Salesforce Tower in New York City.

By Chris Spiker From Daily Voice

Salesforce has agreed to buy data management company Informatica for $8 billion, as the software giant aims to increase its presence in the artificial intelligence industry.

The tech companies announced the deal in a joint news release on Tuesday, May 27. Informatica shareholders will receive $25 in cash for each share.

The agreement will combine Salesforce and Informatica's platforms to create more reliable AI agents powered by clearer, safer, and better-managed data.

"This combination brings together Salesforce's Einstein and Informatica's CLAIRE AI engines to forge the ultimate AI-data platform — trusted, explainable, and built to scale," said Salesforce chair and CEO Marc Benioff. "Together, we'll supercharge Agentforce, Data Cloud, Tableau, MuleSoft, and Customer 360, enabling autonomous agents to act with intelligence, context, and confidence across every enterprise. This is a transformational step in delivering enterprise-grade AI that is safe, responsible, and deeply integrated with the world's data."

This is the latest major acquisition for Salesforce, which specializes in customer relationship software. CNBC reported that Salesforce bought workplace chat software company Slack for $27.7 billion in 2021, along with data visualization firm Tableau for $15.7 billion in 2019, and integration platform MuleSoft for $6.5 billion in 2018.

Salesforce president and chief technology officer Steve Fisher said combining Salesforce and Informatica will give AI agents a deeper understanding of where data comes from, how it's been transformed, and whether it can be trusted.

"Truly autonomous, trustworthy AI agents need the most comprehensive understanding of their data," said Fisher. "The combination of Informatica's advanced catalog and metadata capabilities with our Agentforce platform delivers exactly this. Imagine an AI agent that goes beyond simply seeing data points to understand their full context — origin, transformation, quality, and governance. 

"This clarity, from a unified Salesforce and Informatica solution, will allow all types of businesses to automate more complex processes and make more reliable AI-driven decisions."

The deal is expected to close early in the 2027 fiscal year and will be funded through a mix of cash and new debt. It has already been cleared by both boards, including the approval of more than 60% of Informatica's voting stockholders.

Informatica provides cloud-driven data for about 5,000 customers in nearly 100 countries, including more than 80 of the Fortune 100 companies.

"Joining forces with Salesforce represents a significant leap forward in our journey to bring ​​data and AI to life by empowering businesses with the transformative power of their most critical asset — their data," said Informatica CEO Amit Walia. "We have a shared vision for how we can help organizations harness the full value of their data in the AI era."

Salesforce said it plans to fully incorporate Informatica within Salesforce's products quickly, focusing on areas such as life sciences, healthcare, finance, and the public sector.

"Our acquisition strategy is methodical, patient, and decisive — targeting transformative assets like Informatica when the calculus aligns to maximize customer success," said Salesforce president Robin Washington. "This proposed acquisition will be a key enabler for Salesforce's next phase of AI-driven growth — and we will move quickly to integrate their capabilities and unlock synergies on a fast timeline."

Salesforce was co-founded in 1999 by Benioff, who also owns Time magazine and was once senior vice president at Oracle.