In a strategic move to deepen its capabilities in artificial intelligence and data management, Salesforce announced the acquisition of Informatica for $8 billion. The deal, disclosed on Tuesday, is aimed at bolstering Salesforce’s push into AI-powered enterprise solutions by combining its existing technologies with Informatica’s robust data management infrastructure.
The acquisition terms specify that Salesforce will pay $25 in cash per share for all outstanding shares of Informatica’s Class A and Class B-1 common stock, resulting in an equity value of approximately $8 billion. This marks a premium for Informatica shareholders, whose stock jumped over 5% following the announcement, building on a 17% surge the previous week when acquisition rumors surfaced.
The deal will be funded through a combination of Salesforce’s cash reserves and new debt issuance, indicating the company’s strong financial commitment to its AI and data ambitions.
Why Informatica? A Strategic Fit for AI and Data Integration
Founded in 1993, Informatica is a pioneer in enterprise cloud data management. Its platform specializes in data integration, data governance, cataloging, and privacy components that are vital for building scalable and reliable AI systems. The company has successfully transitioned to the cloud over the past decade and now serves major enterprises looking to make better use of their data assets.
By acquiring Informatica, Salesforce aims to enhance its Agentforce platform, an AI solution designed to deploy autonomous agents across enterprise workflows. The integration of Informatica’s metadata management, data quality, and governance tools into Agentforce could provide Salesforce with a competitive edge in delivering intelligent, context-aware automation.
Statement from Salesforce Leadership
“Truly autonomous, trustworthy AI agents need the most comprehensive understanding of their data,” said Steve Fisher, Salesforce’s President and CTO. “The combination of Informatica’s advanced catalog and metadata capabilities with our Agentforce platform delivers exactly this.”
Marc Benioff, Chairman and CEO of Salesforce, emphasized the importance of the acquisition in a broader strategic context. “We will integrate Informatica alongside Data Cloud, MuleSoft, and Tableau to enable autonomous agents to deliver smarter, safer, and more scalable outcomes for every company,” Benioff said in the announcement.
Enhancing Salesforce’s Data Cloud and AI Ecosystem
Salesforce has long positioned itself as a customer relationship management (CRM) powerhouse, but over the past several years, the company has evolved to offer a full suite of enterprise cloud services. These include Slack (collaboration), Tableau (analytics), MuleSoft (integration), and now Informatica (data governance and management).
The acquisition of Informatica comes at a time when businesses are increasingly looking to leverage AI to automate customer service, sales, marketing, and analytics. However, the success of these AI systems depends heavily on the quality, accessibility, and governance of enterprise data a domain where Informatica excels.
With the combined offering, Salesforce aims to offer an end-to-end platform that ingests, manages, secures, analyzes, and activates data to power AI agents across the enterprise.
Salesforce’s purchase of Informatica continues its long tradition of using strategic acquisitions to expand its capabilities and enter new markets. The most notable deals include:
- Slack (2021): Acquired for $27.7 billion to strengthen collaboration and communications within Salesforce’s ecosystem.
- Tableau (2019): Bought for $15.7 billion to enhance data visualization and analytics capabilities.
- MuleSoft (2018): Purchased for $6.5 billion to integrate data across systems, both on-premises and in the cloud.
While the Informatica deal is smaller in scale, it is just as strategic targeting the foundation of Salesforce’s AI future: data reliability and quality.
Investors responded positively to the announcement, with Salesforce shares rising 1% and Informatica stock climbing over 5%. The transaction underscores a broader trend in the tech industry where large software vendors are aggressively pursuing data infrastructure firms to support next-gen AI development.
By aligning itself more closely with metadata, data lineage, and governance, Salesforce is preparing for a future where autonomous AI agents must operate in compliance-heavy environments with strict data transparency and auditability.
The acquisition is expected to close following regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. Salesforce will likely begin integration planning immediately, focusing first on how Informatica’s services can be embedded within Data Cloud and Agentforce.
Customers of both companies can expect to see tighter product integrations over the next 12–18 months, potentially resulting in co-branded offerings or new enterprise AI packages that unify data ingestion, analytics, and automation.
Salesforce’s $8 billion acquisition of Informatica is more than just a portfolio expansion, it’s a bold statement about the central role of data in the AI era. By combining Informatica’s deep data management capabilities with its own CRM, analytics, and integration tools, Salesforce is positioning itself as a one-stop platform for enterprises ready to embrace autonomous AI workflows.
As AI adoption accelerates, data governance, quality, and accessibility will be mission-critical and Salesforce is now better equipped than ever to lead that transformation.
