Marc Benioff on AI's Future and Leadership Insights

"I have 9,000 people in support today. I will not have as many people in support in the future because I will be able to move more of those folks into sales or into other functions."

• Utilize AI to optimize workforce allocation.
• Rebalance teams to focus on areas requiring human expertise.

"And I hit my Steve Jobs button and I pivoted the entire company over a period of two weeks... We are going 100% on AgentForce."

• Be prepared to make bold decisions when opportunity arises.
• Trust your judgment and act decisively to capture emerging trends.

"I don't want to do layoffs. I hated it... but the company had to be restructured. I had no choice... So layoff is an important tool for CEOs to be able to use."

• Recognize when restructuring is necessary for future success.
• Approach layoffs thoughtfully, balancing company needs and empathy.

"We are in such a new world right now... that customers do not understand this and what it can mean for them. That is really all I am focused on."

• Invest time in explaining the value of new technologies to customers.
• Use real-world examples and internal adoption to demonstrate benefits.

"These current large language models, there's a lot of folks building those today, and they're rapidly becoming a commodity and they're rapidly maturing. They're cresting."

• Anticipate commoditization in AI technologies.
• Focus on unique value propositions beyond core technology.

"AgentForce is consumption pricing, so you're being charged per conversation. The starting price is about $2 per conversation, and then it's negotiated based on volume."

• Consider usage-based pricing for AI products.
• Align pricing with customer value derived from product usage.

"He said, 'No, Mark, that's not how I do things at Apple... I only do one thing at one time. I have the A team at Apple, we only focus on one thing.'"

• Concentrate resources on a single critical initiative.
• Apply best talent to your primary focus for maximum impact.

"We had to start making changes. We had to make financial changes and technology changes. We had to rewrite our product. We had to create new products... And then what that resulted in was two years of really hard, difficult work, but it resulted in yesterday where after two years the stock has tripled."

• Be willing to make substantial changes during challenging periods.
• Invest in rebuilding products and financial models for long-term success.

"I learned that I could cultivate my beginner's mind, or what the Japanese called shoshin, you know, in the beginner's mind you have every possibility, but in the expert's mind you have few or none."

• Embrace a beginner's mindset to remain open to new opportunities.
• Avoid being constrained by past expertise; stay adaptable.

"We have increased the productivity this year with AgentForce and with other AI technology that we\'re using for our engineering teams by more than 30% to the point where our engineering velocity is incredible."

• Implement AI tools like AgentForce to enhance engineering productivity.
• Reassess hiring needs based on productivity gains.