Our hot takes from Dreamforce 2024
Dreamforce has come and gone, but we’re still reflecting on the insights and looking forward to what’s ahead for our Cloudwerx customers!
John (JC) Cosgrove, Data & AI Partner, Cloudwerx, shares his hot takes from the key announcements and what they mean for you, and more importantly, what you need to do. We don’t call these hot takes for nothing!
Introducing Agentforce: how it works, and how it helps
A question we’ve heard a lot is, “Is AgentForce just a rebranded Einstein Copilot?” It’s a reasonable question! At first glance, both seem like AI-powered sidekicks, helping boost productivity within the Salesforce ecosystem. So what’s changed?
Far from a simple rebranding exercise, we believe that the new Agentforce represents a significant upgrade in Salesforce’s AI capabilities, positioning the company (and, by extension you) for rapid development and practical applications that will far outpace competitors in the enterprise AI space.
Here’s why.
Salesforce has shifted its AI approach
While Copilot paved the way, Agentforce builds on it with specialised agents that are designed to operate in specific contexts, delivering more precision and efficiency. Key aspects of this evolution include:
- Scope: Defining the specific areas each agent operates within to avoid cognitive overload.
- Meta cognition: An understanding of how to combine tools and actions to achieve complex outcomes — without predefining every single pathway.
Agentforce also introduces new features in agent design, including:
- Instructions: A series of instruction blocks allow for more structured and clear guidance for the agents.
- Topic layer: A feature that allows the agent to handle specific contexts by associating actions with particular topics and corresponding instructions.
Not only does Agentforce introduce a swathe of new features and functionality, it also opens the door for future developments and new capabilities thanks to its focus on action-oriented multi-step reasoning. We expect plenty more updates soon, and rest assured, we’ll keep you in the loop with everything you need to know to start leveraging this new functionality.
The impact of integrating generative AI into Salesforce Flows
If you tuned into CEO Marc Benioff’s keynote, you probably noticed him emphasising “Flow” right from the get-go, underscoring the importance of Flows within the Salesforce platform.
So. Why the renewed focus on Flows at Dreamforce 2024?
The deployment of generative AI, in practice, mirrors the concept of DevOps, with a focus on connecting various services and systems using APIs. To implement it effectively requires orchestrating multiple services and systems — an incredibly cumbersome task for companies trying to build these integrations from scratch.
The core strength of the entire Salesforce ecosystem lies in its ability to serve as an enterprise-grade orchestration platform, particularly for front-end operations. This means Salesforce is well-positioned to support your business as you adopt and implement AI. Flows offer low-code or no-code solutions that allow you to integrate AI technologies such as retrieval augmented generation (RAG) without the risk of accruing technical debt.
In short, Salesforce is now offering a highly accessible and efficient way to harness the potential of AI, while minimising technical burdens on your team. And, as generative AI continues to evolve, the sooner you start investing in Flows, the faster you’ll reap the benefits.
Taking advantage of the Salesforce functionality in your business
Excited about the introduction of Agentforce and the integration of generative AI into Flows? So are we. Here’s how you can start taking advantage of these new capabilities today:
- Start investing in Flow. We believe the likelihood you’ll regret a level of investment into Flow is incredibly low. Thanks to its low- and no-code solutions, it’s a low-risk way for your organisation to harness the potential of generative AI.
- Explore Agentforce. Rather than spending precious time debating whether Agentforce is a Copilot rebrand, start thinking about how you can use it to its full potential. Your competitors are!
- Reach out to Cloudwerx. Our team is here to guide you through these changes. Let’s discuss how you can put Salesforce’s generative AI to work for your business. Ready to get started?
Wanting to know more about how Agentforce and Flow means for your business? We’d love to hear from you
Reach out to our team, or contact Cloudwerx and we’ll be in touch.