Dreamforce 2024: Latest news and insights

Dreamforce 2024, which debuted in 2003, kicks off on Tuesday in San Francisco, featuring more than 1,200 keynotes, sessions, and workshops. While the event will encompass a wide spectrum of topics, expect Salesforce to showcase Agentforce next week at Dreamforce.

Agentforce is designed to streamline workflows, boost customer satisfaction, and redefine the customer service landscape. While specific details about Agentforce are likely to be unveiled at Dreamforce 2024, the framework is reported to leverage AI and machine learning to automate routine tasks, provide real-time assistance to agents, and offer personalized customer experiences. Salesforce recently announced the October availability of two autonomous agents for sales teams built on Agentforce. In his keynote, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff is expected to detail the low-code/no-code platform for building autonomous AI agents with Salesforce.

Also expect a focus on how AI capabilities are integrated into Salesforce products. Watch for updates and enhancements to Salesforce’s data cloud platform and new tools and features designed to improve customer engagement and satisfaction.

It’s also likely Salesforce will announce new or update existing industry-specific offerings tailored to verticals like healthcare, finance, and manufacturing. Dreamforce is also traditionally where Salesforce provides insights into its product and platform roadmap.

In the leadup to Dreamforce, check out popular related Salesforce coverage below and be sure to follow this page next week for news from Dreamforce 2024.

Salesforce to acquire data protection specialist Own Company for $1.9 billion

September 6, 2024: Cloud-based CRM vendor Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire Own Company, a data protection and data management solutions company for $1.9 billion in cash. Salesforce said the growing use of AI and generative AI has heightened customers’ awareness of their need to protect and manage data, and Own’s solutions will enhance availability, security, and compliance of customer data across Salesforce’s platform.

Salesforce mulls consumption pricing for AI agents

August 30, 2024: Salesforce is mulling a new pricing model for AI agent conversations as it gears up for the release of Einstein 1 Agentforce Platform. Agentforce is a low-code/no-code platform for building autonomous AI agents that Salesforce co-founder, Chairman, and CEO Marc Benioff is expected to detail in his Dreamforce 2024 keynote in September. During the CRM giant’s 2QFY25 earnings call on Aug. 28, Morgan Stanley Analyst Keith Weiss noted that with Salesforce promising big productivity gains from AI agents investors are worried that Salesforce customers will need to license fewer seats.

Salesforce unveils autonomous agents for sales teams

August 22, 2024: Salesforce announced two autonomous agents geared to help sales teams scale their operations and hone their negotiation skills. Slated for general availability in October, Einstein Sales Development Rep (SDR) Agent and Einstein Sales Coach Agent will be available through Sales Cloud. Both agents are built on Salesforce’s Einstein 1 Agentforce Platform, a forthcoming low-code/no-code platform for building autonomous AI agents

Salesforce to acquire PoS startup PredictSpring to augment Commerce Cloud

August 2, 2024: Customer relationship management (CRM) software provider Salesforce will acquire cloud-based point-of-sale (PoS) software vendor PredictSpring to augment its existing Customer 360 capabilities in an attempt to get a stronger hold in the retail industry. The California-based startup’s PoS systems enable store associates to engage shoppers and complete transactions from anywhere in the store via a mobile device, Salesforce said in a statement.

Salesforce debuts gen AI benchmark for CRM

June 17, 2024: Salesforce announced a gen AI benchmark for CRM, which aims to help businesses make more informed decisions when choosing large language models (LLMs) for use with business applications. “Customers don’t just want the best model,” explains Clara Shih, CEO of Salesforce AI. “They want to make sure it’s the best model that’s compliant, fits their security standards, and doesn’t break the bank.”

Salesforce-Informatica acquisition talks fall through

April 12, 2024: Salesforce’s negotiations to acquire Informatica, an enterprise data management software provider have fallen through as both couldn’t agree on the terms of the deal. The disagreement about the terms of the deal is more likely to be around the price of each share of Informatica, WSJ reported, adding that Salesforce was negotiating a mid-30s price per share with the enterprise data management software provider.