Backbase has acquired Kasisto, integrating agentic AI and financial services intelligence into its Banking OS.
The transaction brings Kasisto's agentic platform, financial services intelligence capabilities, and its New York-based team into the Backbase organisation. Both companies now operate under a unified structure built around the AI-native Banking OS, with the combined agentic banking suite available to all current and future customers immediately.
From isolated agents to governed resolution
The acquisition targets a persistent challenge in how banks have approached AI deployment. According to Backbase, most banks have implemented agentic AI in isolated areas, with agents responding to discrete queries without connecting intent to resolution across channels, contact centres, and operations. The combined offering is positioned to close this gap by embedding agentic AI within the Banking OS, enabling banks to move from fragmented deployment toward governed execution of customer needs.
In addition, Backbase has outlined three strategic objectives underpinning the transaction. The first concerns the integration of banking-grade agentic AI into the Banking OS. Kasisto's reasoning-native agents are built to operate within banking-specific governance and compliance controls, covering the full arc from customer intent to resolution across conversational surfaces, including chat, messaging, and voice.
The second objective focuses on AI-native customer operations. The combined capabilities are designed to connect digital self-service, contact centres, and back-office operations, enabling end-to-end resolution of customer needs. This includes proactive outbound engagement, which allows banks to address customer requirements before they generate inbound service demand.
The third objective is focused on deepening Backbase's presence in the US, identified by the company as a priority strategic growth market. The deal consolidates complementary technology, established customer bases across North America, and both companies' teams under a single structure.
Underpinning all three priorities is what Backbase describes as the 'Unified Frontline', an operating model in which customers, employees, and AI agents share context and governed authority within a single framework.
Jouk Pleiter, CEO and founder of Backbase, stated that the acquisition positions the company as a strategic partner for banks pursuing AI transformation, and that Kasisto's agentic AI and financial services intelligence represent a step toward an era in which customer intent is resolved through governed, intelligent execution.
Lance Berks, CEO of Kasisto, noted that agentic AI is expected to reshape banking over the coming decade, and described the deal as a convergence of the AI-native Banking OS and purpose-built agentic AI, setting a new operational standard for banks and financial institutions.
