Scott Russell, the new CEO of Nice, is beginning to take decisive steps aimed at reviving the company’s stock, which has declined by 10% over the past year.
Nice, a developer of customer experience and contact center systems, is making a major strategic acquisition of Germany-based Cognigy in a deal valued at $955 million.
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Nice CEO Scott Russell.
(Photo: Shutterstock, Brent Lewin/Bloomberg)
The acquisition is designed to deepen Nice’s presence in the artificial intelligence space and focus on agentic AI, AI-powered virtual agents capable of carrying out tasks traditionally handled by humans. The move directly addresses a growing concern among Nice investors: that AI could disrupt or replace many of the company’s existing capabilities.
Nice will pay for Cognigy using a mix of cash and shares. The total transaction value includes a contingent holdback of $50 million, consisting of $25 million in cash and 158,000 American Depositary Shares.
Founded in 2016, Cognigy currently employs around 300 people. Its flagship platform delivers human-like AI service in over 100 languages and is already in use at companies like Mercedes-Benz, Nestlé, and the Lufthansa Group. Cognigy’s AI agents are designed to automate routine customer interactions, allowing human service representatives to focus on more complex, high-value cases. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, pending regulatory approvals.
The acquisition echoes Nice’s pivotal purchase of inContact nearly a decade ago, which helped the company transition into cloud-based services, a move widely credited with transforming Nice into a market leader in CX platforms.
“This is a landmark moment for Nice, a strategic move that fast-tracks our AI innovation agenda and sets a new standard for customer experience in the AI era,” said Scott Russell, CEO of Niice. “By bringing a market leader in enterprise-grade conversational and agentic AI into the fold, we are accelerating global AI adoption, expanding into new global markets, and creating game-changing value for our customers, partners, and shareholders. Together, we are significantly advancing the future of AI-first customer experience.”
Nice shares were trading slightly higher in pre-market activity on Wall Street. The company is currently valued at approximately $10 billion.
Jefferies was the exclusive advisor to Nice on the transaction.