Salesforce Declares Agentic AI Era at Dreamforce 2025
Customer relationship management powerhouse Salesforce has positioned agentic artificial intelligence as the centerpiece of its future growth strategy, according to announcements made during its annual Dreamforce conference. The San Francisco-based company revealed general availability for Salesforce Agentforce 360 while setting an ambitious $60 billion revenue target for the 2030 fiscal year, signaling major implications for solution providers and channel partners.
Benioff’s Vision: Bridging the Agentic Divide
Salesforce co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff declared in his keynote address that his company will play a pivotal role in transforming businesses into what he termed “agentic enterprises.” According to his presentation, Salesforce aims to bridge what he described as an “agentic divide” where consumer AI technologies are currently providing everyday people with more advanced capabilities than many enterprises possess.
“I really think this is the next revolution—we’ve gone through cloud, we’ve gone through mobile, we’ve gone through social, we’ve gone through predictive AI,” Benioff stated. “Now we’re entering this new agentic AI revolution.” This strategic direction follows the company’s recent launch of Agentforce IT service, which analysts suggest opens new doors for channel partners.
Channel Partners Navigate AI Implementation Challenges
Solution providers are already helping clients understand Agentforce’s potential, according to channel executives interviewed by CRN. Michael Utell, chief commercial officer for the Salesforce practice at Bridgenext, told the publication that much of his team’s work involves guiding clients toward becoming agentic enterprises.
“Bridgenext is trying to help our clients not just implement Salesforce—there’s a lot of fish in the sea that go and implement Salesforce—but truly understand why they are implementing and what return they’re getting,” Utell explained. The solution provider has been building a unique practice combining Salesforce management with product development expertise, though sources indicate many clients still require traditional data cleanup work to maximize AI benefits.
Analysts Weigh In on Salesforce’s Strategic Position
Investment firm William Blair acknowledged in a recent report that the many Agentforce capabilities still in development, combined with transparency around Salesforce’s growth plans, reflect some near-term challenges for the vendor. However, analysts suggest the company remains well-positioned in the medium and long term for bringing generative AI to enterprises.
Bernstein reinforced this perspective in a separate analysis, noting that as a holder of substantial enterprise data, Salesforce tools present a strong case for leadership in delivering AI agents. This evolution proves crucial as AI threatens the traditional per-seat pricing model of Salesforce’s flagship Service Cloud product, according to the report. The analysis comes amid ongoing discussion about whether AI can replace human workers in the technology sector.
Expansion Into New Markets Presents Challenges
Salesforce’s push into new markets, particularly the IT service space dominated by players like ServiceNow, may face significant hurdles, Bernstein analysts cautioned. The report states that Salesforce will likely encounter more difficulty becoming an AI force in newer markets where it has less data, context and expertise. Instead, the company appears to be leveraging its existing data and context to drive AI adoption in core markets while monitoring broader industry developments in the technology landscape.
The vendor’s expansion strategy coincides with increasing competition from both the largest technology vendors and smallest startups, which threaten Salesforce not only in AI but also in its traditional CRM stronghold. This competitive pressure emerges alongside financial headwinds affecting multiple sectors of the economy.
Channel Implications and Future Outlook
For solution providers, Salesforce’s announcements signal substantial opportunities in helping enterprises navigate the transition to agentic AI capabilities. The company’s renewed focus on partner-centric approaches in the AI space, combined with new payment options for artificial intelligence services, may create fresh revenue streams for the channel.
As one of the most prominent chief executive officers in the technology industry, Benioff’s declaration of an “agentic AI revolution” reflects broader market trends toward autonomous systems that can execute complex tasks with minimal human intervention. How quickly enterprises adopt these technologies—and how effectively channel partners can facilitate that adoption—will likely determine whether Salesforce achieves its ambitious $60 billion revenue target, according to industry observers monitoring related innovations in the CRM space.
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