Salesforce CEO says 4,000 support jobs eliminated following AI adoption
What's the story
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has revealed that the company has laid off around 4,000 employees from its customer support division. The move comes as artificial intelligence (AI) agents are increasingly taking over human roles in the department. In a recent episode of the "Logan Bartlett" show, Benioff opened up about how these AI agents have helped Salesforce handle more sales leads.
Workforce reduction
Benioff rebalances support staff
Benioff said the introduction of AI agents has allowed him to "rebalance" his support staff. He revealed that the headcount in his department has been reduced from 9,000 to about 5,000 due to the efficiency brought by these digital assistants. These AI agents break down tasks into smaller steps and have significantly improved productivity at Salesforce, according to Benioff.
Increased efficiency
Over 100 million leads responded to now
Benioff noted that Salesforce had over 100 million leads it couldn't respond to in the last 26 years due to a lack of manpower. However, with the introduction of AI agents, every person contacting them is now being responded to. He explained that these digital assistants are capable of handling tasks independently but can also seek human assistance when needed.
Teamwork
AI and humans now working together
Benioff said an "omnichannel supervisor" has been introduced to facilitate collaboration between human and AI agents with customers. He revealed that currently, 50% of conversations are handled by AI while the other half is taken care of by humans. This is a major shift from last year when the balance was different.
Future prospects
Jensen Huang backs AI's role in future workforce
The rise of agentic AI has become a major talking point in the future workforce plans of tech leaders. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang is a big proponent of these digital assistants and believes they will boost, not reduce, headcount. He said that when companies become more productive with AI, it usually leads to better earnings or growth, which could mean fewer layoff announcements in the future.