The Gist
- Agentic AI momentum builds. NICE’s CXone Mpower was included in 100% of large AI deals, automating entire workflows from customer intent to resolution.
- Cloud revenue grows 12% YoY for Q1 2025. Cloud represented 75% of total revenue for Q1 2025, and CX AI and self-service solutions saw a 39% jump.
- New partnerships unlock scale. NICE expanded go-to-market reach with AWS and ServiceNow, bringing real-time orchestration and data unification to CX delivery.
NICE, the contact center and customer experience solutions provider, delivered a confident performance in Q1 2025, combining strong financials with bold moves in the customer experience and AI space.
The company on May 15 reported $700.2 million in revenue for the quarter—up 6% year over year—and saw double-digit gains in earnings and operating cash flow.
But the real story was AI: NICE’s CXone Mpower platform is rapidly seeing growth in large enterprises who want a full-service customer engagement automation, according to company officials.
Table of Contents
AI Fuels NICE’s Enterprise Growth Strategy
CEO Scott Russell said on an earnings call that NICE is “no longer only orchestrating interactions, we’re automating intent to resolution with agentic AI embedded across the entire service journey.” The company’s agentic AI model, embedded throughout CXone Mpower, enables AI and human agents to work side-by-side, managing full workflows from customer query to fulfillment.
AI-led deals continue to scale in size and frequency. NICE closed its largest CXone Mpower deal in Q1—worth over $100 million—with a major European government agency.
“We secured a landmark agreement with a major European government agency home to the largest customer service operation in Europe, representing a total contract value exceeding $100 million,” Russell said. “This marks the second nine-figure government agency deal we’ve closed in less than a year, underscoring the scalability and strength of CXone Mpower empowering mission critical customer service at scale. We successfully displaced a long standing incumbent and won against several direct competitors, a clear testament to the differentiated value our platform delivers, and the execution doesn’t stop there.”
Across all large Mpower deals (those with more than $1 million in annual contract value), AI played a role in 100% of them.
Russell highlighted that NICE’s differentiated strength lies in its domain-specific CX data, noting, “We know customer service best—what consumers need, when they need it, and why.” That foundational understanding is powering the company’s rapid deployment of AI assistants, copilots, and now fully autonomous orchestration layers.
Strategic Partnerships Deepen AI and Cloud Traction
In Q1, NICE announced key partnerships with ServiceNow and AWS aimed at extending the reach and value of CXone Mpower:
- ServiceNow: Connects NICE’s customer intent data with backend fulfillment workflows, streamlining front-to-back CX.
- AWS: Brings CXone Mpower to AWS Marketplace and expands data access for more intelligent automation across customer touchpoints.
Russell said these partnerships “eliminate silos, accelerate resolution, and turn disconnected customer journeys into seamless, loyalty-building experiences all on one unified platform.”
Cloud Leads Revenue Mix With Strong AI Tailwinds
Cloud revenue reached $526.3 million in Q1—up 12% year over year—and represented a record 75% of NICE’s total revenue. The company also introduced new reporting metrics that showcase the AI flywheel in motion:
- $200M in CX AI and self-service ARR, up 39% YoY
- 111% net revenue retention in cloud in Q1 2025, reflecting healthy upsell and usage growth, according to NICE CFO Beth Gaspich.
Executives said customers are increasingly replacing fragmented point solutions with CXone Empower. One Fortune 100 sportswear brand and a nonprofit health organization each consolidated systems from three or more vendors in favor of NICE’s unified platform.
Learning OpportunitiesView all
How the CX-AI Integration for NICE Gets Real
This table summarizes NICE’s top-level insights from Q1 2025 around artificial intelligence in customer experince that matter most to contact center VPs, chief customer officers and CX strategists.
| Insight | Why It Matters |
|---|---|
| Agentic AI is here now | NICE’s CXone Mpower is fully deployed and embedded in 100% of large new deals, signaling maturity and enterprise readiness. |
| AI orchestration matters more than AI widgets | With CXone Mpower Orchestrator, NICE automates entire customer intents—not just interactions—across workflows and systems. |
| Enterprises are consolidating CX stacks | Organizations are replacing three or more vendors per deal to unify data, workflows and automation into the CXone Mpower platform. |
| AI is additive, not replacing humans | AI deployments are driving incremental spend. Enterprises still rely on agents for complex cases while embracing seamless AI-human handoffs. |
| Customers want platforms, not point tools | NICE is positioned as the fix for the “frankenstack” problem—offering unified CX capabilities in one integrated platform, according to company officials. |
| AI success hinges on CX data fluency | NICE’s 15B+ interaction dataset and vertical knowledge are foundational to AI performance and differentiation. |
| AI adoption varies by vertical | Industries like retail are deploying AI faster; others take gradual steps, starting with copilots before scaling to full automation. |
| AI governance and resilience still matter | NICE emphasized reliability and platform maturity as critical trust factors for large-scale CX automation projects. |
High-Level Financial Highlights From NICE
- Total revenue: $700.2 million, up 6% YoY
- Cloud revenue: $526.3 million, up 12% YoY
- Non-GAAP diluted EPS: $2.87, up 11% YoY
- GAAP diluted EPS: $2.01, up 26% YoY
- Operating cash flow: $285.1 million, a quarterly record and up 12% YoY
- Operating margin: 30.5% (non-GAAP), up from 30.3%
NICE also announced the launch of a new $500 million share repurchase program after completing more than 70% of its current buyback plan in Q1.
Who Is NICE?
NICE (Nasdaq: NICE) offers customer experience software, serving over 25,000 organizations in more than 150 countries. Its flagship platform, CXone, powers AI-driven self-service and agent-assisted solutions across contact centers and broader digital workflows. NICE partners with over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies and has positioned itself as a category leader in CX AI orchestration.
In Other News …
Have a tip to share with our editorial team? Drop us a line:
