The recent acquisition of InMoment by Press Ganey Forsta marks a significant shake-up in the Voice of the Customer (VoC) marketplace. This merger brings together two prominent players, creating a formidable force aiming to challenge Qualtrics and Medallia.
This increased competition is likely to drive further innovation and potentially benefit customers with more comprehensive and advanced solutions.
David Blakers, comments, “This acquisition allows us to significantly scale up across the globe. The combined entity, particularly with the strength of the Press Ganey Forsta group, will enable substantial platform investment. We’re at the cusp of the next major industry evolution, transitioning from a reliance on solicited feedback (like surveys) to integrated analytics. This means bringing together all customer signals – from surveys to unstructured data – into one platform, applying a unified analytical framework, and driving smarter, faster actions”.
InMoment brings deep expertise in AI, natural language processing (NLP), and advanced analytics, including predictive capabilities that can offer prescriptive recommendations. Its recent advancements in generative and agentic AI, such as “Active Listening Agents,” are expected to bolster Forsta’s roadmap and accelerate its innovation cycle.
Forsta, in turn, contributes strong market research capabilities and support for complex organisational hierarchies. The fusion of these strengths will create a powerful “integrated analytics” approach, moving beyond traditional solicited feedback to leverage all available customer signals – including unstructured data from calls, chats, social media, and reviews.
Blakers says, “Our unique position stems from combining service strength with natural language processing, legacy text analytics, cutting-edge AI, and predictive data science. This fusion empowers organisations to run higher-impact programs and accelerate change, rather than depending on fragmented point solutions or solely on large language models”.
Opportunities and challenges
From a regional perspective, the acquisition presents significant opportunities, particularly concerning the cultural fit and expanded capabilities of each organisation. Blakers comments, “I’m genuinely thrilled by how aligned our two organisations are, especially regarding customer centricity. This extends to the exceptional talent across our combined team and our market approach. We strive to be the ultimate CX partner, not just providing top-tier technology and actionable insights (which are essential) but proactively guiding our clients to maximise their program’s success”.
Both entities have historically prided themselves on being proactive partners, guiding clients to maximise program outcomes and achieving notable industry recognition, including multiple CX transformation awards. This cultural synergy is seen as a key accelerant for the combined entity’s success. “As the industry embarks on the next major shift towards integrated analytics and human experience, having a partner to truly guide clients in leveraging technology will be the crucial differentiator between merely understanding what’s needed and actually achieving success”, says Blakers.
Client and team integration, and product roadmap
For clients, the acquisition is expected to unlock new capabilities without disrupting day-to-day operations, as teams remain largely consistent. The expanded offerings will include deeper expertise in market research and employee experience, augmenting existing strengths in customer experience analytics. The combined Australian team will number around 80, with a strong presence across Australia and New Zealand, and further reach into Southeast Asia.
Regarding the product roadmap, while specific details are still being finalized, the emphasis is on integrating complementary capabilities into existing client bases. Both legacy platforms are built with open architectures, facilitating easy data ingress and egress and minimizing IT effort for clients. This open approach allows for rapid integration of new features and positions the combined entity to “bolt in” new capabilities efficiently.
Blakers, comments, “While acknowledging the existence of various point solutions and the widespread experimentation with large language models within the industry, the company advocates for a balanced approach that combines the strengths of text analytics for accuracy and repeatability with the summarisation power of AI”.
He adds, “The goal is to provide predictive analytics that guide clients on where to focus for maximum impact. This holistic approach aims to consolidate disparate tools used across different functional teams within an organisation, fostering a consistent language around customer experience”.
Looking ahead, the focus is on ensuring a seamless integration of teams and capabilities, leveraging the strong cultural alignment already evident between the two organisations.
The Forsta and InMoment merger signifies a strategic move to create a VoC powerhouse that prioritises integrated analytics, advanced AI, comprehensive omni-channel listening, and strong client partnerships. This development is set to intensify competition and drive further advancements in the VoC marketplace, ultimately offering more sophisticated tools and insights for organisations striving to understand and improve their customer and employee experiences.