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    Why Informatica Was Too Important for Salesforce to Ignore

    This could help Salesforce close competitive gaps with other large platform providers.

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    Why Informatica Was Too Important for Salesforce to Ignore

    Salesforce on Tuesday announced it will acquire data management company Informatica in an $8 billion all-cash transaction, the largest deal the software giant has undertaken since acquiring Slack in 2021. The move comes as Salesforce doubles down on artificial intelligence—not just by expanding what its AI agents can do, but by investing in the one thing that determines whether they can function at all: enterprise data infrastructure.

    The acquisition is expected to close in early fiscal 2027, pending regulatory approvals, and will be funded through a combination of cash and new debt. Under the terms, Salesforce will pay $25 per share for Informatica, representing a 30% premium to its May 22 closing price.

    While Informatica is far from a household name, its role in the enterprise software stack has become increasingly important. The company’s core product, the Intelligent Data Management Cloud (IDMC), helps large organizations manage their data across systems, cataloging it, cleaning it, securing it, and making it usable for everything from compliance reporting to machine learning. It is precisely this functionality that Salesforce now sees as essential to making its AI ambitions real.

    “Truly autonomous, trustworthy AI agents need the most comprehensive understanding of their data,” said Steve Fisher, Salesforce’s president and chief technology officer, in the company’s statement. “The combination of Informatica’s advanced catalog and metadata capabilities with our Agentforce platform delivers exactly this.”

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    About the author

    Anshika Mathews

    Anshika is the Global Media Lead for AIM Media House. She holds a keen interest in technology and related policy-making and its impact on society.

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