Salesforce Focuses on Sales, AI Replaces Technical Support

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff recently shared crucial insights regarding the evolution of his company's workforce. He revealed that artificial intelligence (AI) is now capable of reading discussions on Slack within companies to identify employee concerns. This technological advancement is part of a broader strategy where the number of engineers at Salesforce has remained "mostly stable" over the past two years, around 15,000.

Benioff clarified that while the company continues to grow its workforce, this growth is primarily concentrated in the sales department. He emphasized that AI agents are not able to sell and communicate effectively, making new hires in the sales field particularly valuable. During the quarterly earnings call, Benioff explained that "growth is primarily happening in Miguel's area, in sales," referring to Miguel Milano.

He added, "Because, I think we all realize that the only thing we do here with you is sell and communicate, and agents don't exactly do that." Benioff thus highlighted that sales will be a crucial pillar of the company's expansion, emphasizing the importance of human communication in business transactions.

However, this recruitment strategy does not apply to all departments. In September, Benioff announced that Salesforce had cut about 4,000 support positions, with these tasks now being handled by AI agents. This transition is accompanied by a significant investment in artificial intelligence, with $300 million allocated to projects in collaboration with Anthropic this year.

This trend is not isolated to Salesforce. Other Silicon Valley companies, such as Cloudflare, have also reduced their workforce. In May, Cloudflare cut its workforce by 20%, citing productivity gains from AI, according to its CEO Matthew Prince. Similarly, fintech company Block has reduced nearly half of its staff, with CEO Jack Dorsey stating that AI has transformed business management.

Despite these reductions, some leaders emphasize that AI cannot replace all human functions. Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn stated that AI cannot match the work of its artists and designers, and he will not sacrifice the quality of his app to use AI. Benjamin Todd, president of the organization 80,000 Hours, also asserted that many key tasks are not automatable, encouraging workers to focus on safe skills rather than safe jobs.

Finally, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters recently made headlines by stating that he was replacing "lower-value human capital," a comment for which he later apologized. These statements illustrate the ongoing tensions and debates regarding the impact of AI on employment and the necessity of irreplaceable human skills.