doubled down on its vision for agentic AI at scale, powered by proprietary data, activated through its platform, and extended through partners.
The Informatica buy fits squarely into this strategy. Its master data management, metadata cataloging, and data governance capabilities have been consistently recognized by analysts across multiple Forrester Wave and Gartner Magic Quadrant reports. IDC recently noted that 80% of CEOs will demand data-driven decision-making by 2026, even though fewer than half of businesses are ready for that future. And with Informatica already serving 86 of the Fortune 100, Salesforce doesn’t just gain capabilities. It gains customers and credibility in key verticals like healthcare, financial services, and tech.
“Salesforce’s acquisition of Informatica reinforces just how critical high-quality, connected data is to delivering intelligent customer experiences,” said Bryce Gibson, CEO of Servion. “It means we can help our clients get more from their existing Salesforce investments—unlocking smarter automation, deeper personalization, and a more cohesive journey across every touchpoint.”
Why It Matters to the CX Ecosystem
This acquisition has ripple effects beyond Salesforce. Customer experience has never been more data-dependent.
“The future of customer experience is systems that act, not just analyze,” said Craig Walker, CEO of Dialpad. “With real-time intelligence, Dialpad helps enterprises respond to what’s happening right now, not after the conversation has ended. Salesforce’s acquisition reinforces how critical it is to pair fast data with smart automation.”
That has implications for partners and competitors alike. Vendors like ServiceNow are already investing heavily in agentic AI, recently announcing a $1 billion target in annual contract value for AI-based products by 2026. That announcement included acquisitions like Moveworks, which brought conversational AI for employee support into ServiceNow’s stack. It also signals rising pressure for other enterprise platforms to follow Salesforce’s lead, not just by layering AI on top of data, but by embedding intelligence within the data layer itself.
Implications for the Salesforce Ecosystem
Salesforce isn’t doing this alone. Its ecosystem includes different types of vendors, many of whom integrate with Salesforce to power contact center and CX automation. That includes Servion, Genesys, Dialpad, and AI-native vendors like Quiq, which helps large enterprises power real-time, multi-channel customer conversations with AI and automation that depend on access to trusted data. These partnerships, and the integrations that support them, may become even more valuable as Salesforce leans into agentic AI.
“Quiq's agentic AI works like a great employee. It decides, adapts, and follows through,” said Mike Myer, CEO and founder of enterprise agentic AI platform Quiq. “But that kind of autonomy only works when it’s grounded in trusted, real-time data. Salesforce’s acquisition of Informatica reinforces just how critical that foundation is.”
The Role of Trust in a Data-First Future
There’s also a growing focus on data trust. The last mile of AI is as much ethical as it is technical. Vendors like Transcend, which helps enterprises manage consent and privacy preferences at scale, offer vital capabilities that protect both compliance and customer confidence. These aren’t afterthoughts. They’re prerequisites for responsible AI.
In that light, the Informatica acquisition looks like more than a power play. It’s a strategic investment in what AI really needs to succeed. And it raises the stakes for every vendor operating at the intersection of data and customer experience.
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