New sales and service agent, a force for good

I was lucky enough to attend the Dreamforce annual conference in San Francisco recently, which has become one of the most significant technology events in the world. Salesforce carefully staged an impressive number of informative sessions outlining the strengths of Agentforce.

The tech-obsessed audience of vendors and partners was a receptive crowd, of course. However, recent research into Generative AI adoption—amongst leading AU/NZ market enterprises—corroborates that Salesforce’s new offering is arriving just in time to hit a sweet spot in customer demand.

Timing can be crucial to the launch of a new technology product. The successful debut of Salesforce’s Agentforce autonomous agent is a case in point.

AI has arrived, and its scope of use is growing

A Telsyte survey* completed with 1,000 CIOs and technology decision makers, from which 250 were Australian and New Zealand organisations, indicated that around two-thirds have already adopted one or more Generative AI applications, with a further 15 per cent planning to do so shortly. 

Over 85 per cent of businesses agree that Generative AI is a critical area for investment and have established dedicated teams and strategies to focus on solution development.

Much of the Gen AI deployment has been in design and content generation, but Agentforce promises customers a broader set of use cases. This will see it being adopted not just for sales documentation but also to provide multi-channel and multi-touch service capabilities to answer customer enquiries and improve service to citizens.

Customer service game changer

Salesforce’s overall strategy is to provide platforms and products that enable customers to increase productivity and create closer engagement with business users and customers. So, where does Agentforce fit in?

Designed to be a game changer in customer service, Agentforce AI is a pioneering technology that aims to modernise customer service experiences. It leverages the power of artificial intelligence to provide real-time assistance, enhance agent productivity, and deliver improved customer satisfaction. By combining natural language processing, machine learning, and automation, Agentforce AI empowers agents to handle customer inquiries more efficiently and effectively.

Clicks not codes

It has several strengths which I believe will give it traction with customers. Firstly, it is designed to be ‘low code’, enabling customers to create custom applications rapidly without extensive coding knowledge. I have seen a demonstration where an AI agent was developed and taught what to do within 20 minutes—which was extremely impressive. This ’clicks not code’ approach will help organisations lower development and maintenance expenses, streamline processes and allow solutions to market faster. 

Secondly, Agentforce AI offers a seamless and personalised experience. It can be integrated into various customer service channels, including chatbots, voice assistants, and email. When customers seek assistance, Agentforce AI can quickly understand their queries, provide relevant information, and even suggest solutions.

I can see this having cut through in the insurance industry, for example, where completing claims or creating new policy offerings are critical markers of competitive advantage. An AI agent that can assist the insurance representative in gathering information for the customer will cut down time and costs and improve service and productivity.

Personalisation and data analysis improvements

By reducing wait times and ensuring customers receive accurate and helpful responses, Agentforce can become a powerful tool to assist contact centre staff. It can uncover information from all organisational avenues—something challenging for one person to achieve.

Using this information, customer service reps can offer personalised recommendations based on data within the enterprise and ‘live’ conversational dialogue with the customer. According to the same Telsyte survey* personalisation was highlighted as one of the top three most popular content creation deployments for Generative AI amongst AU/NZ enterprises.

“From what I have seen of Salesforce’s new AI offering, Agentforce addresses some of the critical challenges organisations are facing with developing their Generative AI Strategies, such as securely making use of internal data and the ability to hyper personalise.” Foad Fadaghi, Managing Director & Principal Analyst at Telsyte

Another of the critical benefits of Agentforce AI is its ability to learn and adapt over time. As it interacts with more customers, it becomes increasingly intelligent and able to recognise patterns and trends in customer behaviour. For example, if a customer frequently contacts support about a specific product issue, Agentforce AI can proactively offer solutions or preventative measures. Again, this type of use is ringing bells with NZ/AU organisations, with over a third of early adopters already deploying Generative AI for enhanced data analysis and insights and another 60 per cent planning to do so soon.

Managing critical ethical concerns

Quite rightly, there are concerns in the market about AI’s ethical implications and misinformation. Salesforce is seeking to assuage that unease on two fronts. Firstly, it is marketing Agentforce AI as an addition, not a replacement to human agents, augmenting their capabilities by handling routine tasks, such as answering frequently asked questions or providing basic troubleshooting. This approach frees up human agents to concentrate on more complex issues. It ensures customers receive the best possible support, combining the efficiency of AI with the empathy and problem-solving skills of human agents.

Secondly, Agentforce is wholly embedded within Salesforce tools and only draws on datasets the organisation already holds about the customer. It also puts the content it creates through a ‘trust’ layer to ensure it falls within the guardrails for accuracy established by the organisation. This closed-circle approach ensures data security, privacy, and compliance. It acts as a safeguard, protecting sensitive customer information and preventing unauthorised access.

Indeed, security and privacy issues are at the top of the mind of AU/NZ organisations, with more than one-third of them citing hallucinations, false reporting, security, and deep fakes as significant concerns that need careful attention and management.

In conclusion, if the promise of Salesforce Agentforce AI is realised, it will significantly advance customer service technology by providing real-time assistance, enhancing agent productivity, and delivering personalised experiences. But, as with many technology solutions, the devil is in the details and seeking outside advice on deploying Generative AI is a sensible option, particularly for those who don’t have previous AI experience.

Developing partnerships with trusted providers to work out the best use cases and deployment methods appropriate to your industry is a sensible first step, which, according to the survey, over three-quarters of organisations in our region are already exploring.

DXC Technology is already exploring how Agentforce can help uplift the sales and service experiences for our key customers. If you would like to explore what experience differentiation Agentforce could unlock for a use case within your organisation, please reach out for a confidential chat email us at salesforce.apac@dxc.com.

Blog written by Gareth Edwards, Managing Partner Consulting Sales, DXC Practice for Salesforce

* Source: Telsyte APJME Generative AI Study 2024