NiCE to Acquire Cognigy - Advancing the Leading CX AI Platform to Accelerate AI-First Customer Experience

NiCE, AI-Powered Customer Experience Platform led by Scott Russell(CEO), Beth Gaspich(CFO), Barry Cooper(President, NiCE CX Division), Chris Wooten(EVP, NiCE Vertical Markets), Craig Costigan(CEO, NiCE Actimize), Darren Rushworth(President, NiCE International), Shiri Neder(Executive Vice President, Human Resources), and Dan Belanger(President, NiCE Americas), announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Cognigy, a global market leader in conversational and agentic AI, led by Philipp Heltewig(Co-Founder and CEO), Sascha Poggemann(Co-Founder and COO), Benjamin Mayr(Co-Founder and VP Engineering), Philip Dipner(CFO), Hardy Myers(SVP Business Development & Strategy), Alexandra Anders(SVP People and Culture), Thijs Waanders(SVP AI Transformation), and Alan Ranger(VP Marketing). This strategic acquisition combines NiCE’s CXone Mpower platform with Cognigy’s advanced conversational and agentic AI, creating a unified CX AI platform. The integration enables organizations to accelerate AI-first customer service by seamlessly orchestrating AI agents across both front and back offices, powered by specialized CX AI models.

Cognigy.AI empowers enterprises to deploy AI agents that think, adapt, and act autonomously, providing human-like service across 100+ languages and channels. These agents provide instant, personalized support, enabling human agents to focus on higher-value tasks. Trusted by leading brands like Mercedes-Benz, Nestlé, and Lufthansa Group, Cognigy is on track for an estimated 80% ARR growth in 2026.

NiCE’s Board of Directors has unanimously approved the acquisition of Cognigy in a deal valuing Cognigy at $955 million. This includes a $50 million time-bound holdback—$25 million in cash and 158,000 American Depositary Shares. The transaction will be funded with existing cash reserves and is expected to close in Q4 2025, pending regulatory approvals and other customary conditions.

Jefferies LLC is serving as the exclusive financial advisor to NiCE, while Qatalyst Partners is acting as the exclusive financial advisor to the sellers in the proposed acquisition of Cognigy.