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Salesforce launched Agentforce, a powerful new feature that allows companies to create AI agents capable of handling a variety of tasks across business functions, without needing constant human intervention. Think of it as an intelligent assistant that can independently take action to resolve customer service issues, qualify sales leads, and even help optimize marketing efforts. With Agentforce, companies are bringing a new level of automation and support to their teams and customers.

Agentforce is not just another chatbot. It’s built with advanced reasoning capabilities that empower it to make decisions and take action in real-time. Whether it’s answering customer inquiries, managing orders, or guiding potential sales leads, these agents can get the job done without waiting for human input. They’re triggered by events—like data updates, preset business rules, or signals from other systems—allowing them to operate seamlessly in the background. Expand your team’s capacity, and provide faster, more effective customer service.

Agentforce offers pre-built agents that can be easily adapted for any business need. These agents are ready-to-go and deployable with Salesforce’s low-code or no-code tools, so companies can set them up quickly across different communication channels like email, WhatsApp, voice calls, and more.

The Agentforce Service Agent is the first available out-of-the-box AI agent, specifically designed for customer service. This service agent can handle both simple and complex tasks, making it much more efficient than traditional chatbots. Companies can customize this agent to suit industry-specific needs, like order management in retail or billing support in financial services.

Salesforce’s research shows that people often spend hours trying to resolve issues with customer service, leading to frustration and, sometimes, lost business. Agentforce can step in here, providing instant, accurate support and freeing up human employees for higher-level tasks. For instance, Wiley, an education company, saw a 40% increase in case resolution after piloting Agentforce, outperforming their previous customer service bots.

Easy Integration: Since Agentforce is part of the Salesforce Platform, it doesn’t require extra setup to connect to your existing data and processes. It uses Salesforce tools like Flow (for automating workflows), Slack (for team communication), and MuleSoft (for data integration) to handle tasks effortlessly.

Agent Builder Tool: This new feature allows companies to create or customize agents easily. Users can create instructions for agents in simple language, set up specific tasks, and even test responses to ensure they meet customer needs.

Agentforce is powered by several advanced tools and features that work together to ensure accuracy, speed, and security:

Atlas Reasoning Engine: This AI “brain” enables Agentforce to make independent decisions by analyzing data and choosing the best course of action. Unlike older bots, which rely on a series of pre-set responses, Atlas uses complex reasoning to handle multi-step tasks and give more relevant, accurate answers.
Data Cloud: Agentforce uses Salesforce’s Data Cloud to access all relevant customer information, including emails, messages, and past support interactions. This information allows Agentforce to deliver more contextual, personalized responses that can adapt to each customer’s needs.
Built-In Security: Agentforce prioritizes data protection through the Einstein Trust Layer, which includes security measures like toxicity detection and safe data retrieval, ensuring customer interactions remain secure and compliant with company policies.
Salesforce Customer 360 Integration: Agentforce connects with Salesforce’s other business applications, providing a complete view of each customer and allowing seamless hand-offs to human agents when needed.

What is an AI agent?
An AI agent is an intelligent system that can take action autonomously, handling tasks without needing a person’s help. It can work proactively based on changes in data or specific automation triggers.

How is it different from a chatbot?
Traditional chatbots follow pre-set scripts, which limits their flexibility. An AI agent, like those in Agentforce, can adapt to natural language and make sense of the conversation, even taking the next step on its own.

How does it work?
Using the Agent Builder tool, companies can set up and configure their agents with clear, natural-language instructions. The agent is then ready to operate across channels like email, WhatsApp, or voice, automatically handling tasks within the guardrails set by the company. Read more about Agentbuilder in the next blog.

Agentforce isn’t just a tool; it’s a game-changer for businesses, providing a scalable, flexible AI workforce that works around the clock, allowing employees to focus on what matters most. With Agentforce, businesses are entering a new era of AI-powered efficiency, boosting productivity and improving customer experiences like never before.