Salesforce Warns Businesses: Adapt to AI or Risk Obsolescence

During Dreamforce 2025 in San Francisco, Salesforce's Chief Digital Evangelist, Vala Afshar, delivered a stark warning to businesses: failure to adapt to the age of artificial intelligence will lead to obsolescence. He advised companies to "unlearn most of the recipes of the past" to remain competitive.

Afshar described the current phase of AI, known as agentic AI, as a significant inflection point where software can now execute tasks previously done by humans, enabling co-creation of value. He contrasted this with earlier AI stages like predictive and generative AI, stating, "I now view AI and agentic AI as the electricity of the 21st century."

He underscored that accountability and trust are paramount. "Humans will always be accountable. It’s not technology that does good or bad — it’s the people behind the technology," Afshar asserted, noting Salesforce's commitment to ethical evaluation of its products.

Customer experience remains central to business success, even in an AI-driven world. Afshar stated that delivering value at the "speed of need" requires AI systems to understand human urgency and emotion. He also highlighted the increasing significance of India in Salesforce's global strategy, mentioning a sixfold growth in its Indian workforce between 2022 and 2025 and India's position as third globally in unicorn count.

Afshar likened innovation to cooking, suggesting that technology leaders must constantly "unlearn old recipes" to identify crucial new elements for business survival and growth. The discussions at Dreamforce reflected a shift from pure technology to purpose, empathy, and human storytelling in AI development.

Impact: This news emphasizes the critical need for businesses, especially in the technology sector and its related services, to invest in AI adoption and workforce reskilling. Companies that fail to adapt may face significant competitive disadvantages, potentially impacting their stock valuations and market share. The focus on India highlights its growing importance as a hub for AI talent and innovation, which could benefit Indian tech companies and the overall economy. Rating: 8/10.

Difficult Terms: Agentic AI: Artificial intelligence systems designed to act autonomously, make decisions, and perform complex tasks to achieve specific goals, often working collaboratively with humans.

Predictive Capabilities: The ability of AI systems to analyze historical data and identify patterns to forecast future trends or outcomes.

Generative AI: A type of artificial intelligence capable of creating new content, such as text, images, music, or code, based on the data it has been trained on.

Unicorns: Privately held startup companies that have achieved a valuation of $1 billion or more.