SOUNDHOUND AI Closes LivePerson Deal and Names John Collins CFO

SoundHound AI (SOUN) said on September 4, 2026 that it has completed its acquisition of LivePerson, combining LivePerson's enterprise digital messaging business with SoundHound's voice and agentic AI platform. Alongside the close, the company appointed John Collins as Chief Financial Officer of the combined business. LivePerson common stock will cease trading on Nasdaq as a result of the deal.

The enlarged group says it now counts 25 of the Fortune 100 among its customers and holds an IP portfolio of more than 750 patents. LivePerson's platform is being folded into OASYS, SoundHound's self-learning Orchestrated Agent System, to create a single engine that runs natively across voice, web, mobile, SMS and social channels.

SoundHound described the combined balance sheet as fully debt-free, noting that it retired LivePerson's outstanding debt as part of the closing. Management said the company is positioned to target more than $500 million in future revenue from the existing customer base alone, and pointed to a Gartner forecast that enterprise spending on agentic AI software will reach $985 billion by 2030.

"This merger represents a defining moment for the new agentic AI era," said Keyvan Mohajer, CEO and co-founder of SoundHound AI, adding that global brands now have "a single, unified engine to power intelligent customer interactions."

Collins joins after an extensive executive search and arrives with a direct line into the acquired business: he previously served as CFO, COO and interim CEO at LivePerson, and has more than 15 years of experience across enterprise software, data science and corporate finance. The company credited him with steering LivePerson from over $100 million of annual cash burn to positive free cash flow in a single year, executing cost-reduction programs of more than $200 million, and leading debt restructurings that captured $227 million of debt discount.

In his new role, Collins said his focus will be on "driving seamless operational integration, enforcing cost discipline, and accelerating our path to sustainable, high-margin profitability." SoundHound framed the mandate around margin expansion and capital allocation discipline rather than growth alone.

LivePerson CEO John Sabino said the two companies offer "an unparalleled value proposition for enterprises seeking to modernize their contact centers and digital touchpoints." Functional integration is already underway, with combined product offerings due to roll out to global clients in the coming quarters.

The deal follows a period of rapid top-line growth at SoundHound, which reported record second-quarter revenue of $61.9 million, up 45%, on August 5, 2026, and raised its full-year outlook at that time. Investors will now be watching how quickly the enlarged customer base translates into cross-selling revenue and whether the cost discipline promised by the new CFO materialises.

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