CIOs brace for rising costs as Salesforce adds 6% to core clouds, bundles AI into premium plans

Salesforce is rolling out sweeping changes to its pricing and product packaging, including a 6% increase for Enterprise and Unlimited Editions of Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Field Service, and select Industries Clouds, effective August 1.

Simultaneously, the company is retiring standalone AI add-ons and Einstein 1 Editions and moving to bundled Agentforce plans priced from $125 to $550 per user per month, a shift that Anish Krishnan, senior analyst at QKS Group, cautioned “risks being viewed as an upsell disguised as innovation” without clear ROI attribution.

The overhaul spans Salesforce’s ecosystem. Slack’s Business+ plan will cost 20% more at $15 per user per month, while free-tier users gain access to Salesforce Channels. A new Enterprise+ plan will introduce enterprise search and enhanced security and admin controls, alongside AI-powered analytics in Tableau Next and a new Prompt Builder for custom interactions. Foundations, Starter, and Pro Editions remain unchanged, according to the company’s pricing update.

This aggressive push toward embedded AI comes alongside growing reliability concerns, following Salesforce’s own research that exposed significant gaps in LLMs’ handling of multi-step CRM tasks. The findings showed AI agents frequently underdeliver in real-world applications, raising serious questions about Agentforce’s enterprise readiness.

The changes come amid rising scrutiny over whether Salesforce’s AI tools can deliver on promised ROI, a concern echoed in both market reaction and the company’s own research.

Friction grows over AI-led pricing strategy

The pricing shift has drawn sharp analyst warnings about implementation challenges. “These complex bundles risk unexpected cost spikes and confusing renewals if organizations aren’t proactively prepared,” cautioned Ishan Anand, principal analyst at Gartner, highlighting the need for transparent roadmaps and AI governance clauses in contracts.

Flex Credits, launched in May 2025 to convert unused licenses into AI capacity, face skepticism despite being marketed as flexible. Salesforce’s Bill Patterson conceded at a recent Jefferies event that any business that thinks they’ve “figured out AI pricing is kidding themselves,” while Krishnan framed the changes as a market test. “If buyers reject forced bundling, rivals like Microsoft and Oracle could gain by offering AI at no added cost.”

The shift to consumption-based AI pricing may lower barriers for smaller firms, argued Saurabh Verma, vice president for ICT growth advisory at Frost & Sullivan. “Action-based pricing makes Agentforce more accessible to mid-size businesses,” noted Verma. “Flex Credits let enterprises pilot AI in specific functions like sales with clear spend visibility, rather than upfront capex.”

The latest adjustments followed Salesforce’s 9% hike in 2023, now compounded by Slack’s 20% Business+ increase. Early market reaction saw a brief stock uptick reverse as user forums echoed concerns, while Krishnan said, “AI’s novelty is fading, execution quality determines value now.”

Buyers face trade-offs, as rivals circle

The pricing shift may represent a watershed moment for enterprise SaaS, with Krishnan noting, “This could normalize AI-driven pricing across the sector if buyers accept these increases without pushback.” Gartner’s Anand emphasized the need for protective measures, advising enterprises to “demand full transparency on vendor roadmaps and AI output governance” during contract negotiations.

While Salesforce promotes Agentforce’s enhanced capabilities, including multilingual sales coaching and automated pipeline tools, as justification for premium pricing, the company’s own research continues to reveal performance gaps in core CRM workflows. This disconnect forces CIOs to scrutinize whether the AI premium, ranging from $125 to $550 per user, will yield measurable productivity gains.

The ultimate test will come at renewal cycles, where CIOs must decide whether Salesforce’s embedded AI vision justifies the cost or if alternatives offer better value. As Krishnan observed, “More than pricing shift, it’s a market realignment that will define how enterprises pay for AI capabilities for years to come.”