• Salesforce buys Informatica for $8 billion, boost to AI foundation.
• Deal combines governance, integration, and context to support scalable AI.

Salesforce is buying Informatica for $8 billion in a move that shows how much weight it puts on data quality to build AI tools that work inside its platforms. Informatica makes software that helps companies organise and manage their data. The deal is meant to improve how Salesforce’s AI tools interact with large and often messy sets of business data.

Informatica shareholders will get $25 in cash per share. Salesforce plans to fund the deal using a mix of cash and new debt. It expects the purchase to improve its financial performance starting in the second year after the deal closes. The company does not plan to change its shareholder return plans.

What Informatica brings to Salesforce’s AI stack

Informatica brings tools that track where data comes from, how it changes, and how it’s used, including metadata management, Master Data Management (MDM), and policy controls – governance. The tools can help make sure the data used by AI is clean, accurate, and consistent. That’s important for scaling AI agents that need to act on their own in different parts of a company.

Salesforce plans to use Informatica’s tech to improve products like Agentforce, Data Cloud, Tableau, MuleSoft, and Customer 360. Marc Benioff, Salesforce CEO, said the move helps the company “supercharge” its AI systems with better data clarity and context. Steve Fisher, Salesforce’s President and CTO, said that combining Informatica’s data tools with Agentforce would give AI agents a better grasp of data’s full story – where it comes from, how it’s been changed, and how reliable it is.

Better data also means better customer experiences, the company says. When AI tools are given clean and well-organised information, companies can reduce errors, respond more quickly, and offer services more tailored to individual needs. Informatica’s features give Salesforce a stronger base for these types of improvement.

The bigger picture: Agentforce and the future of autonomous AI

Salesforce has made it clear it wants to move toward AI tools that do more than just suggest actions. Agentforce is its platform for building AI agents that can carry out tasks on their own. To work well, agents need access to structured, trusted data. That’s where Informatica’s tools are expected to make the biggest difference.

The move also supports Salesforce’s broader strategy to build safe and reliable AI features. As businesses adopt AI, many worry about transparency and control. With better data tracking and policy enforcement, Salesforce hopes to address those concerns head-on.

In practical terms, AI agents with access to clean data can handle a wider range of business tasks. From responding to customer queries to updating internal systems, agents need context to act correctly. Informatica’s metadata and integration tools will help provide that context.

Other 2025 moves show a clear AI-first strategy

This isn’t the only step Salesforce has taken this year to build out its AI stack. In May 2025, it announced a plan to buy Convergence.ai, a company focused on AI agents that can navigate digital tasks with little human input. The deal fits with Salesforce’s efforts to create tools that go beyond automation and move into decision-making and independent actions.

Around the same time, Salesforce said it would stop hiring new software engineers in 2025, with CEO Marc Benioff pointing to rising productivity from its internal AI systems as the reason. Instead, the company is hiring more sales staff to help explain and sell its growing list of AI features to clients.

The changes show where Salesforce is heading. It wants to offer AI tools that feel more like assistants than add-ons – and that shift depends on better data, smarter systems, and human support in the right places.

Salesforce’s investment in Agentforce is a central piece of this strategy. The platform is built to support AI agents that work inside business apps, helping users take action directly in their workflows. As more data flows through these systems, the need for structure and oversight only grows.

Life Sciences, real use cases, and market expansion

Salesforce has also started to show how its AI tools can work in the real world. Takeda, a global pharmaceutical company, recently chose Salesforce’s Life Sciences Cloud to improve how it works with healthcare providers. The platform gives Takeda’s teams access to real-time data backed by tools like Agentforce and Data Cloud.

The use case highlights how AI and strong data systems can work together to improve services in highly regulated industries. In healthcare, even small data mistakes can have serious consequences. Informatica’s data governance and quality tools will help reduce those risks.

Other sectors like public services and finance could benefit in similar ways. With better data handling, organisations could reduce compliance issues and automate more of their operations. Salesforce is positioning itself to be a central player in that shift.

What’s next after Informatica?

Once the Informatica deal closes – expected early in Salesforce’s 2027 fiscal year – it wants to bring Informatica’s tools into its platform without delay. That includes embedding MDM, metadata, and data integration features into core products.

The deal reflects how large tech companies are trying to gain ground in AI without building from scratch. Instead of developing its own data governance tools, Salesforce chose to buy a company with experience and infrastructure.

If the integration goes as planned, the addition of Informatica could change how Salesforce delivers services. Clean and consistent data could become a core selling point for its tools in several industries.

While Informatica may not be Salesforce’s last AI-focused deal this year, it may be the one that best shows how much the company values clean, connected data in building smarter software.