Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has plenty to celebrate despite nursing a ruptured Achilles tendon from a recent scuba-diving accident in French Polynesia. The enterprise software giant’s stock jumped 9% to a record high on Wednesday following strong third-quarter earnings and promising early traction for its latest AI product, Agentforce.
Salesforce reported $9.44 billion in third-quarter revenue, representing an 8% year-over-year increase that beat Wall Street expectations. But the real excitement centered on Agentforce, the company’s new generative AI platform that helps customers design and deploy AI agents. Benioff revealed that Salesforce “delivered” 200 deals for Agentforce after it became generally available in the final week of the quarter—an encouraging sign for a product that only recently launched.
The positive momentum marks a dramatic turnaround from the challenges Salesforce faced in 2022, when activist investors including Starboard Value pressured the company to improve profit margins and co-CEO Bret Taylor unexpectedly stepped down. “This call is the two-year anniversary of our transformation,” Benioff said during Tuesday’s earnings call. “It’s been a financial transformation, and it’s been a technology transformation.”
Benioff emphasized what he called Salesforce’s “unfair advantage” in the generative AI space: Agentforce is grounded in customer data such as purchases and returns, giving it context that generic AI tools lack. He also continued his recent pattern of taking shots at Microsoft’s Copilot, dismissing it as a “repackaged ChatGPT”—a reference to the chatbot made by Microsoft’s partner and competitor OpenAI. A Microsoft executive recently fired back, suggesting that “when competitors talk about you, it’s because they’re behind.”
While Benioff touted an “incredible” pipeline of future Agentforce transactions, analysts remain cautious. Third Bridge analyst Charlie Miner noted that Salesforce needs Agentforce to be a transformative catalyst to avoid “sliding into the stagnation typical of a mature, legacy software platform.” Miner wrote that if Agentforce proves to be “an AI winner and delivers as a revenue driver, Salesforce’s business could see a significant leap forward as early as mid-2025.”
The company has invested heavily in AI over the past two years while integrating its core customer-relationship-management platform and expanding its engineering workforce. The challenge now is converting early interest into sustained adoption—something that has proven difficult for many generative AI tools in the enterprise market.
Key Quotes
I’m sure we all know the international motto of Fakarava, which I have close to my heart, which is ‘I don’t give a Fakarava.’
Marc Benioff joked about his Achilles injury during the earnings call, displaying the buoyant mood justified by Salesforce’s strong performance and AI product traction.
This call is the two-year anniversary of our transformation. It’s been a financial transformation, and it’s been a technology transformation.
Benioff reflected on Salesforce’s turnaround since facing activist investor pressure in 2022, highlighting how AI investments have been central to the company’s recovery.
Despite Salesforce making AI its defining narrative, the true turning point hinges on Agentforce execution and adoption. If it proves to be an AI winner and delivers as a revenue driver, Salesforce’s business could see a significant leap forward as early as mid-2025.
Third Bridge analyst Charlie Miner emphasized that Salesforce’s future success depends entirely on whether Agentforce can convert early momentum into sustained revenue growth.
History tells us that when competitors talk about you, it’s because they’re behind.
A Microsoft executive responded to Benioff’s repeated criticism of Copilot, highlighting the intensifying competitive battle between the two tech giants in the enterprise AI market.
Our Take
The Salesforce story illustrates a crucial inflection point for enterprise AI: the transition from pilot projects to production deployments. While 200 deals in a few weeks sounds impressive, it’s a tiny fraction of Salesforce’s massive customer base, and the real test is whether these early adopters see enough value to expand their usage and whether other customers follow suit.
Benioff’s aggressive positioning against Microsoft reveals the high stakes in this market. His emphasis on Salesforce’s data advantage is strategically sound—AI agents are only as good as the data they access—but execution will determine the winner. The analyst caution is warranted: many companies have announced AI products with fanfare only to see lukewarm adoption. Salesforce’s integration advantages and existing customer relationships give it a real shot, but the mid-2025 timeline for proving success means investors and customers alike will be watching closely for concrete results beyond initial deals.
Why This Matters
This story represents a critical test case for enterprise AI adoption and whether generative AI tools can deliver meaningful business value beyond the hype. Salesforce is one of the world’s largest enterprise software companies, and Agentforce’s success or failure will signal whether businesses are ready to invest significantly in AI agents that can automate complex workflows.
The 200 initial deals provide early validation, but the real question is whether Salesforce can scale this to thousands of customers and generate substantial revenue. Many companies have struggled to convert AI enthusiasm into actual sales, making Salesforce’s execution crucial for the broader enterprise AI market.
For businesses, this matters because AI agents represent the next evolution beyond simple chatbots—autonomous systems that can handle customer service, sales processes, and other complex tasks. If Salesforce succeeds, it could accelerate enterprise AI adoption across industries. The competitive dynamics with Microsoft also highlight how major tech companies are battling for dominance in the enterprise AI space, which will shape the tools and platforms businesses use for years to come. The mid-2025 timeline mentioned by analysts makes this a story to watch closely over the coming months.
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