Business Insider’s CXO AI Playbook explores how companies can use AI to tackle challenges, grow their business, and plan for the future.
This handbook looks at examples from a variety of industries to understand what problems AI is solving, who is driving these efforts, and how AI is reshaping strategy. Check.
Best known for its CRM software used by over 150,000 companies including Amazon and Walmart, Salesforce is no stranger to innovation. The company also owns Slack, a popular workplace communication app. Salesforce is currently upping its AI game with Agentforce, a platform that allows companies to build and deploy digital agents to automate tasks like creating sales reports and summarizing conversations in Slack.
What problem are you solving?
Salesforce has been working with AI for years. In 2016, we launched Einstein, an AI feature built into our CRM platform. Einstein handled basic scriptable tasks, but the rise of generative AI presents an opportunity to do even more. Smarter tools can now make better decisions and understand natural language.
This was the catalyst for change. First came Einstein GPT, then Einstein Copilot, and now Agentforce. It is a platform designed for flexibility with pre-built and customizable agents to meet a variety of business needs.
“Our customers wanted more. Some wanted to fine-tune the agents we offer, and others wanted to create their own,” says Salesforce. said Tyler Carlson, Vice President of Business Development.
The technology behind it
Agentforce is powered by Salesforce’s Atlas Reasoning Engine, which was developed in-house. The platform connects with AI models from leading companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon, and Google, giving businesses access to a variety of tools.
Slack has become a testing ground for these AI agents. Agentforce’s Slack integration, currently in beta, brings automation to where employees already spend their time. “Slack makes these tools easier to use and more accessible,” Carlson added.
Smarter, more flexible AI
Agentforce uses ReAct prompts. This is a technique that helps agents break down problems into smaller steps and adjust their approach as they go along. This allows for more precise responses and the ability to manually manage tasks, from answering questions to scheduling meetings.
Agentforce works with Salesforce’s proprietary LLM and third-party models to provide clients with many options. To ensure security, Salesforce enforces strict data privacy policies that include data retention limits.
make it useful for business
Tools like Agentbuilder allow businesses to design AI agents tailored to their needs. For example, agents can use internal data to categorize emails or answer specific human resources questions. As an example, Salesforce and Workday collaborated to create an AI service agent that responds to employee queries.
Salesforce is already seeing results, with Agentforce resolving 90% of customer inquiries in early trials. the goal? Greater deployment, increased functionality, and increased processing load with these agents.
“We are building a larger ecosystem of partners and skills,” Carlson said. “By next year, we want to make Agentforce a must-have for businesses.”
(Photo courtesy of Unsplash)
Reference: Paul O’Sullivan, Salesforce: Transforming work in the age of GenAI
Want to learn more about AI and big data from industry leaders? Check out the AI & Big Data Expos in Amsterdam, California, and London. This comprehensive event will be co-located with major events such as Intelligent Automation Conference, BlockX, Digital Transformation Week, and Cyber Security & Cloud Expo.
Learn about other upcoming enterprise technology events and webinars from TechForge here.
