Salesforce unveils Agentforce to revolutionise AI agents

Salesforce has announced the launch of Agentforce, allowing companies to deploy AI agents capable of taking autonomous action across various business functions.

Agentforce distinguishes itself from traditional chatbots by performing advanced reasoning tasks, such as resolving customer cases, qualifying sales leads, and optimising marketing campaigns without human intervention. Companies such as OpenTable, Saks, and Wiley are among those already implementing Agentforce to enhance efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Agentforce provides out-of-the-box agents that users can customise and deploy using low-code or no-code tools for 24/7 operation across multiple channels. The first available agent, Agentforce Service Agent, is designed to outperform chatbots by completing various tasks, from customer support to retail order management and billing support in financial services.

Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO of Salesforce, noted, "Agentforce is redefining what's possible in business and beyond, ushering in a new era of AI abundance and limitless workforces that augment every employee, build deeper customer relationships, and drive unprecedented growth and profitability. Built on Salesforce's trusted, fully customisable platform – seamlessly integrating enterprise data, metadata, AI models, workflows, security, and applications – Agentforce is what AI was meant to be."

With Agentforce, Salesforce aims to simplify the creation of AI actions without the need for complex data integration. The Agent Builder allows Salesforce administrators and developers to create guidelines for their agents using natural language, tapping into existing tools like Data Cloud, Slack, and MuleSoft.

Recent Salesforce research suggests that over two-thirds of consumers express frustration when customer service fails to resolve issues promptly, often leading to abandoned interactions. This highlights the opportunity for Agentforce's AI agents to improve customer service efficiency.

Kevin Quigley, Director of Process Improvement at Wiley, stated, "Piloting Agentforce made a noticeable difference during one of our busiest periods – back-to-school season. It's been exciting to go live with our first agent, and we've seen a more than 40% increase in case resolution, outperforming our old bot. Agentforce helps to manage routine responsibilities and free up our service teams for more complex cases."

Agentforce Service Agent, now available, offers autonomous support capabilities across various communication platforms and channels. Agent Builder facilitates agent customisation and introduces a more streamlined approach to creating AI solutions suitable for any business process or industry.

Agentforce is deeply integrated with the Salesforce Platform and Customer 360 apps, ensuring comprehensive customer views and seamless hand-offs between AI and human agents. The platform utilises the Data Cloud for data integration, allowing agents to provide context-aware interactions by analysing structured and unstructured information.

The Atlas Reasoning Engine is at the core of Agentforce, autonomously processing data and executing tasks independently of human input. Early adopters of Agentforce, like Andrew Russo, Salesforce Architect at BACA Systems, have noted its transformative impact, commenting, "Agentforce isn't just another AI platform that requires months of customisation. At BACA Systems, we saw how it enabled us to launch powerful generative AI experiences in days – no AI engineers needed. For customers with larger admin teams, the impact could be even greater... we see even more opportunity to drive efficiencies and better serve our customers."

Siva Kumari, CEO of College Possible, shared the potential benefits for educational organisations: "For first-generation college students, the 1:385 coach-to-student ratio makes receiving individualised guidance difficult. By integrating Agentforce into our platform... Agents empower our coaches to focus on high-touch, personalised experiences – real connection and guidance – while Agentforce manages vital tasks like sharing deadlines and answering common questions at any time day or night."

Industry analysts have also commented on Agentforce's implications. Rebecca Wettemann, CEO and principal analyst at Valoir, stated, "Agentforce provides organisations the unique opportunity to transition from incremental gains to exponential ROI with agents by automating customer interactions, improving outcomes, and reducing costs. By integrating data, flows, and user interfaces, it mitigates risk and accelerates time to value."