Marc Benioff believes we’re in the era of digital labor, an opportunity Salesforce’s charismatic chief executive concedes his company is still trying to grasp. “We can see a new world opening when we look at digital labor. When we’re talking about [AI] agents, we’re talking about digital labor,” he proclaimed in December, valuing it as a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity. And it’s a market Salesforce sees as key to its future. The enterprise tech firm has already made the tools available, but now, it has to convince developers to use them.
When Salesforce unveiled its Agentforce platform in September 2024, it introduced its customers to the AI age. The platform would receive an upgrade months later, and the company reports it has done more than 3,000 paid deals involving the platform to date. But now, Salesforce’s attention must turn to developers, those responsible for extending the agentic service’s reach, connecting it to third-party services, and enabling AI agents to be more intelligent and productive.
Expect that message to be front and center at this year’s TDX conference.
Disclosure: Salesforce has invited me to attend TDX as its guest, paying for my expenses. The company, in no way, dictated the content of this post. These are my words.What Is Digital Labor?
Defined as “technologies (such as AI automation and AI agents) that mimic human decision-making and cognitive abilities,” digital labor promises to help humans complete tasks at “speeds and scales that a human-only workforce cannot match.” Proponents contend that even at full employment, there would still be “millions of open jobs” that need to be staffed, so deploying AI-powered agents is a viable solution.
In December, Benioff described the need for a “breakthrough technology” to solve this labor shortage and unlock GDP growth. He claimed that Salesforce needed to become a digital labor provider. “While we, for 25 years, have been helping companies to manage and share their information and store their data, now here we are delivering digital labor, and digital labor is this new horizon for business, this idea that a door has opened for business and that business will never be the same.”
Companies have used digital automation for many years, but machine learning, natural language processing, and artificial intelligence innovations have significantly changed the landscape. And with an increasingly crowded marketplace filled with players like Microsoft’s Copilot Studio, Intercom, Zendesk, Sierra, Langflow, and Google’s Vertex AI, Salesforce needs to elevate the conversation and illustrate that AI bots can do much more.
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The Fight to Convert Agentblazers
At this year’s TDX conference, Salesforce will likely pull out all the stops to enchant developers on the potential of Agentforce. It’s the last primary audience it needs to convince. The company has already pitched customers and executives back at Dreamforce and during its subsequent road show after losing key leader Clara Shih in November. Salesforce has also made related Trailhead learning courses and AI certification free this year to help raise awareness about what the tech can do.
For months, not only has Benioff’s team highlighted Agentforce’s capabilities, but they have emphasized that for an AI agent to succeed, it needs steady access to data. This means companies seeking to leverage this tech must do away with data silos. Expect Salesforce to reinforce that message at TDX while promoting its Data Cloud and MuleSoft offerings.
Speaking of MuleSoft, the timing couldn’t be better for TDX next week. The Salesforce business unit just released a report showing that while IT teams are eager to embrace AI agents, they struggle to integrate them with their existing infrastructure. This problem has led to project delays throughout organizations. Salesforce will likely try to educate developers on best practices and showcase case studies so companies see immediate value from their AI initiatives.
Benioff wants his firm to be the North Star for any company looking to implement artificial intelligence. His message during Salesforce’s earnings call this week proves that:
“Our goal is to be the number one provider of digital labor in the world. That’s it. I don’t think there really is another goal. You can say we’re the number one AI CRM, which we already are. But, when you’re the number on AI CRM, you’re also going to lead the digital labor revolution. And that is going to be the focus on fiscal year ’26. This is the year of digital labor and it is going to be the year where every Trailblazer is going to become an Agentblazer.”
The outspoken CEO will likely regale attendees at TDX with his AI vision, pointing out why it’s so transformative and sharing inspiring messages that’ll convince developers to give Agentforce a shot. And don’t be surprised if Benioff offers some pointed criticism at Microsoft—is it a Salesforce event if its leader doesn’t fire a salvo at its main competitor? He’ll probably point out that Agentforce is an easier and more scalable option to Microsoft, even though the Windows maker has been making AI overtures to developers for years—just look at the announcements from last year’s Build conference.
Can Salesforce be convincing enough to capture developers’ attention and stay ahead of its competitors in the ecosystem land grab?
Featured Image: Salesforce's logo is displayed on the exterior of the company's Bellevue, Washington, office. Credit: Ken Yeung/The AI Economy
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