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Transform Customer Experiences
03Dec

Transform Customer Experiences

How to Transform Customer Experiences with AI and Sub-Second E2E Real-Time Data Sync Introducing Data Cloud’s Sub-Second E2E Real-Time FeatureDeliver hyper-personalized experiences in real time, no matter how or where customers engage with your brand. Exceptional customer experiences hinge on unifying interactions across every touchpoint. Yet, fragmented data dispersed across systems, channels, and clouds often stands in the way. Salesforce Data Cloud eliminates these silos by delivering a synchronized, real-time customer data ecosystem, enabling brands to create personalized, seamless experiences instantly—regardless of how or where customers connect. We’re excited to announce that the Sub-Second E2E Real-Time feature in Salesforce Data Cloud is now available. This innovation processes and analyzes data as it’s generated, empowering brands to make immediate, data-driven decisions. Combined with Einstein Personalization—which leverages advanced machine learning (ML) and rules-based automation—businesses can deliver individualized experiences across all channels, driving deeper engagement and improved outcomes. What is Sub-Second Real-Time? Sub-second real-time refers to the ability to process and deliver data or responses in less than one second, ensuring ultra-low latency and near-instantaneous results. This capability is critical for applications requiring immediate data updates, such as live analytics, responsive user interfaces, and time-sensitive decision-making. The Sub-Second E2E Real-Time feature empowers industries like fraud detection, predictive maintenance, and real-time marketing with instant insights. By synchronizing data across systems, channels, and clouds, Data Cloud ensures a unified, real-time customer view, giving businesses a competitive edge. Real-World Examples of Sub-Second Real-Time in Action 1. Real-Time Web Personalization Imagine a user browsing a website. As they interact with products, Data Cloud instantly captures this activity and updates their customer profile. Using Einstein Personalization, the system processes this data in milliseconds to tailor their browsing experience. For instance, personalized product recommendations can appear as the user clicks, leveraging insights from their behavior across platforms such as websites, point-of-sale systems, mobile apps, and other data sources. This seamless personalization is made possible by Data Cloud’s integrations, including zero-copy ingestion from major data warehouses like Snowflake, Databricks, and Redshift. The result? A continuously updated, 360-degree customer view that enhances every touchpoint. 2. Real-Time Support with Agentforce Now, consider a customer engaging in a live chat for assistance. As they browse, their actions are captured and updated in real time. When they initiate a chat, whether through Agentforce AI agents or human support, the agent has immediate access to their full activity history, updated within milliseconds. This enables the agent to provide tailored responses and solutions, ensuring a frictionless and engaging customer support experience. Why Sub-Second Real-Time Matters From personalization to support, the Sub-Second E2E Real-Time feature in Data Cloud ensures every customer interaction feels relevant, timely, and connected. By bridging the gap between data silos and intelligent automation, businesses can unlock new opportunities to exceed customer expectations—at scale and in real time. Explore how Salesforce Data Cloud can transform your customer experience today. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

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December 3, 2024in Data, Salesforce, Salesforce Data Cloud, Snowflake0 Comments
Alation Strengthens Data Cloud
20Nov

Alation Anywhere

Alation Anywhere for Google Chrome: A Streamlined Approach to Analysis Alation’s browser-based extension, Alation Anywhere for Google Chrome, integrates its tools directly into the user’s browser to reduce the inefficiencies caused by toggling between applications. This innovation enhances workflow efficiency and accelerates access to data-driven insights, bringing the full power of Alation’s Data Intelligence Platform into the daily flow of work. Tackling Context-Switching with Alation Anywhere A 2022 Harvard Business Review study revealed that Fortune 500 employees toggle between applications 1,200 times per day, resulting in four hours of weekly lost productivity and five weeks of annual time wasted. By embedding Alation’s capabilities into Chrome, users can seamlessly interact with curated and governed data without leaving their current workflows. According to Matt Aslett, analyst at Ventana Research, “The primary goal of capabilities like Alation Anywhere is to accelerate data-driven decision-making. By embedding data catalog functionality within productivity tools, it reduces the delays caused by switching contexts and facilitates quicker access to insights.” Enhanced Data Discovery in the Browser The popularity of web-based applications makes Chrome the ideal platform for extending Alation’s tools. Stewart Bond, analyst at IDC, emphasizes that “most modern applications are accessed via the browser. Alation Anywhere for Chrome eliminates the need to toggle between browser tabs, saving users time and boosting productivity.” Beyond efficiency, embedding analytics into frequently used tools increases the likelihood of data-driven decision-making. By integrating Alation’s insights directly into the browser, users can make informed decisions in real-time, with minimal disruptions. Key Features of Alation Anywhere for Google Chrome The Chrome extension introduces several tools to streamline data discovery and management: These features reflect Alation’s strategy of extending data catalog capabilities to the tools users rely on most, facilitating quicker and more accurate insights. Meeting Modern Data Demands As enterprises increasingly develop AI models and applications, the need for accessible, real-time data is growing. Alation’s vice president of product management, Diby Malakar, highlighted the role of user feedback in driving innovations like the Chrome extension. “Embedding analytics and data management directly into everyday tools is essential for streamlining workflows and reducing friction,” said Malakar. “Our goal is to ensure data intelligence is always available where it drives the most value.” Differentiation and Future Focus While Alation’s browser-based extension addresses a critical need, competitors such as Collibra, Informatica, and Qlik also offer similar capabilities. To stand out, Alation must build on unique initiatives like its new AI governance suite, which addresses emerging challenges in enterprise AI adoption. According to Malakar, Alation will continue developing features that enable both technical and non-technical users to discover and curate trusted data. This aligns with growing enterprise priorities, including real-time analytics and AI model development. “As AI and data initiatives become central to enterprises, the demand for accessible, reliable data will only increase,” Malakar noted. “Alation is committed to evolving our platform to meet these needs … backed by the data they trust.” Alation Anywhere for Google Chrome exemplifies the company’s commitment to improving access to governed data while staying attuned to user workflows and the evolving data landscape. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

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November 20, 2024in Data, Enterprise, Google, Salesforce, Snowflake0 Comments
Snowflake Security and Development
12Nov

Snowflake Security and Development

Snowflake Unveils AI Development and Enhanced Security Features At its annual Build virtual developer conference, Snowflake introduced a suite of new capabilities focused on AI development and strengthened security measures. These enhancements aim to simplify the creation of conversational AI tools, improve collaboration, and address data security challenges following a significant breach earlier this year. AI Development Updates Snowflake announced updates to its Cortex AI suite to streamline the development of conversational AI applications. These new tools focus on enabling faster, more efficient development while ensuring data integrity and trust. Highlights include: These features address enterprise demands for generative AI tools that boost productivity while maintaining governance over proprietary data. Snowflake aims to eliminate barriers to data-driven decision-making by enabling natural language queries and easy integration of structured and unstructured data into AI models. According to Christian Kleinerman, Snowflake’s EVP of Product, the goal is to reduce the time it takes for developers to build reliable, cost-effective AI applications: “We want to help customers build conversational applications for structured and unstructured data faster and more efficiently.” Security Enhancements Following a breach last May, where hackers accessed customer data via stolen login credentials, Snowflake has implemented new security features: These additions come alongside existing tools like the Horizon Catalog for data governance. Kleinerman noted that while Snowflake’s previous security measures were effective at preventing unauthorized access, the company recognizes the need to improve user adoption of these tools: “It’s on us to ensure our customers can fully leverage the security capabilities we offer. That’s why we’re adding more monitoring, insights, and recommendations.” Collaboration Features Snowflake is also enhancing collaboration through its new Internal Marketplace, which enables organizations to share data, AI tools, and applications across business units. The Native App Framework now integrates with Snowpark Container Services to simplify the distribution and monetization of analytics and AI products. AI Governance and Competitive Position Industry analysts highlight the growing importance of AI governance as enterprises increasingly adopt generative AI tools. David Menninger of ISG’s Ventana Research emphasized that Snowflake’s governance-focused features, such as LLM observability, fill a critical gap in AI tooling: “Trustworthy AI enhancements like model explainability and observability are vital as enterprises scale their use of AI.” With these updates, Snowflake continues to compete with Databricks and other vendors. Its strategy focuses on offering both API-based flexibility for developers and built-in tools for users seeking simpler solutions. By combining innovative AI development tools with robust security and collaboration features, Snowflake aims to meet the evolving needs of enterprises while positioning itself as a leader in the data platform and AI space. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more Top Ten Reasons Why Tectonic Loves the Cloud The Cloud is Good for Everyone – Why Tectonic loves the cloud You don’t need to worry about tracking licenses. Read more

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November 12, 2024in AI Tools, Data, Enterprise, Generative AI, Snowflake0 Comments
Databricks Tools
04Oct

Databricks Tools

Databricks recently introduced Databricks Apps, a toolkit designed to simplify AI and data application development. By integrating native development platforms and offering automatic provisioning of serverless compute, the toolkit enables customers to more easily develop and deploy applications. Databricks Apps builds on the existing capabilities of Mosaic AI, which allows users to integrate large language models (LLMs) with their enterprise’s proprietary data. However, the ability to develop interactive AI applications, such as generative AI chatbots, was previously missing. Databricks Apps addresses this gap, allowing developers to build and deploy custom applications entirely within the secure Databricks environment. According to Donald Farmer, founder and principal of TreeHive Strategy, Databricks Apps removes obstacles like the need to set up separate infrastructure for development and deployment, making the process easier and more efficient. The new features allow companies to go beyond implementing AI/ML models and create differentiated applications that leverage their unique data sets. Kevin Petrie, an analyst at BARC U.S., highlighted the significance of Databricks Apps in helping companies develop custom AI applications, which are essential for maintaining a competitive edge. Databricks, founded in 2013, was one of the pioneers of the data lakehouse storage format, and over the last two years, it has expanded its platform to focus on AI and machine learning (ML) capabilities. The company’s $1.3 billion acquisition of MosaicML in June 2023 was a key milestone in building its AI environment. Databricks has since launched DBRX, its own large language model, and introduced further functionalities through product development. Databricks Apps, now available in public preview on AWS and Azure, advances these AI development capabilities, simplifying the process of building applications within a single platform. Developers can use frameworks like Dash, Flask, Gradio, Shiny, and Streamlit, or opt for integrated development environments (IDEs) like Visual Studio Code or PyCharm. The toolkit also provides prebuilt Python templates to accelerate development. Additionally, applications can be deployed and managed directly in Databricks, eliminating the need for external infrastructures. Databricks Apps includes security features such as access control and data lineage through the Unity Catalog. Farmer noted that the support for popular developer frameworks and the automatic provisioning of serverless compute could significantly impact the AI development landscape by reducing the complexity of deploying data architectures. While competitors like AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft, and Snowflake have also made AI a key focus, Farmer pointed out that Databricks’ integration of AI tools into a unified platform sets it apart. Databricks Apps further enhances this competitive advantage. Despite the added capabilities of Databricks Apps, Petrie cautioned that developing generative AI applications still requires a level of expertise in data, AI, and the business domain. While Databricks aims to make AI more accessible, users will still need substantial knowledge to effectively leverage these tools. Databricks’ vice president of product management, Shanku Niyogi, explained that the new features in Databricks Apps were driven by customer feedback. As enterprise interest in AI grows, customers sought easier ways to develop and deploy internal data applications in a secure environment. Looking ahead, Databricks plans to continue investing in simplifying AI application development, with a focus on enhancing Mosaic AI and expanding its collaborative AI partner ecosystem. Farmer suggested that the company should focus on supporting nontechnical users and emerging AI technologies like multimodal models, which will become increasingly important in the coming years. The introduction of Databricks Apps marks a significant step forward in Databricks’ AI and machine learning strategy, offering users a more streamlined approach to building and deploying AI applications. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

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October 4, 2024in AI Tools, Data, Enterprise, Generative AI, Google, Snowflake
Paradigm Shifts That Changed Marketing
03Oct

Marc Benioff Interviewed

Salesforce, now one of the most influential companies in tech history, was founded by Marc Benioff after his successful tenure at Oracle. Having witnessed the potential of the internet, Benioff realized it would usher in a new era for delivering enterprise software through the cloud. However, this new approach demanded a complete overhaul of traditional business models, marketing strategies, and software development practices. Salesforce would embody this transformation, evolving over the decades into a platform supporting a diverse array of enterprise applications. Today, Salesforce’s flagship initiative is Agentforce, a pioneering wave of AI agents built on the Salesforce platform. This initiative, which I covered in detail earlier this month, exemplifies Benioff’s forward-thinking vision for AI. He passionately argues that Salesforce is well-positioned to lead in this space, and his insights on AI and its potential are as compelling as they are thought-provoking. Before diving into Agentforce and Benioff’s views on AI, it’s important to explore his early life and the founding of Salesforce. Benioff’s path to becoming the CEO of one of the most powerful software companies in the world was shaped by an early interest in technology. His first foray into software development was creating an app called “How to Juggle,” which he sold for $75 to CLOAD Magazine in Goleta, California. This early success marked the beginning of a long career in tech. Benioff went on to establish an Atari game company called Liberty Software and later wrote assembly code for the Mac as part of an internship. Despite his success as a software developer, he transitioned to a leadership role after realizing his interest in the broader business of technology. He credits his time at Oracle, where he learned the intricacies of sales, marketing, and customer communication, as critical to shaping his vision for Salesforce. Oracle, during Larry Ellison’s prime, was an ideal place to hone these business skills, which Benioff would later apply to revolutionize the enterprise software space. With this foundation, Benioff founded Salesforce, a company that has fundamentally changed the way businesses engage with technology. The company’s success lies not just in its cloud-based software, but in its ongoing evolution to address new challenges, including the AI-powered Agentforce initiative, which stands at the forefront of Salesforce’s future growth. Benioff’s journey, from a young programmer to the CEO of a global tech giant, is a testament to his visionary approach and adaptability in an ever-changing tech landscape. Marc Benioff’s early entrepreneurial instincts were evident even before he fully embraced the title of entrepreneur. From a young age, he knew he wanted to build something of his own, though he hadn’t yet honed the full set of skills needed to succeed in business. He had a knack for technology, excelling as a programmer working in assembly code, but his mentors, including university professors and colleagues at Apple, recognized that being an entrepreneur required more than just technical ability. They encouraged him to develop his sales, marketing, and business acumen. His early exposure to these lessons was pivotal in shaping his future trajectory. Benioff’s transition from a programmer to a business leader began when he sought advice from Bill Jost at Apple, who connected him with Gary Gibson, an Oracle executive. After a memorable and unexpected interview, Benioff joined Oracle, starting with a role answering calls at the company’s 800-number. He quickly moved into sales and marketing, eventually working directly with Larry Ellison, who would become a significant mentor over the next 13 years. Benioff’s success at Oracle set the stage for his eventual departure to start Salesforce in 1999. In the mid-1990s, while at Oracle, Benioff had an epiphany while using a web browser. The internet was transforming how software could be delivered, and Benioff saw the potential for a new business model based on cloud computing. At this time, Oracle was focused on the network computer—a vision Benioff did not fully share. After discussing his ideas with Larry Ellison and taking some time off for reflection and research, Benioff recognized that the world was on the cusp of a major shift in technology. He felt compelled to create something new that would leverage the internet, offering software over the web through a subscription model. During his time off, Benioff traveled to Hawaii, reflecting on the future of the tech industry and contemplating ideas. He also experimented with domain names, purchasing You.com and later gifting it to a friend who turned it into a search and AI company. Benioff returned to Larry Ellison to share his vision of a cloud-based business model and later found inspiration from spiritual gurus during a trip to India, who reminded him that success in business should also be grounded in positive values. Benioff’s experience led to the founding of Salesforce with its revolutionary 1-1-1 Model—dedicating 1% of equity, profit, and employee time to philanthropy. Salesforce also embraced emerging technologies such as social, mobile, and AI, and created a new business model through subscription-based services. This combination of technological innovation and a strong sense of social responsibility has set Salesforce apart, attracting both admiration and emulation from other companies. Benioff’s Career Benioff’s career is a testament to the power of surrounding oneself with great people, continuing to learn, and having a clear vision. His leadership at Salesforce has been guided by values he believes are crucial to the company’s success and its ability to make a positive impact on the world. His insights on the Innovator’s Dilemma, a concept popularized by Clayton Christensen, highlight the challenges companies face as they evolve with changing technologies. While Salesforce’s core principles remain intact, the company has continued to adapt to new technology paradigms, ensuring it remains at the forefront of innovation in the software industry. Marc Benioff (MB) recently shared his excitement about the future of AI and its potential to revolutionize business and technology. He explained that, from a business perspective, this is the most thrilling moment in his career. AI, according to him, will transform how enterprises operate, making them more

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October 3, 2024in Agentforce Platform, Data, Enterprise, Google, Hyperforce, Salesforce, Salesforce Data Cloud, Snowflake, Technology
Salesforce Data Cloud and Zero Copy
28Sep

Salesforce Data Cloud and Zero Copy

As organizations across industries gather increasing amounts of data from diverse sources, they face the challenge of making that data actionable and deriving real-time insights. With Salesforce Data Cloud and zero copy architecture, organizations can streamline access to data and build dynamic, real-time dashboards that drive value while embedding contextual insights into everyday workflows. A session during Dreamforce 2024 with Joanna McNurlen, Principal Solution Engineer for Data Cloud at Salesforce, discussed how zero copy architecture facilitates the creation of dashboards and workflows that provide near-instant insights, enabling quick decision-making to enhance operational efficiency and competitive advantage. What is zero copy architecture?Traditionally, organizations had to replicate data from one system to another, such as copying CRM data into a data warehouse for analysis. This approach introduces latency, increases storage costs, and often results in inconsistencies between systems. Zero copy architecture eliminates the need for replication and provides a single source of truth for your data. It allows different systems to access data in its original location without duplication across platforms. Instead of using traditional extract, transform, and load (ETL) processes, systems like Salesforce Data Cloud can connect directly with external databases, such as Google Cloud BigQuery, Snowflake, Databricks, or Amazon Redshift, for real-time data access. Zero copy can also facilitate data sharing from within Salesforce to other systems. As Salesforce expands its zero copy partner network, opportunities to easily connect data from various sources will continue to grow. How does zero copy work?Zero copy employs virtual tables that act as blueprints for the data structure, enabling queries to be executed as if the data were local. Changes made in the data warehouse are instantly visible across all connected systems, ensuring users always work with the latest information. While developing dashboards, users can connect directly to the zero copy objects within Data Cloud to create visualizations and reports on top of them. Why is zero copy beneficial?Zero copy allows organizations to analyze data as it is generated, enabling faster responses, smarter decision-making, and enhanced customer experiences. This architecture reduces reliance on data transformation workflows and synchronizations within both Tableau and CRM Analytics, where organizations have historically encountered bottlenecks due to runtimes and platform limits. Various teams can benefit from the following capabilities: Unlocking real-time insights in Salesforce using zero copy architectureZero copy architecture and real-time data are transforming how organizations operate. By eliminating data duplication and providing real-time insights, the use of zero copy in Salesforce Data Cloud empowers organizations to work more efficiently, make informed decisions, and enhance customer experiences. Now is the perfect time to explore how Salesforce Data Cloud and zero copy can elevate your operations. Tectonic, a trusted Salesforce partner, can help you unlock the potential of your data and create new opportunities with the Salesforce platform. Connect with us today to get started. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

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September 28, 2024in Data, Google, Salesforce, Salesforce Data Cloud, Snowflake
Agentforce - AI's New Role in Sales and Service
23Sep

Agentforce – AI’s New Role in Sales and Service

From Science Fiction to Reality: AI’s Game-Changing Role in Service and Sales AI for service and sales has reached a critical tipping point, driving rapid innovation. At Dreamforce in San Francisco, hosted by Salesforce we explored how Salesforce clients are leveraging CRM, Data Cloud, and AI to extract real business value from their Salesforce investments. In previous years, AI features branded under “Einstein” had been met with skepticism. These features, such as lead scoring, next-best-action suggestions for service agents, and cross-sell/upsell recommendations, often required substantial quality data in the CRM and knowledge base to be effective. However, customer data was frequently unreliable, with duplicate records and missing information, and the Salesforce knowledge base was underused. Building self-service capabilities with chatbots was also challenging, requiring accurate predictions of customer queries and well-structured decision trees. This year’s Dreamforce revealed a transformative shift. The advancements in AI, especially for customer service and sales, have become exceptionally powerful. Companies now need to take notice of Salesforce’s capabilities, which have expanded significantly. Agentforce – AI’s New Role in Sales and Service Some standout Salesforce features include: At Dreamforce, we participated in a workshop where they built an AI agent capable of responding to customer cases using product sheets and company knowledge within 90 minutes. This experience demonstrated how accessible AI solutions have become, no longer requiring developers or LLM experts to set up. The key challenge lies in mapping external data sources to a unified data model in Data Cloud, but once achieved, the potential for customer service and sales is immense. How AI and Data Integrate to Transform Service and Sales Businesses can harness the following integrated components to build a comprehensive solution: Real-World Success and AI Implementation OpenTable shared a successful example of building an AI agent for its app in just two months, using a small team of four. This was a marked improvement from the company’s previous chatbot projects, highlighting the efficiency of the latest AI tools. Most CEOs of large enterprises are exploring AI strategies, whether by developing their own LLMs or using pre-existing models. However, many of these efforts are siloed, and engineering costs are high, leading to clunky transitions between AI and human agents. Tectonic is well-positioned to help our clients quickly deploy AI-powered solutions that integrate seamlessly with their existing CRM and ERP systems. By leveraging AI agents to streamline customer interactions, enhance sales opportunities, and provide smooth handoffs to human agents, businesses can significantly improve customer experiences and drive growth. Tectonic is ready to help businesses achieve similar success with AI-driven innovation. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

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September 23, 2024in Agentforce Platform, AI Tools, Data, Enterprise, Generative AI, Google, Marketing Automation, Salesforce, Salesforce Financial Services Solutions, Salesforce for Nonprofits, Salesforce Health and Life Sciences Solutions, Salesforce Hospitality Travel and Transportation, Salesforce Implementation Services, Salesforce Manufacturing Automotive Energy, Salesforce Optimization, Salesforce Public Sector Solutions, Snowflake
Is Agentforce Different?
22Sep

Is Agentforce Different?

The Salesforce hype machine is in full swing, with product announcements like Chatter, Einstein GPT, and Data Cloud, all positioned as revolutionary tools that promise to transform how we work. Is Agentforce Different? However, it’s often difficult to separate fact from fiction in the world of Salesforce. The cloud giant thrives on staying ahead of technological advancements, which means reinventing itself every year with new releases and updates. You could even say three times per year with the major releases. Why Enterprises Need Multiple Salesforce Orgs Over the past decade, Salesforce product launches have been hit or miss—primarily miss. Offerings like IoT Cloud, Work.com, and NFT Cloud have faded into obscurity. This contrasts sharply with Salesforce’s earlier successes, such as Service Cloud, the AppExchange, Force.com, Salesforce Lightning, and Chatter, which defined its first decade in business. One notable exception is Data Cloud. This product has seen significant success and now serves as the cornerstone of Salesforce’s future AI and data strategy. With Salesforce’s growth slowing quarter over quarter, the company must find new avenues to generate substantial revenue. Artificial Intelligence seems to be their best shot at reclaiming a leadership position in the next technological wave. Is Agentforce Different? While Salesforce has been an AI leader for over a decade, the hype surrounding last year’s Dreamforce announcements didn’t deliver the growth the company was hoping for. The Einstein Copilot Studio—comprising Copilot, Prompt Builder, and Model Builder—hasn’t fully lived up to expectations. This can be attributed to a lack of AI readiness among enterprises, the relatively basic capabilities of large language models (LLMs), and the absence of fully developed use cases. In Salesforce’s keynote, it was revealed that over 82 billion flows are launched weekly, compared to just 122,000 prompts executed. While Flow has been around for years, this stat highlights that the use of AI-powered prompts is still far from mainstream—less than one prompt per Salesforce customer per week, on average. When ChatGPT launched at the end of 2022, many predicted the dawn of a new AI era, expecting a swift and dramatic transformation of the workplace. Two years later, it’s clear that AI’s impact has yet to fully materialize, especially when it comes to influencing global productivity and GDP. However, Salesforce’s latest release feels different. While AI Agents may seem new to many, this concept has been discussed in AI circles for decades. Marc Benioff’s recent statements during Dreamforce reflect a shift in strategy, including a direct critique of Microsoft’s Copilot product, signaling the intensifying AI competition. This year’s marketing strategy around Agentforce feels like it could be the transformative shift we’ve been waiting for. While tools like Salesforce Copilot will continue to evolve, agents capable of handling service cases, answering customer questions, and booking sales meetings instantly promise immediate ROI for organizations. Is the Future of Salesforce in the Hands of Agents? Despite the excitement, many questions remain. Are Salesforce customers ready for agents? Can organizations implement this technology effectively? Is Agentforce a real breakthrough or just another overhyped concept? Agentforce may not be vaporware. Reports suggest that its development was influenced by Salesforce’s acquisition of Airkit.AI, a platform that claims to resolve 90% of customer queries. Salesforce has even set up dedicated launchpads at Dreamforce to help customers start building their own agents. Yet concerns remain, especially regarding Salesforce’s complexity, technical debt, and platform sprawl. These issues, highlighted in this year’s Salesforce developer report, cannot be overlooked. Still, it’s hard to ignore Salesforce’s strategic genius. The platform has matured to the point where it offers nearly every functionality an organization could need, though at times the components feel a bit disconnected. For instance: Salesforce is even hinting at usage-based pricing, with a potential $2 charge per conversation—an innovation that could reshape their pricing model. Will Agents Be Salesforce’s Key to Future Growth? With so many unknowns, only time will tell if agents will be the breakthrough Salesforce needs to regain the momentum of its first two decades. Regardless, agents appear to be central to the future of AI. Leading organizations like Copado are also launching their own agents, signaling that this trend will define the next phase of AI innovation. In today’s macroeconomic environment, where companies are overstretched and workforce demands are high, AI’s ability to streamline operations and improve customer service has never been more critical. Whoever cracks customer service AI first could lead the charge in the inevitable AI spending boom. We’re all waiting to see if Salesforce has truly cracked the AI code. But one thing is certain: the race to dominate AI in customer service has begun. And Salsesforce may be at the forefront. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

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September 22, 2024in Agentforce Platform, Artificial Intelligence, Data, Enterprise, Google, Salesforce, Snowflake, Technology
Winter 25 Salesforce Release
22Aug

Get Ready for Winter 25 Salesforce Release

Salesforce Winter 25 Release notes are here. Salesforce Overall Learn about new features and enhancements that affect your Salesforce experience overall. August 8: Get early access by signing up for a Pre-Release org Admins can sign up for a pre-release Developer Edition environment, which is full of all the Winter ’25 features to explore to your heart’s content. Developer environments are stand-alone environments where you can learn, build, and get comfortable with features and functionality. If you already had a pre-release org for Summer ’24, you can log back into that one. August 14: Review the Release Notes Search the products you use for release updates in the Release Notes section of Salesforce Help. The notes will go live August 14 and we will share the link here. Get help from the community! With each release, there are a number of blogs by community members who break it down. Check out the Release Readiness Trailblazer Community Group where you can continue to get updates, share your favorite features, and ask questions about the upcoming release. August 19: Be Release Ready with Winter ’25 features for Admins Starting on August 19th, we’ll begin publishing blog posts on the Admin Blog to help you Be Release Ready with Winter ’25 features. Get ready to dive into blog posts featuring Winter ’25 user access highlights and more! As blog posts and more release resources become available, we’ll be updating the Be Release Ready page with all the resources and information you need to get started with Winter ’25. August 29 before 5 p.m. PT: Be sure to refresh your Sandbox Once you’ve explored the pre-release org and reviewed the Release Notes for features that are important to you, it’s time to try out features related to your customizations in your sandbox. This is a great time to evaluate how specific features may be useful or impact the way your organization uses Salesforce. During each release, there is a group of sandboxes slated to remain on the non-preview instance (i.e. the current release) while there is another group of sandboxes that will upgrade to the preview instance. Use the Salesforce Sandbox Preview Guide to determine the plan for your sandbox instance(s). Use the tool where you can search by sandbox instance and then specify what you want to do with your sandbox — stay on the non-preview or move to preview. It will then instruct you to refresh your sandbox to get to the desired instance or inform you that there is no action needed because your sandbox is slated for the desired instance. Contact Tectonic today if you need assistance getting Salesforce release ready. Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

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August 22, 2024in Snowflake
Winter 25 Release Notes
20Aug

Winter 25 Release Notes

The Winter ’25 release is available through the pre-release program. On August 30, 2024, Sandboxes will be upgraded, providing your organization with the Winter ’25 release experience. Set Up Your Pay Now Store Quickly and Easily Use the streamlined automated setup to get your Pay Now store up and running effortlessly. The guided process walks you through each step needed to configure your store. This feature is available in Salesforce Payments for Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer editions. How to Set Up: Gain Insight into How User Permissions Are Granted Simplify user management with visibility into the profiles, permission sets, and permission set groups that grant permissions to a user. The User Access Summary now provides detailed information about a user’s assigned object, field, user, and custom permissions. Previously, identifying the source of a user’s permissions required multiple steps, but now you can access this information with just a few clicks. This change applies to Lightning Experience in all editions. How to Use: See How Object Access Is Granted in Object Manager Quickly view the permission sets, permission set groups, and profiles that grant access to an object, along with the level of access provided. The read-only Object Access Summary in Object Manager allows for quick checks during troubleshooting, reviews, or when deciding how to grant user access. This update is available in Lightning Experience across all editions. How to Access: Improve Performance for List Views on Custom and Standard Objects To enhance performance and meet the latest accessibility standards, list views for both custom and standard objects now render using Lightning Web Components (LWC) instead of Aura. LWC, Salesforce’s latest framework, delivers data faster and enables new features for list views. Previously, only custom object list views in sandboxes used LWC. This update applies to Lightning Experience in all editions. How to Use: Configure Record Highlights in Lightning App Builder Enhance your Lightning pages with the new Dynamic Highlights Panel, which lets you configure important fields directly within the Lightning App Builder. Previously, this was only possible through compact layouts in Setup. The Dynamic Highlights Panel can hold up to 12 fields and adjusts responsively to browser size. This feature is available in Group, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions. How to Implement: Make Record Fields Stand Out with Conditional Formatting Highlight key information on record pages using conditional formatting in Lightning App Builder. On Dynamic Forms-enabled pages, you can assign custom icons and colors to fields based on defined criteria, such as field values or other conditions on the page. This feature is available on a rolling basis starting in early September 2024 for Group, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions. How to Use: Save Time with New Messaging Components for Enhanced Bots (Generally Available) Empower customers and save service agents’ time with the new messaging components for enhanced bots. These include authentication, custom, form, and payment messaging components, which can handle more complex use cases on enhanced Apple Messages for Business channels. The form component is also available for Messaging for In-App and Web. These updates apply to Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic in Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions, with bot setup available only in Lightning Experience. How to Implement: Enhance Your LWR Site Experience by Curating Data Providers on a Page (Beta) Enhance LWR site pages by adding and configuring data providers in Experience Builder. This feature allows you to access data from different sources, such as Apex or Record data providers, directly within your site page and its components. This change is available in Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, and Developer editions for LWR sites accessed through Lightning Experience. A community license is required to use this feature. How to Use: To configure data providers on an LWR Site page in Experience Builder: Enabling or Disabling Modernized Record Experience in Aura Sites You can now use upgraded record components based on Lightning web component technology to see stylistic changes in your Aura sites. These updates, previously limited to sandbox environments, are now available in production environments for the Create Record Form, Record Banner, and Record Detail components. This update is applicable to Aura sites accessed through Lightning Experience and Salesforce Classic in Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions. When you enable the Use Lightning web components on your record pages in Aura sites setting, the Create Record Form, Record Banner, and Record Detail components display minor style changes. Some key updates include: Daily Summary of Service Appointments Requiring Immediate Attention Boost dispatcher productivity by using Einstein Copilot Field Service actions to get a daily summary of service appointments needing immediate attention, such as those with rule violations, overlaps, SLA risks, or emergencies. Each category in the summary is converted into a filter in the appointment list for quick resolution. Customize the summary to include additional categories. This feature is available in Lightning Experience in the Einstein 1 Field Service Edition with the Field Service Managed Package installed. To use this feature: Assigning Opportunity Splits to Territories Sales teams can now assign opportunity splits and opportunity product splits to territories, enabling them to report on how territories contribute to overall sales. Previously, splits could only be associated with the parent opportunity’s territory. Now, teams can also forecast based on split amounts across territories. This update applies to Lightning Experience in Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, and Developer editions. To enable this feature: Strategic Planning with Account Plan Enhance your strategic planning with Account Plans by nurturing existing relationships and growing key accounts. Use Account Plans to research and analyze accounts, set objectives with actionable metrics, and monitor growth and development from a single repository within Salesforce. This feature applies to Lightning Experience in Enterprise, Performance, and Unlimited editions and in Einstein 1 Sales Edition. This feature will be rolled out to production environments after the Winter ’25 release and will be available to all customers by October 29, 2024. It is accessible in sandboxes only after its production release. To use Account Plans: Forecast Submissions Forecast submissions

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August 20, 2024in Generative AI, Snowflake, Unified Knowledge
Salesforce Data Snowflake and You
19Aug

Salesforce Data Snowflake and You

Unlock the Full Potential of Your Salesforce Data with Snowflake At Tectonic, we’ve dedicated years to helping businesses maximize their Salesforce investment, driving growth and enhancing customer experiences. Now, we’re expanding those capabilities by integrating with Snowflake.Imagine the power of merging Salesforce data with other sources, gaining deeper insights, and making smarter decisions—without the hassle of complex infrastructure. Snowflake brings this to life with a flexible, scalable solution for unifying your data ecosystem.In this insight, we’ll cover why Snowflake is essential for Salesforce users, how seamlessly it integrates, and why Tectonic is the ideal partner to help you leverage its full potential. Why Snowflake Matters for Salesforce Users Salesforce excels at managing customer relationships, but businesses today need data from multiple sources—e-commerce, marketing platforms, ERP systems, and more. That’s where Snowflake shines. With Snowflake, you can unify these data sources, enrich your Salesforce data, and turn it into actionable insights. Say goodbye to silos and blind spots. Snowflake is easy to set up, scales effortlessly, and integrates seamlessly with Salesforce, making it ideal for enhancing CRM data across various business functions.The Power of Snowflake for Salesforce Users Seamless Data IntegrationSnowflake’s cloud-native architecture lets you combine structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data effortlessly. Salesforce users can extend their data capabilities by integrating insights from external sources, such as web analytics, other CRMs, or real-time IoT data, all while keeping the setup simple. This provides a comprehensive view of each customer and enables faster, data-driven decisions. Scalability without ComplexitySnowflake is a fully managed, cloud-native platform that scales to meet your growing data needs without heavy infrastructure demands. This allows Salesforce users to expand their data strategy without altering their CRM setup or adding IT resources. Advanced Analytics and AI/ML ReadinessFrom predictive lead scoring to customer churn analysis, Snowflake supports AI and machine learning workloads, enabling Salesforce users to develop models that deliver actionable insights. By unifying data across platforms, Snowflake allows for more accurate and robust AI/ML models, driving smarter decisions across areas like customer support and product recommendations. Enterprise-Grade Security & GovernanceSnowflake ensures that your data is secure and compliant. With top-tier security and data governance tools, your customer data remains protected and meets regulatory requirements across platforms, seamlessly integrating with Salesforce. Cross-Cloud Data SharingSnowflake’s Snowgrid feature makes it easy for Salesforce users to share and collaborate on data across clouds. Teams across marketing, sales, and operations can access the same up-to-date information, leading to better collaboration and faster, more informed decisions. Real-Time Data ActivationCombine Snowflake’s data platform with Salesforce Data Cloud to activate insights in real-time, enabling enriched customer experiences through dynamic insights from web interactions, purchase history, and service touchpoints. Tectonic + Snowflake: Elevating Your Salesforce Experience Snowflake offers powerful data capabilities, but effective integration is key to realizing its full potential—and that’s where Tectonic excels. Our expertise in Salesforce, now combined with Snowflake, ensures that businesses can maximize their data strategies. How Tectonic Helps: Strategic Integration Planning: We assess your current data ecosystem and design a seamless integration between Salesforce and Snowflake to unify data without disrupting operations. Custom Data Solutions: From real-time dashboards to data enrichment workflows, we create solutions tailored to your business needs. Ongoing Support and Optimization: Tectonic provides continuous support, adapting your Snowflake integration to meet evolving data needs and business strategies. Real-World Applications Retail: Integrate in-store and e-commerce sales data with Salesforce for real-time customer insights. Healthcare: Unify patient data from wearables, EMRs, and support interactions for a holistic customer care experience. Financial Services: Enhance Salesforce data with third-party risk assessments, enabling quicker, more accurate underwriting. Looking Ahead: The Tectonic Advantage Snowflake opens up new possibilities for Salesforce-powered businesses. Effective integration, however, requires strategic planning and hands-on expertise. Tectonic has a long-standing track record of helping clients get the most out of Salesforce, and now, Snowflake adds an extra dimension to our toolkit. Whether you want to better manage data, unlock insights, or enhance AI initiatives, Tectonic’s combined Salesforce and Snowflake expertise ensures you’ll harness the best of both worlds. Stay tuned as we dive deeper into Snowflake’s features, such as Interoperable Storage, Elastic Compute, and Cortex AI with Arctic, and explore how Tectonic is helping businesses unlock the future of data and AI. Ready to talk about how Snowflake and Salesforce can transform your business? Contact Tectonic today! Like Related Posts Salesforce OEM AppExchange Expanding its reach beyond CRM, Salesforce.com has launched a new service called AppExchange OEM Edition, aimed at non-CRM service providers. Read more The Salesforce Story In Marc Benioff’s own words How did salesforce.com grow from a start up in a rented apartment into the world’s Read more Salesforce Jigsaw Salesforce.com, a prominent figure in cloud computing, has finalized a deal to acquire Jigsaw, a wiki-style business contact database, for Read more Health Cloud Brings Healthcare Transformation Following swiftly after last week’s successful launch of Financial Services Cloud, Salesforce has announced the second installment in its series Read more

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August 19, 2024in Data, Enterprise, Salesforce, Salesforce Data Cloud, Snowflake
Snowpark Container Services
01Aug

Snowpark Container Services

Snowflake announced on Thursday the general availability of Snowpark Container Services, enabling customers to securely deploy and manage models and applications, including generative AI, within Snowflake’s environment. Initially launched in preview in June 2023, Snowpark Container Services is now a fully managed service available in all AWS commercial regions and in public preview in all Azure commercial regions. Containers are a software method used to isolate applications for secure deployment. Snowflake’s new feature allows customers to use containers to manage and deploy any type of model, optimally for generative AI applications, by securely integrating large language models (LLMs) and other generative AI tools with their data, explained Jeff Hollan, Snowflake’s head of applications and developer platform. Mike Leone, an analyst at TechTarget’s Enterprise Strategy Group, noted that Snowpark Container Services’ launch builds on Snowflake’s recent efforts to provide customers with an environment for developing generative AI models and applications. Sridhar Ramaswamy became Snowflake’s CEO in February, succeeding Frank Slootman, who led the company through a record-setting IPO. Under Ramaswamy, Snowflake has aggressively added generative AI capabilities, including launching its own LLM, integrating with Mistral AI, and providing tools for creating AI chatbots. “There has definitely been a concerted effort to enhance Snowflake’s capabilities and presence in the AI and GenAI markets,” Leone said. “Offerings like Snowpark help AI stakeholders like data scientists and developers use the languages they prefer.” As a result, Snowpark Container Services is a significant new feature for Snowflake customers. “It’s a big deal for the Snowflake ecosystem,” Leone said. “By enabling easy deployment and management of containers within the Snowflake platform, it helps customers handle complex workloads and maintain consistency across development and production stages.” Despite the secure environment provided by Snowflake Container Services, it was revealed in May that the login credentials of potentially 160 customers had been stolen and used to access their data. However, Snowflake has stated there is no evidence that the breach resulted from a vulnerability or misconfiguration of the Snowflake platform. Prominent customers affected include AT&T and Ticketmaster, and Snowflake’s investigation is ongoing. New Capabilities Generative AI can transform business by enabling employees to easily work with data to inform decisions and making trained experts more efficient. Generative AI, combined with an enterprise’s proprietary data, allows users to interact with data using natural language, reducing the need for coding and data literacy training. Non-technical workers can query and analyze data, freeing data engineers and scientists from routine tasks. Many data management and analytics vendors are focusing on developing generative AI-powered features. Enterprises are building models and applications trained on their proprietary data to inform business decisions. Among data platform vendors, AWS, Databricks, Google, IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle are providing environments for generative AI tool development. Snowflake, under Slootman, was less aggressive in this area but is now committed to generative AI development, though it still has ground to cover compared to its competitors. “Snowflake has gone as far as creating their own LLM,” Leone said. “But they still have a way to go to catch up to some of their top competitors.” Matt Aslett, an analyst at ISG’s Ventana Research, echoed that Snowflake is catching up to its rivals. The vendor initially focused on traditional data warehouse capabilities but made a significant step forward with the late 2023 launch of Cortex, a platform for developing AI models and applications. Cortex includes access to various LLMs and vector search capabilities, marking substantial progress. The general availability of Snowpark Container Services furthers Snowflake’s effort to foster generative AI development. The feature provides users with on-demand GPUs and CPUs to run any code next to their data. This enables the deployment and management of any type of model or application without moving data out of Snowflake’s platform. “It’s optimized for next-generation data and AI applications by pushing that logic to the data,” Hollan said. “This means customers can now easily and securely deploy everything from source code to homegrown models in Snowflake.” Beyond security, Snowpark Container Services simplifies model management and deployment while reducing associated costs. Snowflake provides a fully integrated managed service, eliminating the need for piecing together various services from different vendors. The service includes a budget control feature to reduce operational costs and provide cost certainty. Snowpark Container Services includes diverse storage options, observability tools like Snowflake Trail, and streamlined DevOps capabilities. It supports deploying LLMs with local volumes, memory, Snowflake stages, and configurable block storage. Integrations with observability specialists like Datadog, Grafana, and Monte Carlo are also included. Aslett noted that the 2020 launch of the Snowpark development environment enabled users to use their preferred coding languages with their data. Snowpark Container Services takes this further by allowing the use of third-party software, including generative AI models and data science libraries. “This potentially reduces complexity and infrastructure resource requirements,” Aslett said. Snowflake spent over a year moving Snowpark Container Services from private preview to general availability, focusing on governance, networking, usability, storage, observability, development operations, scalability, and performance. One customer, Landing AI, used Snowpark Container Services during its preview phases to develop LandingLens, an application for training and deploying computer vision models. “[With Snowflake], we are increasing access to AI for more companies and use cases, especially given the rapid growth of unstructured data in our increasingly digital world,” Landing AI COO Dan Maloney said in a statement Thursday. Future Plans With Snowpark Container Services now available on AWS, Snowflake plans to extend the feature to all cloud platforms. The vendor’s roadmap includes further improvements to Snowpark Container Services with more enterprise-grade tools. “Our team is investing in making it easy for companies ranging from startups to enterprises to build, deliver, distribute, and monetize next-generation AI products across their ecosystems,” Hollan said. Aslett said that making Snowpark Container Services available on Azure and Google Cloud is the logical next step. He noted that the managed service’s release is significant but needs broader availability beyond AWS regions. “The next step will be to bring Snowpark Container Services to general

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August 1, 2024in Snowflake

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