Nice Buys Conversational AI Startup Cognigy for $955 Million

Conversational AI startup Cognigy is being acquired by Nice, a provider of software in customer experience and compliance, for $955 million.

Cognigy’s generative and agentic artificial intelligence (AI) systems are used in company contact centers to automate tasks and assist human agents. Its clients include Mercedes-Benz, Frontier Airlines, Bayer, Bosch, Nestle and Toyota.

The acquisition is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

The deal combines Nice’s CXone Mpower platform — which unifies customer experience operations in the front and back office — with Cognigy’s flagship product, Cognigy.AI. The platform enables the deployment of multilingual AI agents across various channels.

According to the announcement, Cognigy’s AI agents can understand, reason and act on tasks whether on the web, messaging apps or phones. The agents automate customer service tasks such as answering questions, booking services or escalating issues to human agents.

Cognigy, whose platform supports more than 100 languages, is projecting 80% annual recurring revenue growth in 2026.

The next era of customer service will bank on advanced conversational AI with chatbots, according to a June 2025 PYMNTS Intelligence report. These are chatbots that can understand and engage in back-and-forth conversation with consumers to get exactly the answers they want.

Basic chatbots consistently score the lowest in customer satisfaction across banking channels. Just 29% of users are satisfied with them. Mobile apps, email and even ATMs and call centers scored higher. The reason is basic chatbots don’t understand context, since they match keywords to generic responses, usually leading users in circles.

Read also: Beyond the Bot: Why Embedded Conversational AI Is Banking’s Next Strategic Advantage

Conversational AI to Transform Contact Centers

According to Grand View Research, the global contact center AI market is projected to reach $7.1 billion by 2030, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23.8% from 2025 to 2030.

“Various factors, such as rising demand for enhanced customer experience, cost reduction and operational efficiency, omnichannel engagement, growing use of chatbots and virtual assistants, and increased adoption of cloud-based solutions, are primarily driving the growth of the industry,” according to the research firm.

North America commands 39% of the market’s revenues.

Nice serves customers in over 150 countries and positions the Cognigy acquisition as part of its broader strategy to integrate AI models into enterprise workflows.

With Cognigy’s technology and client base, Nice expects to enhance its AI-first customer experience platform and expand its global footprint. Cognigy said its platform integrates with major enterprise systems like Salesforce, SAP and ServiceNow.

The acquisition will be funded using Nice’s cash reserves. The total transaction value includes $50 million (cash and 158,000 American Depositary Shares).

Jefferies LLC is serving as exclusive financial advisor to Nice, while Qatalyst Partners is advising the sellers.

Nice’s board unanimously approved the acquisition.

Read more:

Why Tech Only Works if It Solves a Human Problem

Why Fast-Moving Issuers Win in a World of Customer Impatience

Airbnb: 50% of Users Turn to AI Bot for Customer Service