Danilo T.’s Post

The potential of AI agents may seem limitless, so where do you start? To create agents that are effective and solve specific use cases for your business, there is prep work required… Ian shares everything you need to know so you can start building agents and not get left behind in this new AI wave. https://bit.ly/3Vjaa12 #Salesforce Elements.cloud

The SaaS market is drowning in AI hype. What's next is not. Most agents are building for SaaS. Yet, the real value lies in specialization: Recently, Rox emerged from stealth mode with a big funding round from Sequoia. Every week there’s a new AI sales agent startup making headlines -  - 11x - Relevance AI - Artisan And so many others. Most of these companies are targeting the outbound SDR role in the SaaS market. And aim to replace traditional outbound SDR teams and cold email agencies with AI-agents that acquire more customers The idea seems like a perfect fit. Who doesn't want to buy 'more sales' But, these “one-size-fits-all” AI models aren’t delivering as expected. High churn rates suggest that something’s missing. My Prediction: Within the next 12 months, we’ll see the rise of AI sales agents designed for specific industries and expertly-deployed armed with the right data sets, workflows, and industry nuances. These agents will be deeply embedded in the workflows of their verticals. Understanding niches respective: - Data sources  - Terminology  - Processes Take real estate as an example. When a prospect asks: "What’s available near Tesla’s Fremont office under $80/sq ft with 18-foot ceilings?" - A generic AI assistant wouldn’t cut it. - It can’t interpret the nuances of local market dynamics. - It doesn’t have access to real-time inventory data. - Real estate is a space where context matters.  - And it fails to understand geographic proximity or hyperlocal factors. Generic large language models lack the specialized knowledge and data necessary to deliver accurate, context-aware responses. That said - the next wave of AI sales agents won’t just answer questions. They’ll be tuned to specific industries, equipped with the intelligence to deliver high-value, tailored responses. Thoughts?

Salesforce's bold vision to deploy 1 billion AI agents within a year raises important questions about the reality versus the hype surrounding enterprise AI. 🌟 Potential : Salesforce aims to democratize AI, empowering every employee with intelligent agents. This could drive unprecedented productivity gains and transform how work gets done. 🎉 Hype: The sheer scale of 1 billion agents in 12 months seems highly ambitious, even for a company of Salesforce's size and resources. Achieving this will require overcoming major technical, organizational and ethical hurdles. ⚠️ Challenges: Integrating AI seamlessly into existing workflows, ensuring data privacy/security, and addressing bias/transparency concerns are critical. Regulatory frameworks for enterprise AI also remain unsettled. What are your thoughts on Salesforce's AI roadmap and the broader state of enterprise AI adoption? I'm keen to hear different perspectives on this topic. https://lnkd.in/g8-RSyFz #agents #ai #salesforce

If I had to predict, Salesforce is to the cloud-enterprise what IBM and COBOL are to the mainframe era. There's too many business processes running on both architectures. The switching costs far exceed the maintenance costs. AI will clearly automate SOQL generation, Apex reviews and data cleansing. Fewer Admins will be needed. The maintenance costs will drop lower, while the process value remains high. Where A16Z is correct is that the Internet concept of CRM is dead. 80% of B2C customers interact with businesses through mobile apps. Those apps go direct to their own LLMs. The Internet facing chatBot model is a race to the bottom, chasing a small market. A16Z is primarily only investing in companies with a vector DB first mentality. Embedding everything known about a customer in V-DBs and using LLMs to manage relationships, matching customers needs and wants to the most relevant and similar offerings. IMO the best combination is a hybrid model. Disaster recovery and systems of record requirements for public companies will not go away. Immutable, transactional data is not just a good a idea. It's required by most compliance standards. However, the customer *relationship* and point of engagement is moving purely towards AI.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is driving the company towards a new era of AI with the launch of Agentforce, an AI-powered platform for creating autonomous agents. Benioff, a long-time advocate of the “beginner’s mind” or shoshin, views this shift as a way for Salesforce to “start again” 25 years after its founding. The move aims to advance beyond AI chatbots like ChatGPT, allowing users to build agents that can perform complex tasks and decision-making. Agentforce will be the highlight of Salesforce’s Dreamforce conference and is seen as crucial for the future of Customer Relationship Management (CRM). Benioff considers this a transformative period for the company, comparing it to Salesforce’s own disruption of Oracle’s Siebel in the early 2000s. However, critics like RBC Capital’s Rishi Jaluria argue that Salesforce must still prove it can lead in the AI race, despite its data advantages and existing client base. Salesforce has invested heavily in AI startups and built proprietary tools like Einstein GPT, but faces stiff competition from companies like Microsoft, SAP, and HubSpot. The acquisition of AI agent startup Airkit in 2023 strengthens Salesforce's agent-building capabilities. Benioff remains confident in the company’s ability to adapt, citing its strong foundation and a renewed focus on innovation driven by AI. As Salesforce pivots to AI agents, the company is undergoing cultural and operational changes, with training ramped up and new workflows introduced. Benioff insists that Salesforce is well-prepared for this next wave of technology but acknowledges that mistakes may occur along the way. He remains optimistic about the company's ability to compete in the fast-evolving AI landscape. https://lnkd.in/gqWsAJHP

We recently sat down with Ed Thompson, SVP of Market Strategy at #Salesforce, to discuss how AI has evolved beyond a buzzword to become part of real business strategy — and the practical ways PSOs can harness its potential. (Watch the #ServicesTalk episode here: https://bit.ly/4dGRYF5 🍿) From driving productivity to reshaping business models, Ed offers a clear look at where #AI is headed and how companies can navigate the twists and turns of this ever-evolving technology. #ProfessionalServices #AIStrategy

💡 AI-powered virtual agents aren’t the future—they’re the now. Companies like Salesforce are showing how AI can take over routine sales tasks and help businesses scale faster than ever. AI is transforming the sales process. If you’re not leveraging AI in your sales strategy, you should be. https://hubs.ly/Q02V7Jj00 #ascendle #ai #artificialintelligence #customerexperience #scalablesolutions #techinnovation #salessuccess

🚀 The future of the digital workforce is here, AI agents. Great to be part of the conversation in The Drum about Salesforce's bold vision to deploy 1 billion AI agents within a year. This isn't just innovation—it's a revolution in how businesses empower teams, engage customers, and scale like never before. AI agents are transforming the digital workforce, making it smarter, faster, and more connected. Thrilled to share insights on this game-changing journey. https://lnkd.in/eD3Hevcp 💬 How do you see AI shaping the future of work? Let’s discuss! #DigitalWorkforce #AIAgents #Innovation #Salesforce #Agentforce

Salesforce wants to become an AI first company. It's a surprise, but not a shock. During their latest earnings call, they announced #Agentforce, built on their Einstein platform, and mentioned it about 39 times. In short, they plan to build #AI_agents that connect to their CRM services, and they are doing this by leveraging the technology of a startup they acquired in 2023. But why is Salesforce making this move? In a word: survival. In the words of CEO Marc Benioff, this is a "hard pivot"—a strategic move that acknowledges the disruptive potential of AI in their core business and the potential threat to traditional #CRM systems. Agentforce aims to transform how businesses interact with their Salesforce CRM. Imagine AI agents capable of handling complex, multi-step processes across Salesforce's applications, such as lead qualification or customer issue resolution, with minimal human intervention. For a clearer comparison, think of the DRUID AI agents framework I wrote about in a previous post, but unlike DRUID AI, it is limited to the Salesforce ecosystem. The potential is exciting. Salesforce aims to have tens of thousands of customers using Agentforce by January 2025. The number is significant, and I believe this means that customer data could lead to highly contextualized AI interactions. However, I believe that this move raises questions. For businesses with diverse software ecosystems, will the deep integration with Salesforce be a limitation? There's a clear risk of over-reliance on their ecosystem. And while powerful within it, this approach might not offer the flexibility of more platform-agnostic solutions that easily bridge various enterprise systems. Moreover, as a new direction for Salesforce, #Agentforce will need time to mature and there are already companies using established #AI solutions. Agentforce could be a ‘hard pivot’, or an experiment. Some analysts express doubts about Salesforce's ability to successfully pivot to AI. Its success will rely on Salesforce's ability to effectively transform into an AI-first company, and this is no small feat. I'm curious about your perspective. How do you see Agentforce impacting businesses?

https://lnkd.in/gSfkqF3G AI this year has been pretty interesting. If you're tired of paying for ChatGpt and have an nvidia gpu, you can now host your own LLM locally. Seeing the launch of Agentforce as another step in the AI development this year is pretty amazing. Anyone excited to see what else will come out of 2024 before the year ends? #salesforce #ai