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11Mar

When to Use AI Agents and Copilots

Do Organizations Need AI Agents or Copilots for These Use Cases? Organizations often explore AI solutions for specific operational needs. Three primary AI use cases include: The question arises: Which AI tools best suit these needs? Should an organization invest in a high-end AI subscription, such as ChatGPT Pro with the Operator agent ($200/month), or opt for ChatGPT Plus with the o3-mini reasoning model and copilot features, such as memory and custom GPTs? AI Tool Selection Criteria When evaluating AI agents versus AI copilots, key considerations include: A. The time and effort required to articulate the problem for the AI. B. The level of control preferred in the problem-solving process. C. The importance of achieving the most optimal outcome. Use Case 1: Shopping AI Agents Many existing AI shopping solutions are labeled as agents, but they do not exhibit true autonomy. Instead, they serve as assistants with limited capabilities. For instance, Perplexity’s “Shop Like a Pro” assists with selecting products but depends on vendor integration for completing purchases, rather than executing transactions autonomously. Despite current limitations, some users create their own AI shopping agents by integrating browser-based AI tools with no-code automation platforms like n8n, Zapier, or Make.com. These custom-built agents offer greater autonomy and versatility than off-the-shelf solutions. However, the need for AI agents in shopping remains debatable. The act of shopping often provides a sense of anticipation and engagement, which a fully autonomous AI agent could eliminate. In contrast, AI copilots can enhance the experience by reducing time investment while preserving user involvement. The same applies to vacation planning—while an AI agent could book optimal flights and accommodations, many users prefer a guided approach to maintain a sense of anticipation and control. Moreover, financial transactions should not be fully entrusted to AI agents due to potential risks. AI-powered form-filling can be beneficial, but human oversight remains essential. The decision to use an AI agent for shopping depends on how much involvement users wish to retain in the process. Use Case 2: Executive AI Assistant Many professionals seek AI-driven solutions to handle routine tasks such as scheduling, reminders, and email management. However, current AI assistants lack full autonomy in managing these activities comprehensively. For instance, Google’s Gemini Advanced provides AI-powered features in Google Calendar and Gmail, but its integration remains limited—requiring manual activation and lacking full interconnectivity between tasks. Similarly, Apple Intelligence offers fragmented AI functionalities rather than a seamless assistant experience. Some technically inclined users have developed custom executive assistants using automation tools. However, for the broader market, fully functional, user-friendly AI executive assistants are still in development by major tech companies. When evaluating the necessity of AI agents in routine tasks, the key factors include: Use Case 3: AI Research Deep research AI agents have significantly outperformed traditional search methods in both speed and accuracy, provided sufficient relevant data is available. Advanced AI-driven research tools, such as Perplexity Deep Research and Grok 3 DeepSearch, have demonstrated superior efficiency compared to manual search. Despite their capabilities, these agents often require refinement in their responses. AI-generated reports may focus on irrelevant details without proper guidance. However, many researchers find that leveraging AI significantly enhances the efficiency and breadth of their work. For organizations, the decision to utilize AI agents for research depends on their need for: While AI agents remain imperfect, they are rapidly evolving, particularly in deep research applications. As technology advances, their ability to support decision-making processes will likely continue to expand. 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 Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, 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

March 11, 2025in AI Tools, Data, Google, Technology0 Comments

10Mar

Predictive Analytics for Business Potential

Maximizing Business Potential with Predictive Analytics Every business generates vast amounts of data daily, yet not all leverage it effectively. Predictive analytics transforms raw data into actionable insights, enabling companies to forecast demand, reduce operational costs, and enhance customer engagement. Whether through AI-powered models, machine learning algorithms, or cloud-based analytics, predictive analytics is reshaping business strategies. Organizations that integrate predictive analytics into decision-making can anticipate challenges, seize new opportunities, and outperform competitors. This insight explores the significance of predictive analytics and how businesses can harness its power to gain a competitive edge. The Expanding Influence of Predictive Analytics Predictive analytics is revolutionizing industries, driving innovation, and transforming data into strategic advantages. Transforming Industries with Predictive Analytics Predictive analytics is now a cornerstone of modern industries, facilitating smarter decision-making through data-driven insights. By analyzing historical data, businesses can forecast trends, anticipate customer behaviors, and optimize operations. Sectors such as healthcare, retail, and finance are leveraging predictive tools to maintain competitiveness. For example: As industries adopt these solutions, predictive analytics continues to redefine efficiency and innovation. Key Trends in Predictive Analytics Adoption The widespread adoption of predictive analytics is fueled by advancements in AI, big data, and machine learning. Businesses are capitalizing on these trends to sharpen their competitive edge. Notable developments include: As predictive analytics tools become more sophisticated, they are becoming integral to business strategies, helping companies unlock untapped potential. Overcoming Implementation Challenges Despite its benefits, implementing predictive analytics poses challenges, such as data silos, integration complexities, and skill gaps. To address these issues, organizations should: By overcoming these barriers, businesses can fully harness predictive analytics to drive efficiency, innovation, and growth. Predictive Data Modeling for Smarter Decision-Making Predictive data modeling transforms raw data into strategic insights, improving forecasting and operational decision-making. Understanding Predictive Data Modeling Predictive data modeling employs statistical techniques and machine learning algorithms to analyze historical data and predict future trends. Its core components include: By applying these models, businesses can refine their strategies with data-backed insights, improving efficiency and competitiveness. The Role of Data Quality in Predictive Accuracy The effectiveness of predictive models depends on data quality. Inconsistent or outdated data can lead to unreliable predictions, affecting decision-making. Key steps to ensure high data quality include: High-quality data enhances predictive models, enabling businesses to make informed, confident decisions. Enhancing Forecasting with Predictive Data Modeling Predictive data modeling improves forecasting accuracy by analyzing historical trends and projecting future outcomes. Benefits include: Retailers optimize inventory, while manufacturers align production with demand fluctuations, demonstrating the strategic value of predictive modeling. Driving Business Growth with Predictive Analytics Why Businesses Should Adopt Predictive Analytics Now In today’s competitive landscape, predictive analytics is essential for staying ahead. By leveraging data, algorithms, and machine learning, businesses can anticipate risks and opportunities, optimizing strategies while reducing uncertainty. Retailers, for instance, use predictive insights to forecast seasonal demand spikes, ensuring optimal stock levels. As AI advances, predictive analytics is more accessible than ever, making now the ideal time for adoption. Enhancing Decision-Making and Efficiency Predictive analytics eliminates guesswork, empowering leaders with data-backed decisions. Benefits include: These advantages drive sustainable growth and competitive advantage across industries. Seamlessly Integrating Predictive Analytics into Business Workflows To maximize impact, predictive analytics must integrate into existing workflows. Steps for successful adoption include: By embedding predictive analytics into workflows, businesses enhance agility and decision-making capabilities. AI-Powered Predictive Analytics for Competitive Advantage Why AI Predictive Analytics is Transformative AI-powered predictive analytics delivers insights beyond traditional methods, processing vast datasets rapidly to identify complex patterns and trends. Applications include: With AI continuously learning and refining predictions, businesses gain a dynamic advantage. Enhancing Accuracy with AI AI refines predictions by analyzing diverse data sources, including text, images, and videos. Examples include: Advanced AI techniques, such as natural language processing and neural networks, ensure businesses derive actionable insights, driving smarter strategies and better results. Machine Learning’s Role in Predictive Analytics Machine learning (ML) is foundational to predictive analytics, continuously improving model accuracy. Examples include: By leveraging ML, businesses enhance their predictive capabilities, ensuring long-term competitive success. Enhancing Enterprise Solutions with Predictive Analytics Transforming SAP Systems with Predictive Analytics SAP systems integrated with predictive analytics unlock actionable insights from vast datasets. Benefits include: By embedding predictive capabilities, SAP users can optimize operations and drive proactive decision-making. Empowering Salesforce with Predictive Insights Salesforce predictive analytics enhances decision-making across marketing, sales, and customer service. Key capabilities include: With Salesforce Einstein, businesses can streamline operations, boost performance, and foster deeper customer engagement. Predictive analytics is a game-changer, reshaping industries, optimizing operations, and unlocking new growth opportunities. Businesses that embrace predictive analytics today will be well-positioned to navigate future challenges and lead in the data-driven economy. 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 Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

March 10, 2025in Data, Enterprise, Salesforce, Salesforce Einstein0 Comments

07Mar

The Rise of AI Agents

The Rise of AI Agents: Salesforce’s Vision for a New Era of Business In just three months, more than 1,000 companies have deployed Salesforce AI agents, unlocking capabilities “they’ve never seen before” and setting the stage for game-changing business outcomes, according to CEO Marc Benioff. That’s a bold prediction—even for a visionary like Benioff, whose track record speaks for itself. But throughout our recent 25-minute conversation for the Cloud Wars CEO Outlook 2025 series, Benioff remained unwavering in his optimism about the AI-powered future. Agentic AI: The Force Driving Business Transformation According to Benioff, AI agents represent the next wave of business transformation, redefining how companies operate, innovate, and compete. “I’ve never been more excited about technology—this is an incredible moment in time,” Benioff said. He described AI agents as the bridge to a future where businesses engage with customers in ways previously thought possible only in science fiction. These AI-driven systems will help organizations operate at lower costs while improving customer relationships and key performance metrics. But Salesforce isn’t just selling this vision to customers—it’s living it. Benioff shared firsthand insights into how the company is leveraging AI to optimize its own operations, revealing lessons that could reshape how enterprises think about productivity and workforce planning. Digital Labor: A Multi-Trillion-Dollar Opportunity One of the most striking takeaways from our conversation was Salesforce’s approach to what Benioff calls “digital labor.” “For 25 years, Salesforce has helped businesses manage data. Now, we’re creating digital workers—AI agents that unlock entirely new ways to operate,” he said. This shift is already making an impact. Salesforce’s Agentforce AI now handles the bulk of the company’s customer support, transforming how its 9,000 service agents manage 36,000 weekly support inquiries: As a result, Salesforce is reallocating 2,000 support professionals to other roles—just one example of how AI is reshaping workforce dynamics. A Radical Rethink: No New Developers in 2025 Perhaps the most surprising revelation? Salesforce is pausing hiring for software engineers in 2025. Benioff explained that despite doubling its engineering team over the past five years, AI has driven a 30% increase in productivity. Rather than hiring more developers, Salesforce is leaning into AI-powered automation to accelerate software development. This shift raises fundamental questions about the future of work: Salesforce vs. Microsoft: Competing Visions for AI Agents AI agents are reshaping enterprise technology, but vendors have differing approaches. Benioff made it clear that Salesforce is taking a unique path—one he believes will ultimately lead the industry. Unlike Microsoft, which is deeply integrating AI within its core applications, Salesforce sees agents as an evolution of its CRM foundation, leveraging the vast 230-petabyte data ecosystem it manages for customers. “The businesses that are closest to their data will win,” Benioff said. “And we’re going to deliver capabilities that our customers have never seen before—ones that will thrill them out of their minds.” The Future: A Billion AI Agents As enterprises race to adopt AI, Benioff predicts an explosion in AI agent deployment. “In the next 12 months, we’ll see thousands of companies deploying up to a billion AI agents. And Salesforce will be the absolute leader in agentic technology for the enterprise,” he said. Benioff’s vision is clear: AI agents aren’t just an enhancement—they are the next frontier of business. And companies that embrace them will lead the way into a new era of efficiency, innovation, and growth. 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 Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

March 7, 2025in Agentic AI, Data, Enterprise, Salesforce, Technology0 Comments

07Mar

Aligning Strategy and Goals

Aligning Strategy and Goals: Bridging the Gap Between Data and Business Success Aligning data strategy with business goals is critical—but easier said than done. 41% of business leaders report that their data strategy is only partially or not at all aligned with their objectives. Here’s how to close the gap and make data a true driver of business success. 1. Define Your Business Goals Collaboration between business and IT stakeholders is essential. Start by identifying and prioritizing objectives that drive success, such as revenue growth, customer satisfaction, cost reduction, and market expansion. Business Goal How Data Supports It Revenue Growth Use analytics to identify high-value customers and optimize marketing strategies for higher conversions. Customer Satisfaction Leverage trusted customer data to personalize experiences and improve engagement. Cost Reduction Analyze operational data to streamline processes and improve efficiency. Market Expansion Use market and customer insights to identify new growth opportunities. 2. Determine Key Metrics Once goals are clear, define key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure progress. Business Goal Key Metric Revenue Growth Conversion Rate: Measures the percentage of leads converted into paying customers. Customer Satisfaction Retention Rate: Tracks the percentage of returning customers over time. Cost Reduction Operational Efficiency Ratio: Compares operational costs to revenue. Market Expansion Customer Acquisition Rate: Measures the rate of new customer growth. 3. Assess Resources and Budget Evaluate whether you have the systems, tools, and budget needed to support your goals. If customer personalization is a priority, you may need solutions like Data Cloud to unify and leverage customer insights. A strong CRM or data analytics platform may also be required to track specific KPIs. 4. Build a Data-Driven Culture Data maturity is not just about tools—it’s about people. Empower teams with the skills, training, and mindset to leverage data effectively. Change management initiatives and ongoing education will help integrate data into daily decision-making. See how F5 is building a data-driven culture with Tableau:“Data has been transforming our corporate culture right before our eyes. Every day, I wake up learning something new about data.”— Amie Bright, Former RVP of Enterprise Data Strategy and Insights, F5 5. Align Teams for Success Use this handy checklist to ensure alignment across your organization: ✅ Collaborate with business and IT teams to define and prioritize objectives.✅ Develop key data KPIs in partnership with internal stakeholders.✅ Survey team leaders to assess the tools, systems, and budgets needed.✅ Invest in training and change management to build a data-driven culture.✅ Join a data leadership community to gain insights and best practices. Want to accelerate your data strategy? Reach out to Tectonic to get started 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 Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

March 7, 2025in Data, Enterprise, Salesforce Data Cloud, Technology0 Comments

06Mar

Google and Salesforce Expand Partnership

Google and Salesforce Expand Partnership to Enhance AI Agent Capabilities Google and Salesforce are deepening their collaboration to provide customers with greater flexibility in AI agent deployment. This expanded partnership will integrate Google Gemini within Salesforce’s Agentforce platform, enabling AI agents to process images, audio, and video with advanced multimodal capabilities. Enhanced AI Functionality with Gemini Through this integration, AI agents will gain access to Gemini’s powerful models, allowing them to handle complex tasks with extended context windows and leverage real-time insights from Google Search via Vertex AI. This collaboration aims to empower businesses with AI solutions that are not limited to a single model provider, offering crucial flexibility in AI customization. Srini Tallapragada, Salesforce’s President and Chief Engineering and Customer Success Officer, emphasized that the integration offers customers the ability to choose the applications and models that best suit their needs. “Salesforce offers a complete enterprise-grade agentic AI platform that makes it easy to deploy new capabilities quickly and realize business value fast. Google Cloud is a pioneer in enterprise agentic AI, offering some of the most powerful models, agents, and AI development tools on the planet. Together, we are creating the best place for businesses to scale with digital labor.” Key Benefits of the Integration The partnership is set to deliver significant advantages for businesses, as outlined in the official announcement: Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud, highlighted the benefits of this collaboration: “Our mutual customers have asked for seamless integration across Salesforce and Google Cloud. This expanded partnership enables them to accelerate AI transformations with state-of-the-art AI models, agentic AI, and advanced data analytics.” Strengthening Customer Service Integrations The partnership will also enhance the connection between Salesforce Service Cloud and Google Cloud’s Customer Engagement Suite, providing AI-driven improvements to customer support. Key upcoming features include: Expanding AI-Powered Decision-Making Beyond Gemini, Agentforce will integrate Google Search through Vertex AI, leveraging secure connections between Salesforce Data Cloud and Google BigQuery. This will enable AI agents to access real-time information for improved accuracy and decision-making. For example, in supply chain management, AI can track shipments, monitor inventory in Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and anticipate disruptions using real-time data on weather, port congestion, and geopolitical events. Additionally, joint customers will be able to utilize Salesforce’s unified platform—including Agentforce, Data Cloud, and Customer 360—on Google Cloud’s AI-optimized infrastructure. This integration ensures enhanced security through dynamic grounding, zero data retention, and toxicity detection via the Einstein Trust Layer. Businesses will also soon have the option to purchase Salesforce products via the Google Cloud Marketplace. More AI Innovations from Google and Salesforce Google recently announced the development of a personalized AI-powered chatbot that will be integrated into its devices, including smartphones, laptops, and tablets. This tool will automatically answer calls, process requests, and respond on behalf of users. Meanwhile, Salesforce’s Service Assistant—formerly known as Salesforce Service Planner—has launched on Service Cloud. Designed to support live agents, it generates step-by-step plans for resolving customer inquiries by analyzing intent, case history, and customer context. For optimal performance, Salesforce recommends integrating it with Data Cloud and the contact center knowledge base. With this expanded partnership, Google and Salesforce are setting the stage for businesses to leverage cutting-edge AI technology, driving innovation and operational efficiency across industries. 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 Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

March 6, 2025in Agentforce Platform, Agentic AI, Data, Enterprise, Google, Salesforce, Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Salesforce Data Cloud, Salesforce Service Cloud, Technology0 Comments

05Mar

TDX Announcements for Agentforce

Salesforce Expands Agentforce AI, Strengthening Its Lead in Agentic AI Salesforce’s latest updates to its agentic AI platform, Agentforce, are set to elevate its position in the competitive AI market, potentially outpacing enterprise application rivals and hyperscalers like AWS, Google, IBM, ServiceNow, and Microsoft. The updates, introduced under Agentforce 2dx, enhance orchestration, development, testing, and deployment capabilities. According to Arnal Dayaratna, vice president of research at IDC, these advancements could propel Salesforce ahead of its competition in a manner similar to OpenAI’s early dominance in large language models (LLMs). Agentforce API Expands Platform Extensibility A key enhancement in Agentforce 2dx is the Agentforce API, designed to improve extensibility and facilitate the seamless integration of agentic AI technologies into digital solutions. “Without an API, all AI agentic capabilities remain locked into the Agentforce platform,” explained Jason Andersen, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. “The API allows enterprises to build apps and agents with whatever they want.” Dion Hinchcliffe, CIO practice lead at The Futurum Group, sees this as a strategic move to drive adoption by removing usage constraints. While companies like Google and Microsoft have already introduced similar APIs, Salesforce differentiates itself by leveraging its deep CRM expertise, customer data, and business logic integration. “AI agents need contextual data to act effectively,” said Hinchcliffe. “While competitors will likely improve their integrations, Salesforce’s extensive background in business logic and automation will be difficult to match quickly.” Accelerating Enterprise Adoption with New Features Beyond the API, Agentforce 2dx includes enhancements like the Topic Center, MuleSoft integrations, Tableau Semantics, and Slack integrations, aimed at simplifying custom agent development, workflow integration, and deployment. Empowering Developers to Scale Agentic AI Salesforce is also focusing on developers with tools that provide greater control over agent creation, testing, and deployment. Key updates include: “Salesforce is encouraging hands-on experimentation, a strategy commonly used by cloud service providers,” said Cameron Marsh, senior analyst at Nucleus Research. Andersen sees this as a bold move in the SaaS market, positioning Salesforce as a direct competitor to Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud, which also offer developer-centric AI tools. Additionally, Salesforce introduced Testing Center, a low-code tool for enterprises to test agents before deployment. Scaling AI Agent Deployments with Confidence Hyoun Park, chief analyst at Amalgam Insights, emphasized the importance of these tools for scaling AI deployments. “One of the biggest challenges in agentic AI is simulating and testing interactions at scale,” Park noted. “With these capabilities, companies no longer need to manually test or build custom tools to manage AI agents.” Proven Market Traction Salesforce reports it has secured 5,000 deals with Agentforce, with customers like The Adecco Group, Engine, OpenTable, Oregon Humane Society, Precina, and Vivint already seeing immediate value. With Agentforce 2dx, Salesforce is reinforcing its leadership in agentic AI, giving enterprises more control, scalability, and integration capabilities to drive innovation in AI-powered automation. 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 Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

March 5, 2025in Agentforce Platform, Agentic AI, AI Tools, Data, Enterprise, Google, Mulesoft, Salesforce0 Comments

04Mar

Rise of Generative AI Agents

The Rise of Generative AI Agents: Redefining Business Operations Imagine a future where Generative AI doesn’t just answer questions but proactively solves complex business challenges. This isn’t science fiction—it’s an imminent reality. Generative AI agents are set to revolutionize operations, from streamlining supply chains to optimizing product development and transforming customer interactions. Having spent over a year developing AI applications and autonomous agents, we’ve witnessed firsthand how these technologies reshape business processes. From AI-driven support systems handling customer queries with unprecedented efficiency to autonomous agents optimizing operations and decision-making, these innovations are not merely enhancing existing workflows—they are creating entirely new ways of working. The AI-Driven Transformation Consider an AI agent that does more than schedule meetings. It understands work context, suggests key attendees, prepares briefing documents, and even proposes agenda items based on recent company developments. Or imagine a manufacturing agent that not only monitors production lines but predicts maintenance needs, optimizes resource allocation in real-time, and collaborates with design teams to suggest product improvements based on production data. This AI-driven shift is creating demand for two pivotal roles: the AI Agent Product Manager and the AI Agent Engineer. These professionals are not just architects of the AI-augmented future but integral collaborators working at the intersection of business strategy and cutting-edge technology. The New Roles in AI Agent Development AI Agent Product Manager: Orchestrating AI Innovation The AI Agent Product Manager is the strategic visionary identifying opportunities where AI agents can create business value. They design agent capabilities and ensure alignment with organizational goals and user needs. Acting as translators between business and AI technology, they orchestrate AI-driven innovation. What Does an AI Agent Product Manager Do? As an Agent Product Manager, your role is dynamic. One month you might develop an AI-driven sales agent; the next, an HR automation assistant. Here’s an example: You’re tasked with designing an AI agent for a multinational manufacturing company. Your first step? Leading workshops with stakeholders across operations, design, sales, and customer service. You seek not just incremental improvements but transformative opportunities. Through these discussions, you identify a game-changing concept: an agent that bridges customer feedback, product design, and manufacturing processes. This AI system analyzes customer reviews and support tickets, detects trends, and generates design modification proposals. It then simulates how these changes impact manufacturing efficiency and costs. Your responsibilities include: Your work is not just about building AI—it’s about reshaping how organizations think, innovate, and operate in the AI era. AI Agent Engineer: Building Intelligent and Reliable Systems The AI Agent Engineer is the technical expert who brings AI agents to life. They design robust architectures, create sophisticated prompts, and ensure seamless integration with company data and systems. What Does an AI Agent Engineer Do? Continuing with the manufacturing agent example, your challenge as an AI Agent Engineer is to develop an intelligent system capable of: Your responsibilities include: Your role isn’t just about developing AI—it’s about crafting an intelligent system that drives innovation and efficiency across product development and manufacturing. The Power of Collaboration and Ethics in AI As AI agents become integral to business, the collaboration between Agent Product Managers and Engineers becomes increasingly vital. These roles demand not only technical expertise and strategic vision but also a strong commitment to ethical AI development. Transparency, fairness, and accountability must be embedded in every decision to ensure AI-driven solutions align with business and societal values. Comparing the Roles: AI Agent Product Manager vs. AI Agent Engineer Role Focus Key Responsibilities AI Agent Product Manager Strategy & Business Alignment Identifies AI opportunities, defines agent capabilities, ensures business alignment, and measures success metrics. AI Agent Engineer Technical Implementation Designs AI systems, engineers structured prompts, integrates with enterprise systems, and ensures reliable performance. The Future is Now: Are You Ready to Lead? As AI continues to redefine business, the roles of AI Agent Product Manager and AI Agent Engineer will be at the forefront of this transformation. Whether you’re shaping AI-driven business strategy or developing the technology that powers intelligent agents, your work will have a profound impact. These roles require a rare blend of strategic thinking, technical expertise, creativity, and business acumen. They offer an opportunity to work on cutting-edge AI innovations while driving tangible business outcomes. So, are you ready to rise to the challenge? The AI-augmented future isn’t a question of if—it’s a matter of how. And you could be the one to shape it. Like1 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 Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

March 4, 2025in Data, Enterprise, Generative AI, Technology0 Comments

04Mar

Salesforce Marketing Cloud Growth Edition for Personalization

Why Personalized Marketing Matters Personalized marketing is a game-changer for inceased customer engagement and business growth. According to a recent study, it can boost ROI by up to 20%. Yet, many marketers struggle to execute effective personalization due to fragmented data and lack of alignment across teams. To overcome these challenges, marketers must build a solid data foundation, leverage AI-driven segmentation, and utilize dynamic content strategies. This Tectonic insight outlines the essential steps to achieving personalized marketing at scale. Step 1: Build a Unified Data Foundation Marketers today have access to more data than ever before—from CRM and sales data to digital advertising, ERP, transactional, and accounting data. The challenge is unifying these sources to create a single operational customer profile. Without this, analyzing customer behavior and delivering personalized experiences is nearly impossible. How to Get Your Data in Order: Centralize customer data across teams using Marketing Cloud Growth and Advanced Editions, built on the Salesforce platform. Leverage AI-powered insights to optimize real-time personalization. Establish a “single source of truth” to align marketing, sales, and service teams. A strong data foundation not only fuels better AI-driven personalization but also enhances analytics and campaign performance. Step 2: Use AI to Segment with Precision Segmentation is the backbone of personalized marketing, allowing marketers to tailor campaigns based on customer behavior, demographics, and engagement levels. Traditionally, segmentation was a manual, time-consuming process. However, AI has revolutionized this process by enabling natural language-based segment creation. How AI Improves Segmentation: Eliminates the need for SQL expertise, making segmentation accessible to all marketers. Generates precise audience segments based on engagement and fit scores. Leverages harmonized operational profiles to build complex, data-driven segments. With AI-driven segmentation, marketers can create hyper-targeted campaigns that resonate with their audience, increasing engagement and conversion rates. Step 3: Implement Engagement and Fit Scoring One of the most effective ways to enhance personalization is by scoring leads and contacts based on their engagement and fit with your ideal customer profile. This approach helps prioritize high-value prospects and ensures marketing efforts are focused on the right audience. Understanding Engagement Scoring: Engagement Scoring evaluates how actively leads and contacts interact with your marketing campaigns. This includes actions like email clicks, form submissions, and website visits. Key Metrics Used in Engagement Scoring: Email Engagement (e.g., Click, Unsubscribe) Website Engagement (e.g., Form Submission, Button Click) Message Engagement (e.g., Subscribe, Unsubscribe) Understanding Fit Scoring: Fit Scoring assesses how well a lead or contact aligns with your ideal customer profile. This includes demographic, firmographic, and behavioral data. Key Fit Scoring Criteria: Demographics: Age, gender, income level Firmographics: Industry, company size, revenue Behavioral Patterns: Purchase history, product usage Geographics: Location-based targeting Technographics: Technology stack compatibility Step 4: Use Dynamic Content Blocks for Hyper-Personalization Once your data is structured and segments are refined, the next step is delivering personalized content. Marketing Cloud Growth and Advanced Editions offer powerful tools like Cross-Object Merge Fields and Rule-Based Dynamic Content. How to Leverage These Tools: Cross-Object Merge Fields: Pull data from operational customer profiles to create more personalized messages (e.g., referencing a webinar attended or service case status). R ule-Based Dynamic Content: Display targeted text and images based on complex customer attributes (e.g., showing a specific image to customers in New York who attended a liveevent). These tools allow marketers to go beyond basic personalization, creating highly relevant and engaging experiences for their audience. Step 5: Combine Engagement and Fit Scoring for Optimal Results By integrating Engagement and Fit Scoring, marketers can create an overall marketing score that prioritizes the most valuable prospects. This score considers both interaction levels and alignment with the ideal customer profile. How to Implement Overall Scoring: Default weighting assigns 50% to Engagement Score and 50% to Fit Score. Scores range from 0 to 100, ensuring a balanced approach to prioritization. Customization allows businesses to adjust weighting based on their specific needs. This holistic scoring model ensures marketing efforts are directed toward leads that are both highly engaged and a great fit for your business. The Future of Personalized Marketing Personalization is no longer optional—it’s essential. Businesses that embrace advanced personalization techniques see a 10-30% increase in sales and customer retention rates. By implementing the strategies outlined in this guide, marketers can: Build a strong data foundation for AI-driven personalization. Use engagement and fit scoring to prioritize high-value leads. Deliver hyper-personalized content with dynamic marketing tools. With the right foundation, tools, and AI-driven insights, marketers can unlock the full potential of personalized marketing, driving stronger customer relationships and higher ROI. Now is the time to take action and position your business for sustained success in an increasingly competitive marketplace. incorporate this. Meet the all-new Salesforce Marketing Cloud Growth edition! Recently unveiled, this platform is designed specifically to empower small businesses by seamlessly integrating CRM, AI, and data within Salesforce’s trusted customer platform – Einstein. It promises to redefine marketing automation across sales, service, and commerce. Let’s explore how Marketing Cloud Growth is set to revolutionize the way small businesses approach marketing, enabling them to drive growth and efficiency like never before. Salesforce Marketing Cloud Growth Edition On February 20, 2024, Salesforce launched the Marketing Cloud Growth edition, aimed at empowering small businesses specifically with B2B marketing needs. With advanced marketing automation tools, powered by Einstein’s Generative AI and Data Cloud, this new edition simplifies marketing tasks, allowing businesses to concentrate on strategic growth. Salesforce Marketing Cloud Growth Edition integrates seamlessly with the core Salesforce platform, known as the Einstein 1 platform to provide users with easy access to all the robust features of Marketing Cloud within the broader Salesforce ecosystem. With the Marketing Cloud Growth edition, teams can efficiently: Unify various data sources via Data Cloud Create and deliver compelling content with Digital Experiences Automate complex customer journeys using Flow Builder Improve decision-making using Einstein’s intelligent analytics and predictions Marketing Cloud Growth edition is user-friendly and built directly on the Salesforce platform, eliminating the need for external connectors. However, it does not include some advanced features found in Marketing

March 4, 2025in AI Tools, Data, Einstein 1 Platform, Enterprise, Generative AI, Marketing Automation, Salesforce, Salesforce Flow, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Technology0 Comments

Shift From AI Agents to AI Agent Tool Use

03Mar

AI Agent Dilemma

The AI Agent Dilemma: Hype, Confusion, and Competing Definitions Silicon Valley is all in on AI agents. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman predicts they will “join the workforce” this year. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella envisions them replacing certain knowledge work. Meanwhile, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has set an ambitious goal: making Salesforce the “number one provider of digital labor in the world” through its suite of AI-driven agentic services. But despite the enthusiasm, there’s little consensus on what an AI agent actually is. In recent years, tech leaders have hailed AI agents as transformative—just as AI chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT redefined information retrieval, agents, they claim, will revolutionize work. That may be true. But the problem lies in defining what an “agent” really is. Much like AI buzzwords such as “multimodal,” “AGI,” or even “AI” itself, the term “agent” is becoming so broad that it risks losing all meaning. This ambiguity puts companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, Salesforce, Amazon, and Google in a tricky spot. Each is investing heavily in AI agents, but their definitions—and implementations—differ wildly. An Amazon agent is not the same as a Google agent, leading to confusion and, increasingly, customer frustration. Even industry insiders are growing weary of the term. Ryan Salva, senior director of product at Google and former GitHub Copilot leader, openly criticizes the overuse of “agents.” “I think our industry has stretched the term ‘agent’ to the point where it’s almost nonsensical,” Salva told TechCrunch. “[It is] one of my pet peeves.” A Definition in Flux The struggle to define AI agents isn’t new. Former TechCrunch reporter Ron Miller raised the question last year: What exactly is an AI agent? The challenge is that every company building them has a different answer. That confusion only deepened this past week. OpenAI published a blog post defining agents as “automated systems that can independently accomplish tasks on behalf of users.” Yet in its developer documentation, it described agents as “LLMs equipped with instructions and tools.” Adding to the inconsistency, OpenAI’s API product marketing lead, Leher Pathak, stated on X (formerly Twitter) that she sees “assistants” and “agents” as interchangeable—further muddying the waters. Microsoft attempts to make a distinction, describing agents as “the new apps” for an AI-powered world, while reserving “assistant” for more general task helpers like email drafting tools. Anthropic takes a broader approach, stating that agents can be “fully autonomous systems that operate independently over extended periods” or simply “prescriptive implementations that follow predefined workflows.” Salesforce, meanwhile, has perhaps the widest-ranging definition, describing agents as AI-driven systems that can “understand and respond to customer inquiries without human intervention.” It categorizes them into six types, from “simple reflex agents” to “utility-based agents.” Why the Confusion? The nebulous nature of AI agents is part of the problem. These systems are still evolving, and major players like OpenAI, Google, and Perplexity have only just begun rolling out their first versions—each with vastly different capabilities. But history also plays a role. Rich Villars, GVP of worldwide research at IDC, points out that tech companies have “a long history” of using flexible definitions for emerging technologies. “They care more about what they are trying to accomplish on a technical level,” Villars told TechCrunch, “especially in fast-evolving markets.” Marketing is another culprit. Andrew Ng, founder of DeepLearning.ai, argues that the term “agent” once had a clear technical meaning—until marketers and a few major companies co-opted it. The Double-Edged Sword of Ambiguity The lack of a standardized definition presents both opportunities and challenges. Jim Rowan, head of AI at Deloitte, notes that while the ambiguity allows companies to tailor agents to specific needs, it also leads to “misaligned expectations” and difficulty in measuring value and ROI. “Without a standardized definition, at least within an organization, it becomes challenging to benchmark performance and ensure consistent outcomes,” Rowan explains. “This can result in varied interpretations of what AI agents should deliver, potentially complicating project goals and results.” While a clearer framework for AI agents would help businesses maximize their investments, history suggests that the industry is unlikely to agree on a single definition—just as it never fully defined “AI” itself. For now, AI agents remain both a promising innovation and a marketing-driven enigma. 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 Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

March 3, 2025in AI Chatbots, Google, Salesforce0 Comments

03Mar

It is Time to Implement Data Cloud

With Salesforce Data Cloud you can: With incomplete data your 360-degree customer view is limited and often leads to multiple sales reps working on the same lead. Slow access to the right leads at the right time leads to missed opportunties and delayed closings. If your team cannot trust the data due to siloes and inaccuracies, they avoid using it. It is Time to Implement Data Cloud. Unified Connect and harmonize data from all your Salesforce applications and external data systems. Then activate your data with insights and automation across every customer touchpoint. Powerful With Data Cloud and Agentforce, you can create the most intelligent agents possible, giving them access to the exact data they need to deliver any employee or customer experience. Secure Securely connect your data to any large language model (LLM) without sacrificing data governance and security thanks to the Einstein 1 trust layer. Open Data Cloud is fully open and extensible – bring your own data lake or model to reduce complexity and leverage what’s already been built. Plus, share out to popular destinations like Snowflake, Google Ads, or Meta Ads. Salesforce Data Cloud is the only hyperscale data engine native to Salesforce. It is more than a CDP. It goes beyond a data lake. You can do more with Data Cloud. Your Agentforce journey begins with Data Cloud. Agents need the right data to work. With Data Cloud, you can create the most intelligent agents possible, giving them access to the exact data they need to deliver any employee or customer experience. Use any data in your organization with Agentforce in a safe and secure manner thanks to the Einstein 1 Trust Layer. Datablazers are Salesforce community members who are passionate about driving business growth with data and AI powered by Data Cloud. Sign up to join a growing group of members to learn, connect, and grow with Data Cloud. Join today. The path to AI success begins and ends with quality data. Business, IT, and analytics decision makers with high data maturity were 2x more likely than low-maturity leaders to have the quality data needed to use AI effectively, according to our State of Data and Analytics report. “What’s data maturity?” you might wonder. Hang tight, we’ll explain in chapter 1 of this guide. Data-leading companies also experience: Your data strategy isn’t just important, it’s critical in getting you to the head of the market with new AI technology by your side. That’s why this Salesforce guide is based on recent industry findings and provides best practices to help your company get the most from your data. Tectonic will be sharing a focus on the 360 degree customer view with Salesforce Data Cloud in our insights. Stay tuned. It is Time to Implement Data Cloud 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 Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

March 3, 2025in Data, Einstein 1 Platform, Einstein Insights, Google, Salesforce, Salesforce Data Cloud, Salesforce Implementation Services, Snowflake, Technology0 Comments

01Mar

The Evolution of Data

Data’s Evolution: Once Oil Now Compute Power For years, data was dubbed the new oil, a valuable resource that could fuel innovation. However, with the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), compute power has taken center stage as the key driver of business success. Sequoia has not hesitated to outline AI’s transformative potential: “The fields that generative AI addresses — knowledge work and creative work — comprise billions of workers. If generative AI can make these workers at least 10% more efficient and/or creative, they become not only faster and more efficient but more capable than before. Therefore, generative AI has the potential to generate trillions of dollars of economic value.” — Sonya Huang, Pat Grady, Generative AI: A Creative New World While markets continue to assess the validity of this claim, the parallels to past technological revolutions—such as the internet and mobile phones—are undeniable. AI’s influence on knowledge work, particularly in data analytics, is poised to be profound, reshaping how organizations extract value from data. The Rise of Data Analytics and AI Integration The data analytics market is expanding at an unprecedented rate, with a projected CAGR of 27.3% through 2030. A decade ago, data science degrees were rare; professionals often transitioned from related analytical fields like physics, mathematics, accounting, and economics. However, the landscape has shifted dramatically. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, bachelor’s degrees in data science surged by 968% between 2020 and 2022, reflecting the growing demand for analytics expertise. Despite its rapid evolution, modern data analytics presents unique challenges. Unlike software engineering—where code is deterministic—data pipelines evolve based on ingestion processes, requiring a different approach to governance and tooling. AI’s introduction into this space offers a chance to accelerate insights, but only if organizations integrate it strategically into their data frameworks. Modernizing Data Practices: From ETL to ELTL Historically, organizations relied on extract-transform-load (ETL) processes for data management. However, inefficiencies led to the rise of extract-load-transform (ELT), empowering analysts to transform data within cloud-based environments. Developer tools like dbt further streamlined this process, enabling analysts to create data models without relying on centralized data architects. Yet, with increased speed came challenges—primarily, the proliferation of inconsistent data sources. This issue underscores the importance of a final load step (ELTL) that incorporates governance measures to ensure accuracy before presenting data to users. Without proper governance, discrepancies between dashboards can erode trust in analytics. Data Governance and the Role of the Semantic Layer To mitigate inconsistencies, organizations have embraced semantic layers—standardized frameworks that define key business metrics. dbt’s semantic layer and emerging solutions like SQLMesh help enforce governance, ensuring AI-powered analytics operate on reliable data. AI’s effectiveness hinges on a well-documented semantic layer, built on metadata that defines relationships between data objects. Many AI systems utilize retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), which retrieves relevant context before generating responses. However, for AI-driven analytics to succeed, organizations must implement safeguards such as primary key checks and join definitions, ensuring structured and accurate outputs. AI-Powered Precision Analytics The integration of AI into data analytics is driving a shift toward precision analytics—delivering exactly the right data transformation tailored to user needs. This approach mirrors the concept of precision medicine in healthcare, where treatments are customized for individuals. With AI, organizations can move beyond dashboards overloaded with filters and instead provide instant, context-aware insights. Data Objects: A New Paradigm Traditionally, analytics relied on dashboards, but AI enables a more flexible approach through “data objects.” A data object represents a distinct SQL query that answers a user’s prompt. These objects can take three primary forms: This shift allows users to generate and compare data objects dynamically, reducing reliance on static reports and fostering a more agile analytical environment. AI Data Analytics: The Next Frontier Organizations now have the opportunity to revolutionize data analytics through AI. Broadly, AI-driven analytics solutions fall into two categories: Text-to-SQL technology has made significant strides, with execution benchmarks like Spider achieving over 91% accuracy. However, new challenges such as Spider 2.0 highlight the complexity of multi-step analytical workflows. AI systems must incorporate rigorous governance mechanisms to ensure accuracy and reliability. Trust, Governance, and the Human Element Trust is paramount in AI-driven analytics. Without proper governance, AI models risk generating misleading insights, undermining confidence in data-driven decision-making. Organizations must establish clear metadata standards, enforce rigorous validation checks, and maintain a human-in-the-loop approach to AI oversight. An AI-powered data agent should function much like a skilled data analyst—asking clarifying questions, referencing well-documented schemas, and leveraging business glossaries to interpret queries accurately. When implemented correctly, AI-driven analytics can transform data accessibility, making insights available in seconds rather than weeks. The Future of AI-Driven Analytics AI is poised to revolutionize data analytics, offering real-time insights with unparalleled accuracy. However, success hinges on a strong foundation of governance, well-defined data models, and reliable metadata. Organizations that embrace AI with a strategic approach will unlock new efficiencies, reduce bottlenecks, and redefine how data powers decision-making. By integrating AI into analytics responsibly, businesses can move beyond dashboards and embrace true precision analytics—where every insight is timely, relevant, and trustworthy. 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 Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

March 1, 2025in Artificial Intelligence, Data, Generative AI, Technology0 Comments

28Feb

Generative AI in Marketing

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) continues to reshape industries, providing product managers (PMs) across domains with opportunities to embrace AI-focused innovation and enhance their technical expertise. Over the past few years, GenAI has gained immense popularity. AI-enabled products have proliferated across industries like a rapidly expanding field of dandelions, fueled by abundant venture capital investment. From a product management perspective, AI offers numerous ways to improve productivity and deepen strategic domain knowledge. However, the fundamentals of product management remain paramount. This discussion underscores why foundational PM practices continue to be indispensable, even in the evolving landscape of GenAI, and how these core skills can elevate PMs navigating this dynamic field. Why PM Fundamentals Matter, AI or Not Three core reasons highlight the enduring importance of PM fundamentals and actionable methods for excelling in the rapidly expanding GenAI space. 1. Product Development is Inherently Complex While novice PMs might assume product development is straightforward, the reality reveals a web of interconnected and dynamic elements. These may include team dependencies, sales and marketing coordination, internal tooling managed by global teams, data telemetry updates, and countless other tasks influencing outcomes. A skilled product manager identifies and orchestrates these moving pieces, ensuring product growth and delivery. This ability is often more impactful than deep technical AI expertise (though having both is advantageous). The complexity of modern product development is further amplified by the rapid pace of technological change. Incorporating AI tools such as GitHub Copilot can accelerate workflows but demands a strong product culture to ensure smooth integration. PMs must focus on fundamentals like understanding user needs, defining clear problems, and delivering value to avoid chasing fleeting AI trends instead of solving customer problems. While AI can automate certain tasks, it is limited by costs, specificity, and nuance. A PM with strong foundational knowledge can effectively manage these limitations and identify areas for automation or improvement, such as: 2. Interpersonal Skills Are Irreplaceable As AI product development grows more complex, interpersonal skills become increasingly critical. PMs work with diverse teams, including developers, designers, data scientists, marketing professionals, and executives. While AI can assist in specific tasks, strong human connections are essential for success. Key interpersonal abilities for PMs include: Stakeholder management remains a cornerstone of effective product management. PMs must build trust and tailor their communication to various audiences—a skill AI cannot replicate. 3. Understanding Vertical Use Cases is Essential Vertical use cases focus on niche, specific tasks within a broader context. In the GenAI ecosystem, this specificity is exemplified by AI agents designed for narrow applications. For instance, Microsoft Copilot includes a summarization agent that excels at analyzing Word documents. The vertical AI market has experienced explosive growth, valued at .1 billion in 2024 and projected to reach .1 billion by 2030. PMs are crucial in identifying and validating these vertical use cases. For example, the team at Planview developed the AI Assistant “Planview Copilot” by hypothesizing specific use cases and iteratively validating them through customer feedback and data analysis. This approach required continuous application of fundamental PM practices, including discovery, prioritization, and feedback internalization. PMs must be adept at discovering vertical use cases and crafting strategies to deliver meaningful solutions. Key steps include: Conclusion Foundational product management practices remain critical, even as AI transforms industries. These core skills ensure that PMs can navigate the challenges of GenAI, enabling organizations to accelerate customer value in work efficiency, time savings, and quality of life. By maintaining strong fundamentals, PMs can lead their teams to thrive in an AI-driven future. AI Agents on Madison Avenue: The New Frontier in Advertising AI agents, hailed as the next big advancement in artificial intelligence, are making their presence felt in the world of advertising. Startups like Adaly and Anthrologic are introducing personalized AI tools designed to boost productivity for advertisers, offering automation for tasks that are often time-consuming and tedious. Retail brands such as Anthropologie are already adopting this technology to streamline their operations. How AI Agents WorkIn simple terms, AI agents operate like advanced AI chatbots. They can handle tasks such as generating reports, optimizing media budgets, or analyzing data. According to Tyler Pietz, CEO and founder of Anthrologic, “They can basically do anything that a human can do on a computer.” Big players like Salesforce, Microsoft, Anthropic, Google, and Perplexity are also championing AI agents. Perplexity’s CEO, Aravind Srinivas, recently suggested that businesses will soon compete for the attention of AI agents rather than human customers. “Brands need to get comfortable doing this,” he remarked to The Economic Times. AI Agents Tailored for Advertisers Both Adaly and Anthrologic have developed AI software specifically trained for advertising tasks. Built on large language models like ChatGPT, these platforms respond to voice and text prompts. Advertisers can train these AI systems on internal data to automate tasks like identifying data discrepancies or analyzing economic impacts on regional ad budgets. Pietz noted that an AI agent can be set up in about a month and take on grunt work like scouring spreadsheets for specific figures. “Marketers still log into 15 different platforms daily,” said Kyle Csik, co-founder of Adaly. “When brands in-house talent, they often hire people to manage systems rather than think strategically. AI agents can take on repetitive tasks, leaving room for higher-level work.” Both Pietz and Csik bring agency experience to their ventures, having crossed paths at MediaMonks. Industry Response: Collaboration, Not Replacement The targets for these tools differ: Adaly focuses on independent agencies and brands, while Anthrologic is honing in on larger brands. Meanwhile, major holding companies like Omnicom and Dentsu are building their own AI agents. Omnicom, on the verge of merging with IPG, has developed internal AI solutions, while Dentsu has partnered with Microsoft to create tools like Dentsu DALL-E and Dentsu-GPT. Havas is also developing its own AI agent, according to Chief Activation Officer Mike Bregman. Bregman believes AI tools won’t immediately threaten agency jobs. “Agencies have a lot of specialization that machines can’t replace today,” he said. “They can streamline processes, but

February 28, 2025in AI Tools, Artificial Intelligence, Data, Generative AI, Google, Laws, Salesforce, Technology0 Comments

28Feb

The Rise of AI Agents: 2024 and Beyond

In 2024, we witnessed major breakthroughs in AI agents. OpenAI’s o1 and o3 models demonstrated the ability to deconstruct complex tasks, while Claude 3.5 showcased AI’s capacity to interact with computers like humans—navigating interfaces and running software. These advancements, alongside improvements in memory and learning systems, are pushing AI beyond simple chat interactions into the realm of autonomous systems. AI agents are already making an impact in specialized fields, including legal analysis, scientific research, and technical support. While they excel in structured environments with defined rules, they still struggle with unpredictable scenarios and open-ended challenges. Their success rates drop significantly when handling exceptions or adapting to dynamic conditions. The field is evolving from conversational AI to intelligent systems capable of reasoning and independent action. Each step forward demands greater computational power and introduces new technical challenges. This article explores how AI agents function, their current capabilities, and the infrastructure required to ensure their reliability. What is an AI Agent? An AI agent is a system designed to reason through problems, plan solutions, and execute tasks using external tools. Unlike traditional AI models that simply respond to prompts, agents possess: Understanding the shift from passive responders to autonomous agents is key to grasping the opportunities and challenges ahead. Let’s explore the breakthroughs that have fueled this transformation. 2024’s Key Breakthroughs OpenAI o3’s High Score on the ARC-AGI Benchmark Three pivotal advancements in 2024 set the stage for autonomous AI agents: AI Agents in Action These capabilities are already yielding practical applications. As Reid Hoffman observed, we are seeing the emergence of specialized AI agents that extend human capabilities across various industries: Recent research from Sierra highlights the rapid maturation of these systems. AI agents are transitioning from experimental prototypes to real-world deployment, capable of handling complex business rules while engaging in natural conversations. The Road Ahead: Key Questions As AI agents continue to evolve, three critical questions for us all emerge: The next wave of AI innovation will be defined by how well we address these challenges. By building robust systems that balance autonomy with oversight, we can unlock the full potential of AI agents in the years ahead. 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 Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

February 28, 2025in AI Tools0 Comments

The Growing Role of AI in Cloud Management

25Feb

Introducing TACO

Advancing Multi-Modal AI with TACO: A Breakthrough in Reasoning and Tool Integration Developing effective multi-modal AI systems for real-world applications demands mastering diverse tasks, including fine-grained recognition, visual grounding, reasoning, and multi-step problem-solving. However, current open-source multi-modal models fall short in these areas, especially when tasks require external tools like OCR or mathematical calculations. These limitations largely stem from the reliance on single-step datasets that fail to provide a coherent framework for multi-step reasoning and logical action chains. Addressing these shortcomings is crucial for unlocking multi-modal AI’s full potential in tackling complex challenges. Challenges in Existing Multi-Modal Models Most existing multi-modal models rely on instruction tuning with direct-answer datasets or few-shot prompting approaches. Proprietary systems like GPT-4 have demonstrated the ability to effectively navigate CoTA (Chains of Thought and Actions) reasoning, but open-source models struggle due to limited datasets and tool integration. Earlier efforts, such as LLaVa-Plus and Visual Program Distillation, faced barriers like small dataset sizes, poor-quality training data, and a narrow focus on simple question-answering tasks. These limitations hinder their ability to address complex, multi-modal challenges requiring advanced reasoning and tool application. Introducing TACO: A Multi-Modal Action Framework Researchers from the University of Washington and Salesforce Research have introduced TACO (Training Action Chains Optimally), an innovative framework that redefines multi-modal learning by addressing these challenges. TACO introduces several advancements that establish a new benchmark for multi-modal AI performance: Training and Architecture TACO’s training process utilized a carefully curated CoTA dataset of 293K instances from 31 sources, including Visual Genome, offering a diverse range of tasks such as mathematical reasoning, OCR, and visual understanding. The system employs: Benchmark Performance TACO demonstrated significant performance improvements across eight benchmarks, achieving an average accuracy increase of 3.6% over instruction-tuned baselines and gains as high as 15% on MMVet tasks involving OCR and mathematical reasoning. Key findings include: Transforming Multi-Modal AI Applications TACO represents a transformative step in multi-modal action modeling by addressing critical deficiencies in reasoning and tool-based actions. Its innovative approach leverages high-quality synthetic datasets and advanced training methodologies to unlock the potential of multi-modal AI in real-world applications, from visual question answering to complex multi-step reasoning tasks. By bridging the gap between reasoning and action integration, TACO paves the way for AI systems capable of tackling intricate scenarios with unprecedented accuracy and efficiency. 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 Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

February 25, 2025in Data, Salesforce0 Comments

25Feb

What is Salesforce Marketing Cloud?

Salesforce has strategically expanded its marketing technology tools over the years, integrating a range of powerful technology into its CRM platform. These acquisitions have empowered businesses to manage the full customer journey, enabling digital engagement at scale. Salesforce Marketing Cloud consists of five core product offerings: Let’s dig in to these products, their capabilities, and how they help marketers drive more personalized, data-driven engagement. Marketing Cloud Engagement (MCE) MCE is a robust, cross-channel marketing automation platform designed to create personalized customer journeys. It empowers marketers with AI-driven insights, enabling them to activate customer data and deliver dynamic content across multiple touchpoints, including email, SMS, WhatsApp, push notifications, digital ads, and the web. Built for scalability, MCE provides enterprise-grade reliability and deep integration capabilities. While often associated with B2C use cases, it’s flexible enough to support various business models. With its AI-powered automation and open architecture, MCE helps marketers drive customer lifetime value while optimizing campaign efficiency. Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (MCAE) MCAE, formerly Pardot, is Salesforce’s B2B marketing automation solution, aligning sales and marketing teams with a shared customer view. It streamlines lead management with AI-powered scoring, real-time campaign insights, and automation tools that help businesses prioritize leads and accelerate sales cycles. This platform enables businesses to nurture prospects effectively through email campaigns, landing pages, and web tracking while optimizing engagement and revenue growth. By unifying marketing and sales efforts, MCAE helps teams drive higher lead conversion and sales efficiency. Marketing Cloud Growth/Advanced Editions Designed for small to mid-sized businesses (SMBs), Marketing Cloud Growth and Advanced Editions provide AI-powered marketing capabilities tailored to organizations using Salesforce Sales or Service Cloud Enterprise/Unlimited editions. These editions leverage Salesforce Data Cloud and AI to simplify campaign creation, personalize customer interactions, and offer real-time marketing insights. Key features include Einstein Co-Create for asset generation, automated segmentation, and AI-driven email engagement optimization. As these editions continue to evolve, they will likely bridge the gap between B2B and B2C marketing automation, offering an integrated experience that scales with business needs. Marketing Cloud Personalization (MCP) MCP enables real-time, AI-powered personalization across customer interactions. It uses behavioral data and a unified customer profile to deliver tailored content, offers, and experiences at the right moment. MCP’s capabilities include: By reacting instantly to customer actions, MCP helps businesses increase conversion rates, order values, and customer loyalty. While it integrates with MCE, it operates as a standalone solution to enhance customer engagement strategies. Marketing Cloud Intelligence (MCI) MCI is Salesforce’s marketing analytics solution, designed to unify data across platforms and provide a single source of truth for marketing performance. With MCI, marketers can: MCI eliminates data silos, helping marketers make data-driven decisions that maximize ROI and customer engagement. It complements Salesforce’s analytics tools like CRM Analytics (CRMA) and Tableau but is specifically designed for marketing performance measurement. Marketing Cloud & Data Cloud: A Powerful Combination All Salesforce Marketing Cloud products connect with Salesforce Data Cloud, allowing businesses to enrich customer profiles with engagement data. This integration enables highly targeted segmentation, AI-driven personalization, and automated journey orchestration. By continuously refining customer insights, businesses can create a feedback loop that optimizes engagement and improves marketing effectiveness. This dynamic data sharing allows for real-time personalization at scale, fulfilling the promise of AI-driven marketing. Solving Today’s Marketing Challenges with Marketing Cloud Marketers today face significant challenges, including: Salesforce Marketing Cloud provides a flexible, AI-powered ecosystem that addresses these challenges. Businesses can combine different Marketing Cloud products based on their specific needs, such as using MCE or MCAE for automated journeys, MCP for AI-driven personalization, and MCI for unified performance tracking. By integrating these solutions, marketers can achieve higher engagement, improved ROI, and more efficient campaign execution. Salesforce Marketing Cloud Consulting with Tectonic Optimized marketing begins with unified data and AI-driven insights. At Tectonic, we specialize in configuring Salesforce Marketing Cloud in every flavor to align with your business objectives, ensuring success through: With deep expertise in Salesforce Data Cloud, AI, and marketing automation, Tectonic helps businesses unlock the full potential of Salesforce Marketing Cloud. Learn more about our consulting services or contact us to get started 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 Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Salesforce Enhances Service Cloud with AI-Driven Intelligence Engine Data science and analytics are rapidly becoming standard features in enterprise applications, Read more

February 25, 2025in Agentforce Platform, Data, Enterprise, Marketing Automation, Salesforce, Salesforce Data Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Automation, Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Salesforce Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot), Salesforce Marketing Cloud Advertising, Salesforce Personalization, Technology0 Comments

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