Agentic AI is the next ‘revolution’

Salesforce (CRM) CEO Marc Benioff says agentic AI will be tech’s next big wave.

“We’ve gone through cloud, we’ve gone through mobile, we’ve gone through social, we’ve gone through predictive AI,” Benioff said at Dreamforce in San Francisco on Tuesday. “And now we’re entering this new agentic AI revolution … and it is going to be magic.”

In his opening keynote for the event, Benioff outlined his vision for how autonomous, “agentic” AI systems will reshape business operations, from marketing to manufacturing.

That bullish view comes even as Salesforce stock has fallen more than 27% year to date, lagging the Nasdaq’s (^IXIC) strong rally.

In its second quarter, Salesforce reported revenue of $10.2 billion, up 10% year over year and slightly above consensus estimates of $10.1 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.91, up 13.7% year over year, beating the $2.78 expected, according to Bloomberg data.

Still, the company lowered its third quarter revenue guidance to a range of $10.24 billion to $10.29 billion, just shy of the $10.29 billion consensus, raising questions about the pace of its AI growth initiatives. Salesforce also noted that of the 12,500 Agentforce deals closed since its launch, roughly 6,000 are paid — a sign that monetization is still in its early stages.

But Benioff pointed to five early adopters — Pandora (PNDORA.CO), PepsiCo (PEP), FedEx (FDX), Williams-Sonoma (WSM), and Dell (DELL) — as proof that the shift is already underway.

At Williams-Sonoma, agentic AI is helping shoppers find recipes and video tutorials tailored to previous purchases. Meanwhile, Pepsi has deployed autonomous models to analyze data and identify growth opportunities.

The opening keynote also featured a video tribute from the late Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist and environmentalist, who stressed that AI could tackle broader global challenges.

“Business must be a platform for change and an essential source of innovation,” Goodall said in the recorded video.

Benioff framed agentic AI not just as a productivity tool, but as a force that could democratize opportunity across industries. Unlike predictive AI, which analyzes historical trends, agentic systems can act autonomously within organizational workflows, ultimately generating insights, automating tasks, and driving decision making in real time.

“There’s no question it is here,” he said. “You’re going to see it over and over again.”

Salesforce has been expanding its agentic AI offerings across multiple platforms, including Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Slack, and its Agentforce 360 suite.

Salesforce (CRM) CEO Marc Benioff says agentic AI will be tech’s next big wave.

“We’ve gone through cloud, we’ve gone through mobile, we’ve gone through social, we’ve gone through predictive AI,” Benioff said at Dreamforce in San Francisco on Tuesday. “And now we’re entering this new agentic AI revolution … and it is going to be magic.”

In his opening keynote for the event, Benioff outlined his vision for how autonomous, “agentic” AI systems will reshape business operations, from marketing to manufacturing.

That bullish view comes even as Salesforce stock has fallen more than 27% year to date, lagging the Nasdaq’s (^IXIC) strong rally.

In its second quarter, Salesforce reported revenue of $10.2 billion, up 10% year over year and slightly above consensus estimates of $10.1 billion. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.91, up 13.7% year over year, beating the $2.78 expected, according to Bloomberg data.

Still, the company lowered its third quarter revenue guidance to a range of $10.24 billion to $10.29 billion, just shy of the $10.29 billion consensus, raising questions about the pace of its AI growth initiatives. Salesforce also noted that of the 12,500 Agentforce deals closed since its launch, roughly 6,000 are paid — a sign that monetization is still in its early stages.

But Benioff pointed to five early adopters — Pandora (PNDORA.CO), PepsiCo (PEP), FedEx (FDX), Williams-Sonoma (WSM), and Dell (DELL) — as proof that the shift is already underway.

At Williams-Sonoma, agentic AI is helping shoppers find recipes and video tutorials tailored to previous purchases. Meanwhile, Pepsi has deployed autonomous models to analyze data and identify growth opportunities.

The opening keynote also featured a video tribute from the late Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist and environmentalist, who stressed that AI could tackle broader global challenges.

“Business must be a platform for change and an essential source of innovation,” Goodall said in the recorded video.

Benioff framed agentic AI not just as a productivity tool, but as a force that could democratize opportunity across industries. Unlike predictive AI, which analyzes historical trends, agentic systems can act autonomously within organizational workflows, ultimately generating insights, automating tasks, and driving decision making in real time.

“There’s no question it is here,” he said. “You’re going to see it over and over again.”

Salesforce has been expanding its agentic AI offerings across multiple platforms, including Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Slack, and its Agentforce 360 suite.