AI, Data, & An $8B Statement From Salesforce
By Jenna Trott | 5 Minute Read
At A Glance
01. Salesforce acquired Informatica for $8B, marking a major investment in enterprise data governance.
02. AI success hinges not just on models, but on clean, structured, trustworthy data.
03. 63% of enterprises store over 100TB of data—but 90% becomes unusable within months.
04. Salesforce’s Q1 Data Cloud and AI ARR crossed $1B, with 22T+ records ingested—up 175% YoY.
05. Agentforce closed 8,000+ deals, proving AI has moved from experimentation to production.
Products Highlighted
Agentforce
Salesforce Data Cloud
Einstein AI
Informatica
Salesforce recently sent a big message with their acquisition of Informatica: AI is here to stay, but getting it right requires more than algorithms and agent building tools. It requires clean, connected, governed data, and right now, that’s where many enterprises are falling short.
In fact, the scope of the problem is staggering. Although 63% of enterprises store more than 100 terabytes of data, 90% of it becomes unusable within months—not because it’s irrelevant, but because it’s unstructured, duplicated, or lacks proper context. Salesforce’s $8 billion acquisition of Informatica signals a clear recognition of that reality. Tools like Agentforce and Einstein can’t deliver real value unless they’re powered by trustworthy data.
Which brings us to the numbers driving this strategic pivot. Let’s take a closer look at the numbers behind the timing of this acquisition.
Behind the Numbers
Salesforce’s Q1 revenue hit $9.83B, up 8% year-over-year—but the real momentum came from two areas: AI and mid-market growth.
AI + Data Cloud ARR crossed $1B, up 120% YoY
22 trillion records were ingested into Data Cloud this quarter—up 175% YoY
Nearly 60% of Salesforce’s top 100 Q1 deals included both Data Cloud and AI
Salesforce also reported strong results from Agentforce, its AI-powered autonomous agents:
8,000+ deals closed, half paid
$100M in annual order value
30% of bookings driven by consumption
800 clients now in production
So, what does this tell us? AI has gone beyond experimental to instead becoming a significant revenue engine for companies across industries—but it’s one that depends entirely on data quality and structure.
Why Informatica? And Why Now?
Salesforce isn’t acquiring Informatica to “add features.” It’s acquiring it to solve a known issue: enterprise data sprawl.
Informatica’s capabilities—metadata management, master data management (MDM), and data quality enforcement—are essential to making sprawling datasets usable again, especially as AI becomes embedded across the Salesforce ecosystem.
But as Marc Benioff noted during the investor call, the acquisition is also about scale. Salesforce’s sales force (now at 13,000 AEs, up 14% YoY) can distribute Informatica globally in a way the company struggled to do alone:
“They don’t have the distribution scale that we have… So the idea that we have the ability to go out and sell that product to companies worldwide—this is why I have this fever about growing.”
— Marc Benioff
What to Watch Next
Salesforce raised its full-year guidance to $41.3B, citing strong pipeline growth. And with AI usage shifting to consumption-based pricing, they’re changing how performance is measured by aligning incentives with actual usage and renewals.
Further, the Informatica deal complements Salesforce’s ADAM framework (Agents, Data, Apps, Metadata), positioning the platform to support not only AI functionality, but AI that runs on clean, governed, context-rich data.
Whether this move delivers on its promise will depend on its execution—but the early indicators, from revenue growth to adoption rates, suggest Salesforce is aligning its strategy around making enterprise AI truly usable: built on clean, governed, and context-rich data.
Explore how Informatica is reshaping Salesforce’s data and AI strategy
Keep Updated On Everything Salesforce, Data & AI
Subscribe to get the latest Salesforce blogs, guides, industry reports, events, and all things Salesforce related!
IN THE Spotlight
Forging Faster Futures: Salesforce Managed Services for the Public Sector. Read Blog 
Sleigh the Seasonal Slowdown: Maximize Productivity with These Salesforce Hacks. Read Blog
AGG Has Partnered with Microsoft Azure to Better Service Our Clients in Cloud Computing. Read Blog
How to Implement Agentforce Agents: AGG Guidelines to Success Read Blog
AGG Has Partnered with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to Offer a Comprehensive Range of Cloud Services. Read Blog
The Truth Behind Salesforce Consultants. Read Blog
AGG partners with Snowflake to Revolutionize Data Integration & Analytics. Read Blog
Unlocking Data Potential: Access Global Group’s Partnership with Databricks. Read Blog
SALESFORCE RESOURCES
Farmers Insurance Improved Their Sales Understanding. Read Story
MetLife Increases Sales Production & Reduces Manual Work. Read Story
Igniting Innovation: Guidewire + Salesforce Integration for Insurance.
Read Guide
A Match Made in Banking: Accelerating ROI with nCino and Salesforce.
Read Guide
Navigating the Salesforce Customer Journey with an Expert Salesforce Summit Partner. View Datasheet
Salesforce for Insurance: Customer 360, Integrating with your AMS. Watch Webinar
