Over the past year, technology providers have accelerated their acquisitions of artificial intelligence (AI) agent startups as they race to build agentic AI platforms.
According to a new report by global market research firm Forrester, these acquisitions signal key market trends. First, tech providers are moving to control the layer responsible for interpreting user intent and coordinating workflows, rather than focusing on data or foundational models. Second, conversational AI is being elevated from a front-end capability to a core execution layer.
Just last week, Backbase, a provider of an AI-native banking operating system, acquired Kasisto, a pioneer in agentic AI for banking and financial services. The deal aims to deliver the only AI-native solution built for the complexity of agentic banking in regulated financial services.
With Kasisto embedded at the core of the Backbase’s Banking OS, banks will be able to deploy agents that natively handle the full arc from customer intent to governed resolution across all conversational banking surfaces such as chat, messaging, and voice.
Another notable deal this month was the acquisition of Fin, formerly Interom, by Salesforce. The transaction, which valued Fin at a staggering US$3.6 billion, aims to bring the startup’s long-tenured technical AI team and established global customer base of more than 30,000 companies to Salesforce.
Fin’s core AI agent resolves complex customer queries end-to-end across every channel, including live chat, email, WhatsApp, SMS, phone, and Slack. The agent is powered by the company’s proprietary AI model, Apex, that is purpose-built for customer support, and aims to improve autonomous resolution and reduce cost-to-serve. It claims to resolve on average 76% of support volume end-to-end.
Salesforces has been among the most active AI acquirers, having made agentic AI central to its strategy for Agentforce, the firm’s platform for building and deploying AI agents. Previous acquisitions include Convergence.ai, a company developing technology enabling AI agents to navigate dynamic interfaces and manage everything from web-based workflows to multi-step processes in real time; and Moonhub, which specialized in AI tools for hiring. Moonhub was eventually shut it down with some staff integrated into Salesforce, according to a TechCrunch report.
Other recent AI agent acquisitions include Cognigy, which was acquired by NiCE in July 2025. Cognigy specialized in conversational and agentic AI. Its acquisition, which valued Cognigy at approximately US$955 million, aimed to unite NiCE’s customer experience AI platform, CXone, with Cognigy’s conversational and agentic AI capabilities, enabling organizations to rapidly adopt AI-first customer service delivery, and orchestrate AI agents seamlessly across the front and back office in a unified customer experience AI platform.
Similarly, Moveworks was acquired in March 2025 by ServiceNow for US$2.85 billion. Moveworks provides an agentic AI assistant that connects all enterprise systems. Its acquisition aimed to combine ServiceNow’s agentic AI and automation strengths with Moveworks’ front‑end AI assistant and enterprise search technology to unlock new employee experiences across the business.
Market implications
According to Forrester, these developments highlight shifting priorities in the landscape. First, tech vendors are targeting the application layer that activates data and decisions in real time, rather than focusing on owning the data platform or foundational models.
This market consolidation forces a critical architectural decision upon banks between relying on tech vendors or building capabilities in-house. As vendors expand into end-to-end agent platforms, the risk increases that banks cede control of customer journeys to external providers. At the same time, building orchestration capabilities internally requires significant investment in integration, governance, and model coordination.
Overall, Forrester states that these acquisitions mark a structural transition where agentic orchestration is becoming foundational infrastructure. For banks, this layer will determine how banks deliver outcomes, differentiate customer and employee experiences, and retain control over journey design and execution.
Conversational banking on the rise
This trend lays the groundwork for advanced conversational banking. Conversational AI in banking refers to the use of AI-powered natural language technology to let customers interact with their bank through voice or chat. It aims to delivers fast, personalized support by understanding intent, and access account data and guide users in real time.
Banks increasingly view conversational banking as a strategic priority, with investment accelerating as incumbents recognize the competitive edge that natural language, personalized, always‑on engagement can deliver. According to Forrester, AI assistants are becoming central to digital service strategies, with banks like Bank of America, BBVA, and PKO Bank Polski using them to elevate customer experience.
Adoption of conversational banking is rising as people are growing increasingly comfortable using conversational interfaces such as ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity for financial inquiries. Forrester data from March 2026 shows that 31% of consumers in the US, Canada, and the UK use conversational AI for at least some personal finance questions.
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Singapore, based on image by mamunmarketer12 via Magnific
