book

A Complete Guide to Agentforce: Plan, Design, Build and Run AI Agents with Salesforce

Name: A Complete Guide to Agentforce: Plan, Design, Build and Run AI Agents with Salesforce
Author: Timo Kovala
ISBN: 9798868824715

by Timo Kovala

April 2026

Beginner

348 pages

9h 35m

English

Apress

Read now

Unlock full access

A Complete Guide to Agentforce
Foreword
Introduction
Acknowledgments
Table of Contents
About the Author
About the Technical Reviewer
1. Agentic Paradigm Shift
Precursors of Agentic AIEvolution of Workflow AutomationRise of First-Party DataMachine Learning and Predictive AIFoundation Models and the Generative Gold RushZero-Trust AI AccessBeginnings of an Agentic TransformationVisions of the FutureRise of Multi-Agent SystemsAgents as Digital ColleaguesStrategizing with AI AgentsSummary
2. Agentforce Fundamentals
Cornerstones of AgentforceModel AgnosticismUsage-Based PricingWords, Not CodeTrusted Customer 360Flow and ApexAgentblazers and AgentExchangeConfiguring an AgentChoosing Agent Type and ChannelClassifying and Scoping TopicsWriting InstructionsSetting GuardrailsDefining Agent OutcomesUsing Standard and Custom ActionsStructuring Responses with Prompt TemplatesPowering Agents with DataPreparing Data for AgentforceApplying Variables and FiltersSummary
3. Agentforce Architecture
Architectural FoundationsShort-Term and Long-Term MemoryData Retrieval and RAGReasoning, Decision-Making, and LearningTrust and EthicsArchitecting AgentforceAgent GovernanceAgent OrchestrationAgent Performance and ScalabilityAgentOps and Life Cycle ManagementSummary

4. Adopting Agentforce
Preparing for AgentforceDefine Your Vision and GoalsBuild an Impactful Business CaseDefine Solution RequirementsEvaluate Current MaturityRunning AgentforcePrepare Your Org for AgentforceBuild Your First AgentTest, Iterate, and DeployOptimize and ExpandSummary
5. Keys to Agentforce Mastery
Agentforce Success FactorsScope the Right Use CasesSimplify Topics and ActionsUse Fallbacks and FailsafesIngest Rather Than IntegrateTurn Data into ActionAgentforce Design PatternsAgent-Powered ComponentAgent Chaining via FlowAgentic DecisioningTimed Agent InvocationRemote Agent ActivationSummary
Appendix: Interviews
Interview with Wilson Gong, Senior Architect, CapgeminiInterview with Jeroen van Boxtel and Tim Weinand, SalesfiveInterview with Brandon Walton, Salesforce Marketing Champion and Owner of Cypress Learning SolutionsInterview with Joseph Kubon, Salesforce MVP and Technical Architect
Index

Content preview from A Complete Guide to Agentforce: Plan, Design, Build and Run AI Agents with Salesforce

T. KovalaA Complete Guide to Agentforcehttps://doi.org/10.1007/979-8-8688-2471-5_5

5. Keys to Agentforce Mastery

Timo Kovala¹

(1)

Espoo, Finland

Timo Kovala

Email: timo.kovala@gmail.com

What separates a successful Agentforce delivery from an unsuccessful one? This is the question that’s keeping many partners awake at night. According to Salesforce’s 2026 Q2 earnings call, there were more than 6,000 paid customers of Agentforce, which is impressive for a year-old platform. Still, this is a small fraction of Salesforce’s pool of 150,000 CRM customers.¹ This means that real-life Agentforce experience remains a niche. As of January 2026, very few individuals have implemented it beyond a Trailhead learning environment or their personal ...

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.

Read now

Unlock full access

More than 5,000 organizations count on O’Reilly

O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.

Julian F.

Head of Cybersecurity

I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.

Addison B.

Field Engineer

I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.

Amir M.

Data Platform Tech Lead

I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.

Mark W.

Embedded Software Engineer

Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9798868824715Purchase Link Publisher Website

Cloud Computing

Data Engineering

Data Science

AI & ML

Programming Languages

Software Architecture

IT/Ops

Security

Design

Business

Soft Skills

A Complete Guide to Agentforce: Plan, Design, Build and Run AI Agents with Salesforce

by Timo Kovala

5. Keys to Agentforce Mastery

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.