Salesforce to Buy Research Platform Listen Labs

Global CRM company Salesforce is to acquire automated customer research and synthesized insights platform Listen Labs. Financial terms have not been disclosed, although earlier reports suggested the research firm - with an ARR of around $30m - could fetch around $2 billion.

It's only eighteen months since Listen Labs launched - with $27m in Seed and Series A funding and a team of ten people - it also added $69 million in Series B funding, in January this year. The firm has compiled a panel of 50 million pre-qualified people, across demographics and geographies and ranging 'from public company executives to oncologists.' An AI moderator talks to a selection of these with the proficiency of a 'great' interviewer, according to the firm, and the conversations are automatically converted into actionable outputs including reports, themes, highlight reels, and presentation-ready decks - building a searchable repository of interviews which can then be queried.

Listen Labs also offers digital twins, AI simulations grounded in real customer behavior, as a means to compare approaches and refine plans prior to customer or user testing with the human panel; and the platform features screen recording for UX work.

Salesforce says the buy, and Listen Labs' ability to generate insights at scale in days rather than months will complement its Marketing Cloud, Service Cloud, and its broader AI portfolio. The acquisition is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of Salesforce's fiscal year 2027, subject to satisfaction of various closing conditions.

Aman Naimat, President of AI Labs at Salesforce, says the company looks forward to expanding access to Listen Labs' agentic capabilities via its global network, 'helping more companies and governments make faster, better-informed decisions that deliver exceptional customer experiences.' Listen Labs CEO and co-founder Alfred Wahlforss (pictured) comments: 'Companies have always wanted to hear from every customer, but until now it was only possible to talk to a handful. With AI, a company can now have thousands of real conversations at once and even simulate how customers will respond before making a move. Together with Salesforce, we'll put that understanding at the heart of every decision.'

The $2 billion price tag was reported on businessinsider.com and cited 'people familiar with the matter.'

Web site: www.listenlabs.ai .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.