Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, in an interview with Bloomberg, said that the company is using artificial intelligence (AI) to do 30% to 50% of the work.
Similar statements have been made by other tech leaders, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google chief Sundar Pichai, who have said that AI does a significant portion of work like coding in their companies.
Benioff continued, “All of us have to get our heads around this idea that AI can do things that before, you know, we were doing, and we can move on to do higher-value work.”
When the interviewer Emily Chang asked if AI could replace him one day, Benioff joked, “I hope so. I mean, of course, I'm partially kidding. You know that, but we're becoming more automated.”
According to Bloomberg, Salesforce has already let go of over 1,000 employees this year. While some may be moved into new roles, large-scale job cuts like these are becoming more common with the growing adoption of AI.
Last month, Salesforce acknowledged that its adoption of AI tools has enabled the company to scale back on recruitment. During an analyst call, chief financial and operations officer Robin Washington said the company is reducing hiring, with 500 customer service staff to be moved into other roles, an adjustment expected to save $50 million.
A few months ago, Benioff went so far as to say that the company wouldn’t be hiring any more engineers this year due to significant productivity gains from AI.
However, it is worth noting that despite the slowdown in technical hiring, the company is expanding its sales team.
As of January 31, Salesforce had a workforce of around 76,500.
Similar statements have been made by other tech leaders, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Google chief Sundar Pichai, who have said that AI does a significant portion of work like coding in their companies.
Benioff continued, “All of us have to get our heads around this idea that AI can do things that before, you know, we were doing, and we can move on to do higher-value work.”
When the interviewer Emily Chang asked if AI could replace him one day, Benioff joked, “I hope so. I mean, of course, I'm partially kidding. You know that, but we're becoming more automated.”
According to Bloomberg, Salesforce has already let go of over 1,000 employees this year. While some may be moved into new roles, large-scale job cuts like these are becoming more common with the growing adoption of AI.
Last month, Salesforce acknowledged that its adoption of AI tools has enabled the company to scale back on recruitment. During an analyst call, chief financial and operations officer Robin Washington said the company is reducing hiring, with 500 customer service staff to be moved into other roles, an adjustment expected to save $50 million.
A few months ago, Benioff went so far as to say that the company wouldn’t be hiring any more engineers this year due to significant productivity gains from AI.
However, it is worth noting that despite the slowdown in technical hiring, the company is expanding its sales team.
As of January 31, Salesforce had a workforce of around 76,500.
