Just two days ago, on July 28, 2025, customer experience (“CX”) giant NiCE announced its definitive agreement to acquire Cognigy, a market leader in conversational and agentic AI, for approximately $955 million.

While acquisitions in the tech space are common, this one is a particularly significant event for any organization involved in telecommunications and especially those focused on outbound dialing.

At the heart of this acquisition is Cognigy’s advanced AI platform. And the key term to understand here is “agentic AI.”

Unlike a simple chatbot or a traditional IVR menu, agentic AI is designed to have AI agents that can “think, adapt, and act independently to deliver human-like service.” According to the announcement, these AI agents can handle interactions in over 100 languages across any channel, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex and high-value customer issues.

For the outbound dialing world, the implications are enormous. Imagine being able to conduct highly personalized, intelligent outreach campaigns at a scale and speed no human team could ever achieve. This technology promises to automate a huge swath of routine outbound calls, from appointment reminders to follow-ups and surveys.

The use of agentic AI can really create dynamic, two-way conversations that feel personalized to the consumer–potentially increasing engagement and success rates for outbound campaigns.

When a market leader like NiCE integrates agentic AI into its core CXone platform, it signals a major shift. At that point, it’s moved from early adopters to something positioned to now be the norm in the industry.

But, if you’re one of those businesses looking to utilize ANY AI voice technology whatsoever in your outbound dialing, here is your reminder: IT IS REGULATED TECHNOLOGY UNDER THE TCPA AND YOU NEED THE REQUISITE CONSENT TO MAKE THOSE CALLS.

Anyway, in sum, this acquisition is a big deal because it not only strengthens NiCE’s AI strategy but also shows how quickly agentic AI is developing in the telecom industry. This could (and likely will) significantly influence how companies prioritize AI-powered customer experience.