Qualtrics

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Experience management software company

Last updated October 14, 2026

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First read: Nov 4, 2026
Latest read: Nov 4, 2026

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Overview

Qualtrics is an American software company specializing in experience management. Its cloud platform enables organizations to design and distribute surveys, collect structured and unstructured feedback, analyze experience data, and turn findings into operational actions. The company’s principal areas include customer experience, employee experience, product experience, brand experience, market research, and experience-focused analytics. Qualtrics was founded in Provo, Utah, in 2002 by Scott M. Smith, Ryan Smith, Jared Smith, and Stuart Orgill. It initially became widely known in academic and institutional settings as an online survey and research platform. Beginning around 2012, the company increasingly shifted its commercial focus toward large enterprise customers, positioning its software as a system for managing feedback and experiences across customers, employees, products, and brands rather than merely as a survey tool. The company raised substantial venture funding during its expansion. Sequoia Capital and Accel invested $70 million in a 2012 Series A round, and Insight Partners led a $150 million Series B round in 2014. The latter financing valued Qualtrics at approximately $1 billion. Qualtrics also expanded its capabilities through acquisitions, including statistical analysis company Statwing in 2016, customer feedback platform Delighted in 2018, and conversational analytics provider Clarabridge in 2021. Qualtrics launched its broader experience management platform in March 2017. In October 2018, it filed for a proposed public offering, but the planned IPO was abandoned after SAP announced an agreement to acquire the company in November of that year. SAP completed the all-cash acquisition for approximately $8 billion on January 23, 2019. Qualtrics continued to operate as a distinct business within the SAP portfolio, while SAP used the acquisition to strengthen its enterprise software offering with experience data and feedback capabilities. SAP later announced plans to take Qualtrics public. Qualtrics began trading on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol XM on January 28, 2021, with SAP retaining a majority stake. Its first public-market period included continued international expansion, the appointment of Brad Anderson as president of products and services, and the acquisition of Clarabridge in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $1.125 billion in 2021. In 2022, Qualtrics announced plans to deliver its platform through the AWS London cloud region and to establish a London office and customer experience center. In March 2023, SAP agreed to sell Qualtrics to an investor group led by Silver Lake, with participation from CPP Investments, co-founder Ryan Smith, and other investors, in a transaction valued at approximately $12.5 billion. The deal closed on June 28, 2023, ending Qualtrics’ period as a publicly traded company. Since then, Qualtrics has continued as an independent, privately held experience management company. The business increasingly emphasizes automation, artificial intelligence, and the use of experience data at scale to support more predictive and agentic workflows. Its scope remains centered on helping organizations collect feedback, understand sentiment and behavior, and improve decisions across customer, employee, product, and brand interactions.

History

Qualtrics was established in 2002 in Provo, Utah, by Scott M. Smith, Ryan Smith, Jared Smith, and Stuart Orgill. The business developed an online survey and research product that gained adoption among universities and researchers. Its early identity was therefore closely associated with academic survey methodology, questionnaire design, and data collection. During the 2010s, Qualtrics broadened its commercial ambitions. Around 2012, it began pivoting toward enterprise customers and presenting survey capabilities as part of a wider system for managing experience data. This shift allowed organizations to gather feedback from customers, employees, product users, and markets, then analyze that information for operational and strategic purposes. The company’s growth was supported by a $70 million Series A investment from Sequoia Capital and Accel in 2012 and a $150 million Series B round led by Insight Partners in 2014. The latter financing valued the company at approximately $1 billion. Qualtrics expanded its product and analytical capabilities through acquisitions. In May 2016, it bought Statwing, a San Francisco-based provider of point-and-click statistical analysis software. In March 2017, it launched its cloud-based experience management platform, a major step in moving from standalone survey software toward an integrated experience management proposition. In April 2018, it acquired Delighted, a customer feedback company with more than 1,500 customers at the time. Qualtrics filed for an IPO in October 2018 and proposed listing on Nasdaq under the symbol XM. The company reported approximately 9,000 global customers in its filing. The IPO plan was withdrawn after SAP announced in November 2018 that it would acquire Qualtrics for approximately $8 billion in cash. SAP completed the transaction on January 23, 2019. The acquisition gave SAP an experience-data business that complemented its enterprise applications and analytics portfolio, while Qualtrics retained a distinct operating identity. SAP subsequently announced in July 2020 that it intended to take Qualtrics public in the United States while remaining the majority shareholder. Qualtrics began trading on Nasdaq on January 28, 2021. The company appointed Brad Anderson, formerly a senior Microsoft executive, as president of products and services during this period. Qualtrics continued expanding its platform and acquired Clarabridge in October 2021 in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $1.125 billion. Clarabridge added software for analyzing conversational and omnichannel customer interactions. International and infrastructure expansion continued in 2022, when Qualtrics announced plans to deploy its XM/OS platform through the AWS London region and open a London office and customer experience center. The company’s platform increasingly combined structured survey responses with text, sentiment, and other forms of experience data. In March 2023, SAP agreed to sell Qualtrics to a consortium led by Silver Lake and including CPP Investments, co-founder Ryan Smith, and additional investment partners. The announced transaction value was approximately $12.5 billion. The acquisition closed on June 28, 2023, and Qualtrics ceased to be publicly traded. The post-SAP company remained focused on experience management, with increasing attention to artificial intelligence, automation, and agentic systems for interpreting data and recommending or initiating actions. Qualtrics’ business now spans experience measurement, analytics, research, and workflow-oriented tools for large organizations across multiple industries.

2023
Return to private ownership
[1]Qualtricsen.wikipedia.org
A Silver Lake-led investor group completes its acquisition of Qualtrics from SAP on June 28.
2021
Public listing and Clarabridge acquisition
[1]Qualtricsen.wikipedia.org
Qualtrics begins trading on Nasdaq under XM and acquires Clarabridge later in the year.
2019
SAP acquisition closes
[1]Qualtricsen.wikipedia.org
SAP completes its approximately $8 billion acquisition of Qualtrics on January 23.
2018
Delighted acquisition and SAP agreement
[1]Qualtricsen.wikipedia.org
Qualtrics acquires Delighted and later agrees to be acquired by SAP, abandoning its proposed IPO.
2017
Experience management platform launches
[1]Qualtricsen.wikipedia.org
Qualtrics launches its cloud-based experience management platform in March.
2016
Statwing acquisition
[1]Qualtricsen.wikipedia.org
Qualtrics acquires Statwing, a provider of accessible statistical analysis software.
2014
Series B values company at approximately $1 billion
[1]Qualtricsen.wikipedia.org
Insight Partners leads a $150 million financing round, reported as a record financing for a Utah-based company at the time.
2012
Enterprise pivot and Series A financing
[1]Qualtricsen.wikipedia.org
Qualtrics begins shifting toward enterprise customers and receives a $70 million Series A investment from Sequoia Capital and Accel.
2002
Qualtrics is founded
[1]Qualtricsen.wikipedia.org
Scott M. Smith, Ryan Smith, Jared Smith, and Stuart Orgill establish Qualtrics in Provo, Utah.

Products and positioning

An enterprise experience management platform that connects feedback collection, experience data, analytics, and action across customer, employee, product, and brand functions.

Experience management platform · 2017
Qualtrics XM Platform
Qualtrics’ core cloud platform for designing surveys, collecting feedback, managing experience data, and analyzing responses across customer, employee, product, and brand use cases. It evolved the company’s original survey capabilities into a broader enterprise system intended to connect measurement with organizational action.
Customer experience management
Customer Experience
Tools for gathering customer feedback across touchpoints, assessing satisfaction and sentiment, identifying service or journey problems, and helping organizations prioritize improvements. The offering incorporates survey, text, and conversational data in an experience-management workflow.
Employee experience management
Employee Experience
Capabilities for measuring employee engagement and sentiment through surveys and other feedback programs. Organizations can use the resulting data to identify workplace trends, understand important moments in the employee lifecycle, and support people-related decision-making.
Product experience management
Product Experience
Product-focused feedback and research capabilities intended to help teams understand user needs, evaluate product experiences, prioritize improvements, and connect qualitative feedback with broader product-development processes.
Brand research and experience management
Brand Experience
Brand and market research tools for tracking awareness, perceptions, preferences, and other measures of how audiences experience a brand. These capabilities support research programs and comparison of brand performance across markets or segments.
Conversational analytics · 2021
Clarabridge capabilities
Conversational and omnichannel analytics capabilities added through Qualtrics’ acquisition of Clarabridge. They extend experience analysis beyond conventional questionnaires by helping organizations interpret customer interactions and unstructured feedback across channels.

Brand decisions

2023
Return Qualtrics to private ownershipM&A
Background
SAP agreed to divest Qualtrics after its period as a separately listed company.
Action taken
A consortium led by Silver Lake, with CPP Investments, Ryan Smith, and other investors, acquired all outstanding shares.
Aftermath
The transaction closed on June 28, 2023, and Qualtrics ceased trading publicly.
Acquisition value. $12.5 billion (Announced March 2023; completed June 28, 2023)
Source
2022
Expand cloud infrastructure in the United KingdomStrategy
Background
Qualtrics sought to provide customers with local access to its platform and expand its presence in the UK.
Action taken
The company announced deployment through the AWS London region and plans for a London office and customer experience center.
Source
2021
Acquire ClarabridgeM&A
Background
Qualtrics sought to strengthen its ability to analyze conversational and omnichannel customer feedback.
Action taken
The company acquired Clarabridge in an all-stock transaction.
Aftermath
Clarabridge’s conversational analytics capabilities became part of Qualtrics’ broader experience management offering.
Transaction value. $1.125 billion (October 2021)
Source
2020
SAP announces plan to take Qualtrics publicStrategy
Background
SAP cited Qualtrics’ growth after the acquisition and announced an intention to pursue a US IPO while remaining the majority shareholder.
Action taken
SAP initiated plans for Qualtrics to become a separately traded public company.
Aftermath
Qualtrics began trading on Nasdaq in January 2021 under XM.
Source
2018
Accept SAP acquisition instead of proceeding with IPOM&A
Background
Qualtrics had filed for a proposed Nasdaq IPO in October 2018, but SAP subsequently offered to acquire the company.
Action taken
Qualtrics accepted SAP’s approximately $8 billion all-cash acquisition proposal, and the planned IPO was abandoned.
Aftermath
The acquisition closed in January 2019 and Qualtrics operated as an SAP business before later returning to the public markets.
Acquisition value. $8 billion (Announced November 2018; completed January 23, 2019)
Source

Recent events

2022.02.09
Reported2022.02.09
Infosys announces collaboration with Qualtrics[3]Infosys宣布与Qualtrics合作business-standard.com
Infosys announced a collaboration with Qualtrics and established a Qualtrics center of excellence to bring Qualtrics-based solutions to market.
2021.07.20
Reported2021.07.20
Qualtrics announces acquisition of Usermind[4]Qualtrics宣布收购Usermindgeekwire.com
Qualtrics announced that it had acquired Seattle marketing startup Usermind; the article says the deal was announced Tuesday.
Weekdays and relative dates follow the original report; their exact calendar dates have not been verified.
2021.07.20
Reported2021.07.20
Qualtrics reports second-quarter 2021 results[5]Qualtrics公布2021年第二季度业绩prnewswire.com
Qualtrics announced its financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021, reporting total revenue of $249.3 million, up 38% year over year.
2021.07.20
Reported2021.07.20
Qualtrics updates 2021 full-year guidance[5]Qualtrics公布2021年第二季度业绩prnewswire.com
Qualtrics updated its guidance for the year ending December 31, 2021, forecasting total revenue of $1.007 billion to $1.011 billion and subscription revenue of $813 million to $817 million.
2021.05.27
Reported2021.05.27
Qualtrics announces Spotlight Insights[6]Qualtrics宣布推出Spotlight Insightsprnewswire.com
Qualtrics announced Spotlight Insights, a tool that provides HR teams and leaders with automated, actionable insights based on real-time employee feedback.
2021.05.12
Reported2021.05.13
Mitsubishi Electric selects Qualtrics EmployeeXM[7]三菱电机选用 Qualtrics EmployeeXMprnewswire.com
Qualtrics announced that Mitsubishi Electric Corporation selected Qualtrics EmployeeXM to help design and improve employee experiences around the world.
2021.03.08
Reported2021.03.09
5 For The Fight launches virtual high-five fundraising campaign[8]5 For The Fight 发起虚拟击掌筹款活动ksl.com
5 For The Fight launched a campaign inviting people to join a virtual high-five train intended to break the record and raise funds for cancer research. Qualtrics said it would match donations throughout March at a 5-to-1 ratio, up to $1 million.
2021.02.23
Reported2021.02.23
Qualtrics and Korn Ferry announce DEI partnership[9]Qualtrics与Korn Ferry宣布DEI合作prnewswire.com
Qualtrics and Korn Ferry announced a strategic partnership to accelerate and expand the impact of organizations’ diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
2021.02.01
Reported2021.02.02
Qualtrics completes its initial public offering[10]Qualtrics完成首次公开募股prnewswire.com
Qualtrics announced that it had completed its initial public offering of 59,449,903 Class A shares, including the underwriters’ full exercise of their option to purchase additional shares. The shares trade on Nasdaq under the ticker XM.
2021.01.25
Reported2021.01.25
Qualtrics raises its expected IPO price range[11]Qualtrics上调预期IPO发行价区间techcrunch.com
Qualtrics filed a new S-1 document raising its expected IPO price range to $27–$29 per share.

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