Proposed acquisition positions Zendesk to lead the agentic service era, projecting 2026 as the year AI agents will surpass human service

Zendesk expects autonomous AI to handle more service interactions than humans this year, marking a structural shift in customer service. To lead this transition, the company today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Forethought. This proposed transaction will expand Zendesk’s AI agent offering on the Resolution Platform, operating seamlessly across all service platforms and channels.

“The era of simply managing conversations is over. The future of customer experience requires agentic capabilities built for definitive resolution,” said Tom Eggemeier, CEO, Zendesk. “Forethought’s advanced capabilities perfectly align with our vision for agentic service. Together, we will be scaling self-improving AI that learns from every interaction. But technology is just the means. Resolution is our identity, and loyalty is the outcome. This proposed acquisition will ensure our customers have the absolute best tools to drive measurable growth in the AI era.”

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“Forethought was founded on the belief that AI will transform customer experience for every business,” said Sami Ghoche, Co-Founder and CEO, Forethought. “Joining Zendesk is the fastest way to accelerate that mission. With Zendesk’s platform, resources, and global reach, we will bring our technology to many more organizations around the world, move faster on innovation, and continue pushing the boundaries of what AI can do in customer experience. For our customers, this means the same innovative products and teams they trust today will be strengthened by the scale, platform, and investment of Zendesk.”

Zendesk AI agents routinely resolve over 80% of interactions end-to-end across a broad customer base – with human and autonomous agents working in concert. The Resolution Learning Loop enables continuous improvement by learning directly from every customer conversation, without the need for manual retraining. With the addition of Forethought, Zendesk will be able to advance this into fully self-learning AI agents that can generate, adapt, and execute complex workflows across any channel or platform. Each interaction strengthens performance over time, expanding what AI can resolve independently.

Forethought AI agents by Zendesk will build on this foundation to support more complex workflows, additional channels, and a wide range of service environments. Key capabilities will include:

• Specialized AI agents: Purpose-built AI agents for B2B, B2C, and B2E use cases by integrating Zendesk AI Agents, Unleash, and Forethought.
• Self-improving AI backed by the Resolution Learning Loop: Detects workflow gaps, generates new procedures, and tests optimizations before deployment, enabling AI agents to improve autonomously over time.
• Autonomous workflow execution: AI agents autonomously design and execute complex multi-step procedures, shortening time to resolution across customer journeys.
• Native voice automation: Fully autonomous AI into voice channels, resolving high-volume, high-complexity interactions end-to-end.
• Expanded reach into enterprise systems (e.g., computer use): Extends AI into existing enterprise systems even where APIs do not exist, eliminating manual work and unlocking previously unreachable workflows.

Forethought customers can expect uninterrupted service and continued product innovation, which will be backed by Zendesk’s global scale. Zendesk customers will gain access to expanded AI capabilities, improved support, and a more unified experience. Additionally, new customers will be able to adopt the solution independently with no requirement to use the Zendesk platform.

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The proposed acquisition of Forethought will significantly accelerate Zendesk’s product roadmap by over a year, providing immediate value to customers and reinforcing Zendesk’s commitment to driving resolutions for customers. With every business seeking a trusted partner to transition to the agentic future, the Zendesk Resolution Platform is uniquely positioned to deliver on that promise.

“To deliver a world-class customer experience today, service must be autonomous and deeply integrated. As a leader in customer success, we believe in the power of agentic AI to treat every customer like your best: Zendesk’s proposed acquisition of Forethought validates that the future of support is self-improving. For Gainsight, this deal will provide the sophisticated, cross-platform automation we need to ensure every customer interaction is intelligent, seamless, and aligned with our broader mission for driving retention for our customers,” added Chuck Ganapathi, CEO, Gainsight, a customer of both Zendesk and Forethought.

“Zendesk is making a bold statement that agentic AI will define the next era of customer experience,” said Keith Kirkpatrick, Vice President and Research Director, The Futurum Group. “At a time when many software companies are cautious or still in pilot mode, this investment reflects strong confidence in both the technology and the market’s readiness.”

The transaction is expected to close by the end of March, pending customary closing requirements, including regulatory approvals.