Salesforce, Inc. said on the 15th (local time) it will acquire Fin, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based customer service agent platform, for $3.6 billion (about 5.5 trillion won). The move is seen as an effort to accelerate its AI transition.
Fin, formerly known as Intercom, changed its name to Fin in March this year. Fin developed an AI agent model that handles customer inquiries across various platforms, including phone, text, email, live chat, the WhatsApp messaging service, and Slack. AI corporations Anthropic, betting platform Kalshi, and delivery service DoorDash are using Fin's services.
With this acquisition, Salesforce, Inc. plans to strengthen its enterprise AI platform Agentforce. Agentforce helps corporations directly build and deploy custom AI agents to automate tasks such as customer support, sales, marketing, and IT support.
Marc Benioff, Salesforce, Inc. chief executive officer (CEO), said, "Fin has proven AI agent technology and outstanding AI talent," adding, "With this acquisition, Agentforce will gain stronger customer-facing agent capabilities."
The acquisition is expected to be completed in Salesforce, Inc.'s fiscal year fourth quarter of 2027. The actual closing is expected early next year.
Salesforce, Inc. is the world's largest customer relationship management (CRM) software corporations. The company expressed its ambition to grow the Agentforce platform and transform into an "AI agent corporations" to counter the "software crisis theory" stirred by the AI boom. Agentforce's annual recurring revenue (ARR) was $1.2 billion (about 1.81 trillion won) in the first quarter this year, more than tripling from a year earlier.
As part of that, Salesforce, Inc. acquired Informatica, an AI-based data management platform, for $8 billion (about 12 trillion won) in May last year, and in October of the same year expanded collaboration with OpenAI to provide next-generation workplace services.