Agentforce Pushes Salesforce Forward at Dreamforce 2024
As an experienced analyst and journalist, I’ve attended countless tech conferences where hype often overshadows substance. However, Dreamforce 2024 broke the mold, offering a coherent vision for how businesses and governments can leverage existing data infrastructure to scale their workforce with artificial intelligence (AI). Amidst the excitement, though, there was an undercurrent of tension regarding AI’s potential impact on human jobs.
Now, let’s dive into the key moments and insights from Dreamforce 2024.
Table of contents
- Pre-Dreamforce Press Conference
- The Main Keynote: Introducing Agentforce
- The Future of Work: Will There Be Any for Humans?
- Salesforce Foundations: Democratizing Access to AI
- Trailblazer Forest Frenzy
- Salesforce DevOps’ Staring Role
- The Rise of Agentforce: A Pivotal Moment in AI Evolution
- Conclusion: Balancing Innovation and Responsibility
Pre-Dreamforce Press Conference
The day before the main event, press and analysts were invited to a preview session hosted by Brian Millham, Salesforce’s President and COO. Millham introduced the concept of a “limitless digital workforce,” hinting at Salesforce’s ambition to provide advanced virtual employee services through AI. This phrase suggested a future where AI agents could handle tasks traditionally performed by humans, raising both excitement and questions about the implications for the workforce.
Interestingly, during the main keynote, this messaging was softened. The term “limitless digital workforce” was missing, perhaps to avoid alienating the Trailblazer community—a group deeply invested in the human aspects of Salesforce’s ecosystem.
The Main Keynote: Introducing Agentforce
At the heart of the keynote was the unveiling of Agentforce, Salesforce’s ambitious leap into autonomous enterprise AI. Unlike traditional AI assistants or chatbots, Agentforce promises genuine autonomous reasoning and decision-making capabilities. Powered by the Data Cloud and the Atlas Reasoning Engine, these AI agents are designed to independently retrieve data, navigate complex tasks, and execute decisions across sales, service, and marketing functions.
Marc Benioff, Salesforce’s Chairman and CEO, presented Agentforce as “the future of AI in the workplace,” emphasizing its potential to enhance scale, efficiency, and customer satisfaction by enabling seamless collaboration between humans and AI. He didn’t shy away from comparing Agentforce to competitors like Microsoft’s Copilot, suggesting that traditional AI assistants are becoming obsolete in the face of more advanced, autonomous solutions.

A highlight of the keynote was the introduction of the new architecture diagram, affectionately dubbed the “Rainbow Slide.” This diagram positions the Data Cloud at the core of Salesforce’s architecture, supporting a unified Customer 360 system implemented with various Salesforce clouds. MuleSoft features prominently as the foundational layer for interoperability, highlighting Salesforce’s commitment to seamless integration across platforms.
Agentforce: A Closer Look
Agentforce represents a significant shift in how enterprises might utilize AI. Unlike AI tools that require substantial human oversight, Agentforce aims to operate with a degree of autonomy, handling complex workflows and making decisions to drive business outcomes. This approach addresses growing customer frustrations with the limitations of existing AI solutions, which often require manual intervention and lack true decision-making capabilities.
By harnessing the unified data provided by the Data Cloud, Agentforce can offer personalized interactions and insights, potentially transforming customer experiences and internal operations. However, this level of autonomy also raises important questions about accountability, oversight, and the role of human judgment in business processes.
This push towards more autonomous AI tools addresses growing customer frustrations with the complexities and limitations of existing AI solutions. This all sets the stage for a new era of enterprise AI that promises to handle complex workflows while keeping operations fluid and scalable.
The Future of Work: Will There Be Any for Humans?
One of the most thought-provoking sessions at Dreamforce 2024 was the “Future of Work” press panel, featuring executives from Salesforce, Slack, and Box. The discussion centered on AI’s impact on the workplace, touching on themes of productivity and human-AI collaboration.

When questioned about the potential loss of entry-level positions, a traditional pathway for young professionals to gain experience, the panelists offered optimistic views. Ben Kus, CTO of Box, suggested that increased productivity from AI would lead to new work opportunities. Nathalie Scardino, Salesforce’s Chief People Officer, highlighted educational initiatives and internship programs aimed at preparing the next generation for an AI-augmented workforce.
However, the panel didn’t fully address how young workers would acquire the hands-on experience typically gained through entry-level roles. As AI takes over routine tasks, there’s a risk that essential learning opportunities could diminish, potentially impacting career development and skill acquisition.
It is worth noting that the responsibility for potential job displacement does not necessarily lie with the vendors themselves. Much like J. Robert Oppenheimer’s role in developing the atomic bomb, companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, Salesforce and Box are creating powerful tools. The decision on how to implement these tools – and potentially reduce workforces – ultimately rests with their customers’ leadership, the “generals” in this analogy.
As AI continues to reshape the workplace, it is crucial that we do not lose sight of the human element in our rush towards efficiency. While AI promises to eliminate much of the tedious work that has long been a rite of passage for young professionals, we must ensure that we’re not inadvertently closing off valuable learning opportunities and career entry points. The challenge for both tech vendors and their customers will be to harness AI’s potential while still nurturing the next generation of talent.
Salesforce Foundations: Democratizing Access to AI
Something that slid under the radar at Dreamforce was the repackaging of the Starter and Pro Suites into Salesforce Foundations for Enterprise orgs. One leader in the Trailblazer movement, Andrew Russo, said that “Salesforce Foundations is the biggest underrated announcement. It will allow all Trailblazers to get hands-on with generative AI in their own orgs.” Russo is the Salesforce architect and program manager for BACA Systems, where he manages all their business, sales, service, and production activities on Salesforce.
The new Agentforce features in Foundations are significant, because it addresses a concern I have about Trailblazers gaining access to generative AI technology. At the keynote, Benioff announced that Agentforce and Data Cloud will be included in the Foundations rollout which seems to alleviate much of the concern expressed in that post.

Combined with the rollout of a freshened user interface, Foundations represents a significant unification of the Salesforce on a single interoperable platform. This is key because it leverages Salesforce’s existing advantages in business automation, security and metadata technology.
Foundations Executives are Charged Up
The enthusiasm from Salesforce executives about Foundations was evident throughout the event. They acknowledged a common customer frustration: the cumbersome process of accessing new features or paid add-ons, which traditionally involved scheduling calls with account executives and navigating upselling tactics.
With Foundations, Salesforce aims to revolutionize this experience by allowing customers to activate new features directly within their organizations. The vision is to enable users to simply toggle a button to activate a feature after accepting the billing terms, eliminating unnecessary barriers and empowering customers to integrate new tools seamlessly into their workflows.
My earlier piece detailed my enthusiastic welcome for Foundations’ unified architecture. It is poised to simplify the process of building a comprehensive Customer 360 view from the outset. Crucially, all existing Enterprise license customers will have the ability to enable Foundations in their orgs without the dreaded call to their Account Executive.
Beyond simplifying feature activation, Foundations represents a significant leap towards true platform integration. As outlined in Salesforce’s announcement, it provides Enterprise Edition customers with base-level access to the entire Salesforce suite – Sales, Service, Marketing, Commerce, and Data Cloud – at no additional cost. This move breaks down long-standing silos between different business functions, potentially leading to more personalized customer experiences, streamlined internal processes, and data-driven decision-making across organizations.
The introduction of Foundations also sets the stage for more advanced AI applications. By harmonizing data across all customer touchpoints, Salesforce is laying the groundwork for AI-driven business processes, positioning their customers for the ongoing AI revolution. As Kris Billmaier, SVP and GM of Salesforce Self-Service & Growth, emphasized, “It’s about removing barriers and enabling true cross-functional collaboration.” This paradigm shift in delivering value to enterprise customers may well usher in a new era of integrated, intelligent enterprise software.
Trailblazer Forest Frenzy
The atmosphere at Dreamforce 2024 was electric, particularly among the developer and administrator communities. Level 1 of Moscone South buzzed with an intensity reminiscent of specialized developer conferences. Attendees were eager to get hands-on experience with Agentforce, with dedicated areas set up for participants to create their first AI agents.
This post from Kavindra Patel, VP of Trailblazer Engagement for Salesforce conveys the excitement.
There was a large area set aside for about 100 attendees to sit and work with a script to create their own first agent. There were some tables for consultations and extended discussions.

Salesforce executives, including Marc Benioff, Slack CTO and Salesforce co-founder Parker Harris, and President and CPO David Schmaier, actively engaged with attendees. Their presence in the Agentforce Launch Zone signaled a genuine interest in firsthand feedback and a commitment to understanding the community’s needs and reactions.
Salesforce DevOps’ Staring Role
Salesforce DevOps is a growing, critical industry within the Salesforce ecosystem. This was evident at the show with booths full of prospects and sessions packed with attendees. And in some executive encounters my concerns about Salesforce’s commitment to DevOps were addressed.
DevOps and Release Management: Signs of Progress
I entered Dreamforce 2024 with a critical eye, particularly regarding DevOps and release management issues faced by the developer and vendor community. The primary concern has been the lag between new feature releases and corresponding API support, leaving DevOps functions struggling to keep pace with end-user Salesforce developments.
During the event, I sought answers about Metadata API coverage, a crucial issue given its expected importance in supporting the new Foundations capabilities. While I didn’t receive a satisfactory response to this specific concern, there were encouraging signs from the Platform division leadership.

Alice Steinglass, EVP and GM of Salesforce Platform delivered a comprehensive overview of Salesforce platform capabilities in the Platform Keynote. This presentation suggested a growing awareness of the need for better integration between new features and developer tools.
In a promising development, I interviewed Dan Fernandez, VP of Product Management for Developer Services at Salesforce. He shared roadmaps addressing one of my long-standing concerns: slow Lead Time for Changes in Salesforce development. Additionally, there are indications of progress with DevOps Center, a topic I’ll explore in depth in an upcoming dedicated post on the future of Salesforce DevOps.
Salesforce DevOps Vendors at Dreamforce
Gearset once again demonstrated their prowess in guerrilla marketing at Salesforce events, dominating DevOps headlines with their acquisition of Clayton. Instead of a traditional show floor presence, Gearset opted for an off-site zone, receptions, and a dynamic team roaming the event. I had the opportunity to meet Gearset CEO Kevin Boyle in person for the first time, adding a personal touch to their impactful presence.
AutoRABIT also embraced guerrilla tactics, hosting off-site breakfasts and engaging in targeted sales encounters. The company made waves by sponsoring the launch of the Low Code Security Alliance, spearheaded by AutoRABIT Chief Product Officer Andrew Davis. I was honored to participate in one of their breakfast receptions, where I announced my role as a founding member of this new Alliance. Stay tuned for an upcoming post on the Alliance and their response to the Disney/Slack security incident.
Several other leading DevOps vendors maintained a strong presence at Dreamforce, either through significant show floor displays or by supporting various venues. Notable participants included ACCELQ, Copado, CloudFulcrum, Elements.cloud, Flosum, Opsera, Prodly, Provar, Salto, and Testsigma. A comprehensive review of all DevOps-related Dreamforce vendors, complete with representative quotes, will be published later this week, offering a thorough overview of the DevOps landscape at the event.
The Rise of Agentforce: A Pivotal Moment in AI Evolution
The sudden push for Agentforce at Dreamforce 2024 marks a significant shift in Salesforce’s AI strategy. While some Trailblazers might question the leap to agentic AI, the enthusiasm and pride exhibited by Marc Benioff suggest that this move has been long in the making. Salesforce’s unique advantage in security and metadata models, which I recognized back in March 2023, has positioned them as the most agile deployer of AI technologies among enterprise IT giants.
The urgency behind Agentforce’s launch was underscored during a fireside chat between Benioff and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. Huang’s assertion that AI progress is now advancing at “Moore’s Law squared” pace, promising spectacular advancements in the near future, provides context for Salesforce’s aggressive push. This rapid evolution isn’t unique to Salesforce; startups like Sierra, co-founded by former Salesforce Co-CEO Bret Taylor, are also making strides in AI agent technology.
As the IT and AI industries stand on the brink of transformative changes, Salesforce’s Agentforce, built on the new unified Foundations suite, emerges as a leading out-of-the-box solution for workforce AI automation. Benioff’s recurring message throughout Dreamforce – “Don’t DIY it!” – encapsulates Salesforce’s strategy: to package and deliver AI technology through low-code solutions, potentially reshaping how operational, IT and consulting services are rendered.
However, this rapid advancement also necessitates thoughtful consideration of AI’s broader implications. As businesses adopt more autonomous AI solutions, questions about job displacement, ethical use, and regulatory compliance become increasingly important.
Conclusion: Balancing Innovation and Responsibility
Dreamforce 2024 showcased Salesforce’s bold vision for the future of AI in the workplace. Agentforce represents a significant advancement in autonomous AI capabilities, offering potential benefits in efficiency and scalability for businesses worldwide.
Yet, alongside the excitement, it’s crucial to address the ethical considerations of such technologies. As AI systems take on more complex tasks, we must ensure that human workers are not left behind. Providing pathways for skill development, maintaining accountability, and fostering collaboration between humans and AI are essential steps in this journey.
Salesforce’s initiatives like Foundations demonstrate a commitment to democratizing access to AI and empowering its community. By embracing both innovation and responsibility, Salesforce—and the industry as a whole—can navigate the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead, shaping a future where technology enhances human potential rather than diminishes it.