Here are five things in business technology news that happened this week and how they affect your business. Did you miss them?

Customer Service Management (CRM) leader Salesforce has agreed to acquire Informatica in an $8 billion deal, marking one of its largest acquisitions to date. The move is aimed at strengthening Salesforce’s AI-driven data management capabilities, particularly in areas like cloud computing and enterprise AI. Informatica shareholders will receive $25 per share, representing a 30 percent premium over its recent closing price. The deal will enhance Salesforce’s data governance and integration tools, helping businesses automate complex processes and make more reliable AI-driven decisions. The acquisition is expected to close early in Salesforce’s fiscal 2027, pending regulatory approval. (Source: Bloomberg)

In the end it’s all about the data, isn’t it? Every tech company will tout its features and automation and workflows and AI tools but if the data is lousy the results will be lousy. Salesforce realizes this, which is why it’s buying a company that focuses on data management. Leadership there knows that for its AI features to be valuable, the underlying data has to be complete, accurate and reliable. Informatica will help Salesforce clients to validate, update and clarify their underlying databases so that they can truly leverage the functionality that Salesforce is offering.

Cisco's latest research predicts that agentic AI will handle 68 percent of customer service and support interactions by 2028. The study – which surveyed nearly 8,000 global business and technical decision-makers – highlights the growing confidence in AI-driven customer experiences as 93 percent of respondents believe agentic AI will enable more personalized, proactive, and predictive services. Within the next 12 months, 56 percent of interactions are expected to be AI-driven. Additionally, 92 percent of organizations say customer support is more critical than ever due to increasing IT complexity. Cisco executives believe agentic AI will eliminate common network issues, improve security, and enhance productivity. (Source: Cisco)

This seems right to me. For the next 2-3 years we’ll be seeing every tech company rolling out agents and agentic features to perform mundane and repetitive tasks currently taking up the time of our employees. Initially, these features aren’t going to work very well. A few intrepid souls will dive in but hopefully they won’t be using these tools for any core undertakings. But by 2028? That’s almost three years away – a lifetime in the AI world. And given the advancements we’ve seen in just the past couple of years I have confidence that these agents will be working better and more reliably than our own employees.

Instagram CEO says he almost fell for sophisticated new Google scam: what to watch for.

Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri recently revealed that he almost fell for a sophisticated phishing scam posing as Google. The scam involved a phone call followed by an email claiming his Google account was compromised. The email appeared legitimate, coming from a Google domain and linking to a Google Sites page that asked him to sign in. The scam was convincing because it redirected users through a real Google login page before leading them to a fake support site mimicking Google's official page. Cybersecurity experts warn that this type of scam exploits trust in recognizable domains like Google.com, making it harder to detect. Google has since suspended the fraudulent form and site and reminded users that it never calls people about account security issues. (Source: Daily Voice)

This is not just some guy who almost got duped. It’s the CEO of Instagram, who I’m assuming is well-versed in the technology space. The warning is that if a senior technology executive – a person who lives in this space – can almost be fooled by an online scam, what does that mean for the rest of us? It means stepping up our IT security budgets, investing in training sessions and software and making sure our internal security software is updated and monitored.

A recent legislative proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives – part of President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill," – includes a controversial provision: a 10-year moratorium on state-level regulation of artificial intelligence (AI). If enacted, this measure would centralize AI oversight at the federal level, preventing states from enacting or enforcing their own AI-related laws during this period. The proposed moratorium aims to halt existing and future state regulations on AI, including those addressing issues like deepfakes, AI-generated child pornography, and algorithmic discrimination. Opponents have called for the proposal to be dropped as several states such as California and Tennessee, have already established AI-related legislation. The debate highlights the tension between federal authority and state sovereignty in regulating emerging technologies. (Source: Mashable)

Mixed feelings about this one. One the one hand, centralizing AI policy at the federal level could mean a unified approach to AI regulation and security on a national level, assuming that the people in charge of this stuff know what they’re doing. It also means less confusion and complications by leaving this kind of thing up to the states. But on the other hand – and given the anti-red-tape-environment in DC – what if the Feds do little to combat AI’s risks over the next three years?

Shopify has introduced new AI-powered tools designed to help merchants launch, operate, and scale their online stores more efficiently. (Source: Practical Ecommerce)

Why this is important for your business:

Each week I choose five business technology news stories that impact small and midsized businesses and give thoughts.