Salesforce already possesses an extraordinary amount of data on the world’s biggest companies. The software giant’s acquisition of data management and analytics firm Informatica, however, signals its AI-agent platform, dubbed Agentforce, might need a boost.
Salesforce’s dramatic pivot to AI agents seems to have stalled in its early days. The software giant is betting its $8 billion purchase of data-management firm Informatica, however, can help turbocharge the Silicon Valley stalwart’s transformation.
Generally, investors have richly rewarded companies for pioneering agentic AI, or artificial intelligence that could autonomously perform tasks on a human’s behalf without constant intervention, a technology that could fundamentally change white-collar work. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff—and his historical penchant for aggressive acquisitions—has proved polarizing, though, and the company’s stock has struggled mightily in 2025 as the firm has so far failed to meet lofty expectations.
When reports of a potential deal first surfaced last April, Informatica shares traded at nearly $40. Now, Salesforce will pay stockholders $25 per share, according to a joint press release. At that price, Wall Street’s foremost tech bull thinks the deal is a “no-brainer.”
“Informatica is a gold mine of data,” Dan Ives, a managing director and senior equity research analyst at Wedbush Securities, told Fortune. “Salesforce is acquiring data, [Informatica’s] customer base, and the ability to cross-sell. And in the AI revolution, data is king.”
As the industry leader in so-called customer relationship management, or CRM, Salesforce already possesses an extraordinary amount of data on the world’s biggest companies. For Ted Mortonson, managing director and technology desk sector strategist at Baird, the acquisition signals Salesforce doesn’t have the pieces internally to make its AI-agent platform, dubbed Agentforce, an immediate success.
“Think about it as the toolset to jump-start their data cloud operations,” he told Fortune.
The company’s shares ticked up over 1.5% on the news but are still down roughly 16% this year. Informatica’s stock, meanwhile, has risen over 20% to trade around the $24 mark since the Wall Street Journal reported discussions between the two companies on Friday.
“Together, Salesforce and Informatica will create the most complete, agent-ready data platform in the industry,” Benioff said in the press release.
Mortonson described Informatica as a company that helps customers manage the inflow of their data onto the cloud and then specializes in running analytics on that data. Founded in 1993, the company has also focused on offering artificial intelligence capabilities like Claire GPT, its generative-AI tool to assist clients.
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