Medallia Inc. and Ada, two frontrunners in customer experience software, unveiled a partnership on January 21, 2026, to fuse Medallia’s vast data intelligence with Ada’s agentic AI platform. The joint offering targets contact centers, aiming to convert customer feedback into real-time automated resolutions. Medallia processes over 8.2 billion records yearly, and now incorporates Ada’s AI agent conversations to pinpoint loyalty drivers and operational hurdles across channels like voice, digital, and surveys.

This integration promises to propel agentic AI beyond experimental pilots into enterprise-scale deployments. A 2025 MIT NANDA study underscores the urgency: only 5% of enterprise AI initiatives yield substantial financial returns, with 95% stalling short of profit-and-loss impact, as detailed in CMSWire. The alliance deploys Medallia’s risk scoring and quality rubrics directly into Ada’s workflows, enabling policy-compliant actions on intricate queries that traditional bots can’t handle.

The system forms a feedback loop where insights from Medallia refine Ada’s in-session choices, agent tone, and custom playbooks for high-friction issues. Post-interaction surveys trigger within Ada, feeding results back to Medallia for ongoing refinement. Executives hailed the move as transformative. “This is the creation of a transformational customer experience system that learns, improves, and scales,” said Mike Murchison, CEO and co-founder of Ada, in the announcement covered by Business Wire.

Closing the GenAI Value Chasm

Sid Banerjee, Medallia’s chief strategy officer, emphasized execution: “Our innovative solution connects rich CX insights to immediate, automated actions that fuel deeper omnichannel experiences. This further closes the gap between understanding customer needs and acting on them,” he told SalesTechStar. Contact center leaders gain finance-verifiable metrics, shortening rollout times from months to weeks with built-in safeguards.

Early adopter IPSY, a beauty subscription service, anticipates amplified gains. “We’ve seen tremendous value from utilizing both Ada and Medallia for elements of our customer experience engagement, and believe there is amazing potential in unifying those capabilities for even more conversational intelligence and automated action,” stated TJ Stein, IPSY’s head of customer care, per Directors Club News. Representatives from Ada and IPSY plan to elaborate at Medallia’s Experience conference, February 10-12, 2026, in Las Vegas.

Ada’s ACX operating model, blending technology, methodology, and expertise, powers AI agents across channels and languages. Medallia’s unified platform now serves as the single truth source, informing Ada’s decisions and capturing outcomes for iterative learning. This bidirectional flow addresses a core industry pain: siloed data preventing swift interventions.

Technical Gears of the Integration

At its heart, the solution unifies signals from calls, chats, surveys, and Ada conversations. Medallia insights dynamically shape Ada’s playbooks, prioritizing journeys and personalizing responses. Risk scores flag escalations, while quality management rubrics ensure compliance. Deployment accelerates via pre-built connectors, contrasting lengthy custom builds in prior AI efforts.

Medallia’s AI lineage bolsters credibility. Since 2008 text analytics, it rolled out seven generative capabilities in March 2025, Frontline-Ready AI mobile tools in October 2025, and Adobe AI Agents integration in September 2025, as noted in CMSWire. These evolutions position Medallia to ingest Ada’s data seamlessly, enhancing predictive analytics on customer intent and sentiment.

Ada, an AI-native firm, specializes in scalable agents for personalized interactions. The partnership elevates this to agentic levels—autonomous planning and execution—targeting complex enterprise scenarios. Industry observers see it signaling convergence of CX analytics and automation platforms into unified operating systems, as Omdia analyst Mila D’Antonio observed on X.

Enterprise Stakes and Competitive Pressures

For contact centers facing surging volumes and expectations, the timing resonates. Medallia’s platform, trusted by seven Fortune 10 firms, pairs with Ada’s proven ACX to deliver measurable lifts in resolution rates and satisfaction scores. Finance teams benefit from P&L-tied dashboards tracking automation ROI.

Competitors like Cresta and LivePerson have partnered with Medallia for agent assistance, per prior announcements, but this Ada tie-up uniquely emphasizes full-cycle agentic orchestration. No major updates emerged on X or web searches post-announcement, indicating fresh momentum amid quiet industry digestion as of January 25, 2026.

Challenges persist: ensuring AI hallucinations stay minimal in high-stakes interactions and scaling across global regulations. Yet, with enterprise-grade controls, the duo positions CX leaders to sidestep pilot pitfalls, driving automation that adapts in real time to evolving customer signals.

Path Forward for CX Leaders

Attendees at Medallia’s upcoming conference will witness demos, potentially unveiling pilots or metrics from IPSY. Broader adoption could redefine Voice of the Customer programs, shifting from passive listening to proactive orchestration. As agentic AI matures, partnerships like this may set the benchmark for turning data deluges into decisive actions.