Leveraging Agentforce

At Dreamforce 2024, Salesforce customers showcased the power of Agentforce by creating over 10,000 autonomous agents, each designed to address specific business challenges. The message was clear: “If you can describe it, Agentforce can do it.” By leveraging Agentforce, customers are able to create a flexible, on-demand digital workforce that operates without limitations, making it easy to build and deploy agents using familiar Salesforce tools and language.

Why This Matters:

Recent Salesforce research reveals that U.S. consumers often spend up to nine hours interacting with customer service to resolve a single issue. Moreover, 67% of consumers are frustrated when their issues aren’t resolved immediately and may abandon one-third of customer service interactions. This presents a massive opportunity to enhance the customer experience with AI-powered agents.

“Piloting Agentforce made a noticeable difference during our busiest period — back-to-school season. We saw a 40% increase in case resolution, surpassing the performance of our old bot. Agentforce helps manage routine tasks, allowing our service teams to focus on more complex cases.” – Kevin Quigley, Director of Process Improvement, Wiley

What’s New:

Several new solutions are now available to all customers:

Agentforce Service Agent: This customer-facing autonomous AI agent delivers continuous, accurate, and self-service support across multiple channels, including voice, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and websites. It’s easy to set up, with pre-built topics and actions covering key service needs such as case management, order inquiries, account management, and FAQs. The agent can escalate issues seamlessly to human representatives, who gain immediate access to the context of prior interactions.
Agent Builder: A new tool that makes it simple to set up and activate agents. Using low-code or no-code options, users can customize existing agents or build new ones for any role, industry, or use case. Agent Builder integrates with Salesforce tools such as Flows, Apex, and MuleSoft APIs, allowing users to configure agents by defining topics and creating libraries of actions. The tool also lets users observe and test an agent’s performance before deployment.

Going Deeper:

Agentforce is fully integrated into the Salesforce Platform, combining powerful data, AI, and the Salesforce Customer 360 ecosystem. This integration unlocks infinite agent capacity and proactive actions across all roles and channels, with full context on every customer interaction.

Data Cloud: With the new Data Cloud and Zero Copy Partner Network, organizations can unify structured and unstructured data from all sources, giving agents the precise, contextual information needed for accurate responses. Features like retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) add real-time insights from past interactions, ensuring agents understand customer concerns.
Atlas Reasoning Engine: The brain behind Agentforce, Atlas autonomously analyzes data, makes decisions, and executes tasks without relying on human input. It’s designed to handle complex, multi-step processes, ensuring accurate and reliable results.
Trust & Security: Built into Agentforce is the Einstein Trust Layer, providing robust security features like zero data retention and toxicity detection. The Audit Trail feature ensures compliance with security and regulatory policies, while Salesforce’s trust patterns enhance the reliability and safety of AI interactions.

Industry-Specific Examples:

Agentforce’s flexibility allows it to serve various industries with tailored solutions:

Communications: A billing resolution agent improves customer support and productivity by resolving disputes quickly and accurately.
Education: A recruitment services agent offers prospective students personalized, real-time assistance with financial aid and major selection.
Banking: A banking service agent automates complex tasks like transaction disputes, improving service efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Retail: A personal shopper agent provides tailored shopping experiences, using AI to guide customers through online stores and help with purchasing decisions.

Customer & Analyst Quotes:

“Agentforce is enhancing Saks’ ability to provide personalized customer support, automating routine tasks like order tracking, which allows our teams to focus on delivering a high-touch experience.” – Mike Hite, Chief Technology Officer, Saks Global

“With Agentforce, OpenTable is automating routine tasks, saving time for our reps to focus on strengthening customer relationships and providing exceptional service to diners and restaurants worldwide.” – George Pokorny, Senior VP of Global Customer Success, OpenTable

“By integrating Agentforce with Data Cloud and MuleSoft, we’re unlocking the full potential of our data, driving faster decisions and reimagining how we serve clients.” – Caroline Basyn, Chief Digital & IT Officer, The Adecco Group

“Agentforce will revolutionize ezCater’s food management services, blending AI and human interaction to ensure seamless, personalized experiences for every customer.” – Erin DeCesare, CTO, ezCater