Despite the rise of AI, Salesforce will be hiring humans to help sell this technology, suggesting that AI may create jobs rather than replace them. The company will also equip its salespeople with AI sales development representatives. Salesforce is not alone in this pursuit, as startups offering SDR technology have boomed in 2024, attracting significant VC investment and initial revenue. However, incumbents like Salesforce, HubSpot, and ZoomInfo, who hold the customer data to train the bots, have an advantage.
Key takeaways:
- Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is promoting the company's recently released agent-maker platform, AgentForce, which has closed 200 deals in one quarter and plans to hire 1,400 salespeople to help close more deals.
- Benioff expects Salesforce customers to deploy one billion AI agents within the next year, allowing companies to have an unlimited workforce. He believes these AI agents will become collaborators, working 24/7 to analyze data, make decisions, and take action.
- Salesforce is increasing its revenue projections for its fiscal year to $37.8 to $38 billion, up 8% to 9% over its previous year, largely due to the strength of its AI products.
- Despite the push for AI, Salesforce is still hiring humans to help sell its technology, indicating that the company is not yet ready to fully rely on a digital workforce. However, it will equip its human sales team with AI sales development representatives.