Agentforce

Chapter 19How Do You Build a Business Case for Agentforce?

As the fiscal year-end approached, the United States was beset by wild weather. Unimaginable wildfires descended on Los Angeles, and the Northeast and Midwest were hit by outrageous cold. Salesforce mobilized to help the victims in Southern California, and the nation saw a president sworn in for a second dramatic term.

AI continued to dominate the business conversation, as governments set out to regulate or unfetter, underwrite or undermine, this seemingly sentient technology with so much obvious potential and so many silent question marks.

Meanwhile, the Salesforce leadership team meets virtually for an update late in the month, and the tone is at once tactical and reflective.

CRO Miguel Milano is hiring salespeople to meet the Agentforce opportunity. They have to be trained both on the technology and the right way to explain a new way of working to the enterprises of the world.

It’s a time of learning and experimentation. Agents are exciting to customers; there’s clearly demand. But although easy to use, agentic AI is not a trivial technology.

There are already hundreds of agents in action and many more in the pipeline. And there are encouraging signs from the field that Salesforce is seen as an early mover in the space.

Customer stories are told that feature new ideas for agents and companies that are surprised just how adaptable their digital labor force can be.

“Some of the stories are incredible,” says Milano. ...