Zeta Global Releases Statement on Salesforce’s Intent to Acquire Braze

ZETA GLOBAL | INVESTOR BRIEFING

Salesforce / Braze

October 20, 2026

Our Reaction

Salesforce's acquisition of Braze creates a significant competitive opportunity for Zeta at a pivotal moment in enterprise technology.

Both companies are addressing fundamental gaps in their platforms. Salesforce needs modern engagement capabilities, and Braze needs a stronger enterprise data and intelligence foundation. Neither possesses Zeta's proprietary data asset, an increasingly important competitive moat in the AI era. Neither has artificial intelligence native to its architecture; both require an API step-out.

The combination introduces substantial integration risk just as AI is redefining enterprise software.

For Zeta, the opportunity is to accelerate the replacement cycle already underway, capture a meaningful increase in RFP activity and extend our AthenaOS lead while competitors focus on integration.

The Deal at a Glance

Transaction Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) to acquire Braze (NASDAQ: BRZE)

Enterprise value Approximately $5.66 billion

Expected close Salesforce fiscal 2028 (begins February 2027), subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals

Six Key Points for Investors

1. A catalyst for the replacement cycle. Product overlap, roadmap uncertainty and integration risk should accelerate enterprise marketing technology replacement decisions, driving a meaningful uptick in RFP volume as customers reassess their long-term platforms before committing to another generation of legacy infrastructure.
2. Integration risk at the worst possible moment. Salesforce and Braze must reconcile codebases, data models, AI engines and product roadmaps while enterprise software undergoes its most significant architectural shift in decades. Integration will compete with innovation for engineering resources and management attention.
3. AI collision. Agentforce and BrazeAI bring different intelligence, decisioning and orchestration architectures, and neither is foundational to its platform. Combining them risks duplicated intelligence layers, conflicting decision logic and slower innovation. Salesforce's push toward headless AI adds another architectural tension.
4. Proprietary data remains the moat. Salesforce and Braze work with their clients' customer data. Neither possesses Zeta's independently sourced, identity-resolved consumer intelligence. Differentiated data, persistent identity and real-time demand signals are far harder to replicate, and they make AI models more

valuable. This proprietary data is mission-critical to AI training and intelligence, and a major differentiator.

1. The AthenaOS head start. Zeta is building an intelligence-first architecture that connects data, decisions, activation and outcomes. While Salesforce and Braze navigate integration and product rationalization, Zeta will accelerate AthenaOS adoption, win customers and turn its architectural advantage into faster growth.
2. A compelling valuation comparison. Salesforce has reinforced the value of enterprise marketing infrastructure by paying $5.66 billion, or 6.2x forward revenue, for Braze. Zeta trades at 4.4x forward revenue with roughly twice the scale and substantially stronger profitability and cash generation.

Footnotes

1. This statement does not include a reconciliation of forward-looking free cash flow to forward-looking net cash provided by operating activities, because the Company is unable, without making unreasonable efforts, to provide a meaningful or reasonably accurate calculation or estimation of certain reconciling items which could be significant to the Company's results.
2. Forward revenue reflects the rounded midpoint of company-issued full-year revenue guidance: Braze FY2027, ending January 31, 2027 ($910-$913 million; issued September 8, 2026), and Zeta FY2026, ending December 31, 2026 ($1.811-$1.824 billion; issued August 4, 2026).

This statement, together with other statements and information publicly disseminated by the Company, contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The Company intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and includes this statement for purposes of complying with these safe harbor provisions. Any statements made in this statement that are not statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements and should be evaluated as such. Forward-looking statements include information concerning our anticipated future financial performance, our market opportunities and our expectations regarding our business plan and strategies. These statements often include words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimates," "expect," "forecast," "guidance," "intend," "may," "outlook," "plan," "projects," "should," "suggests," "targets," "will," "would" and other similar expressions. We base these forward-looking statements on our current expectations, plans and assumptions that we have made in light of our experience in the industry, as well as our perceptions of historical trends, current conditions, expected future developments and other factors we believe are appropriate under the circumstances at such time. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions at the time they are made, you should be aware that many factors could affect our business, results of operations and financial condition and could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance or results.

The forward-looking statements are subject to and involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These cautionary statements should not be construed by you to be exhaustive and the forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this statement. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. If we update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that we will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements.