Salesforce research shows what employees think about the impact of AI on tasks and outcomes

Salesforce says it is at the vanguard of the AI revolution, and is even considering changing its name to Agentforce in honor of its bet on AI agents. The company is rapidly implementing AI internally, and a study obtained by Business Insider reveals how it’s actually being done behind the scenes.

The results were largely positive, but showed that while most employees felt that AI was making them more productive, fewer said it was reducing their workload.

Salesforce’s annual Great Insights survey, which is private, was conducted in November 2025 and published within the software company the following month. The survey targeted approximately 80% of the company’s 76,000 employees.

Most questions about AI had a high positive rating. In addition to 81% of employees saying AI tools increase their productivity, 83% said they felt prepared to deal with AI risks such as bias, and 81% said they felt encouraged to experiment with AI.

More than half of employees (57%) say AI tools have helped their team identify opportunities that weren’t possible with other tools. Additionally, 62% say using AI tools makes it easier to manage their workloads. These were both among the lowest results in the study.

Salesforce told Business Insider in a statement that the survey showed a significant increase in AI usage and strong enthusiasm. The company’s overall score, called the AI Readiness Score, was 85% across companies, an 18% increase year-over-year.

“We’re thrilled to see our employees move on from adoption and see our AI tools have a meaningful impact on their day-to-day work,” a Salesforce spokesperson said.

The results suggest Salesforce is leading the way in accelerating AI adoption, said Jason Schretzer, an associate professor at Georgetown University Business School who has interviewed dozens of executives about AI adoption. The results also show that for some employees, AI is enhancing rather than reducing their workload.

“This gap suggests that people believe that AI is enabling them to do more jobs, but it is not making their jobs easier,” he said.

Salesforce, which sells customer relationship management software, has garnered attention for its aggressive AI push led by CEO Marc Benioff. Last August, he said that half of Salesforce’s work is done by AI and that the company had cut 4,000 support jobs because of AI agents.

According to Salesforce’s website, the company uses a combination of internal AI tools, including AI in Salesforce-owned Slack, which can quickly find old project templates, and Career Connect, which analyzes employee strengths and weaknesses to assist in moving within the company.

Even as Salesforce embraces the AI revolution, it faces challenges. The company’s stock price has fallen more than 40% over the past year as the rise of AI tools from OpenAI and Anthropic raises concerns about the fate of legacy software companies.

Business Insider previously reported that the company has struggled to deliver on promises made in demos of its AI product Agentforce.