On October 29, Salesforce made their grand announcement that Agentforce — Salesforce’s suite of autonomous AI agents — is now generally available for customers.
For anyone that attended Dreamforce 2024, you know that Salesforce is going all in on Agentforce AI tools, marking a major milestone for the cloud AI landscape. In case you missed our Agentforce recap, check out these blog posts below to learn more:
→ Agentforce Industry Use Cases: Telecom, Media & Entertainment, and Technology
Part of this announcement from Salesforce includes the general availability of two main components of Agentforce:
Even more exciting, customers can try Agentforce for free with Salesforce Foundations, a $0 add-on for Enterprise Edition and higher. Let’s take a closer look at what features are available with Salesforce Foundations, including Agentforce AI tools and features.
Salesforce recently introduced Salesforce Foundations in September, a powerful new offering that expands the capabilities of Sales Cloud and/or Service Cloud for Enterprise Edition and higher. This comprehensive package brings together a set of Sales, Service, Marketing, Commerce, and Data Cloud features, designed to streamline operations and elevate customer engagement across the board.
Salesforce Foundations comes equipped with several new and enhanced features that are part of Salesforce’s relatively new Starter and Pro Suite products. These include capabilities like commerce payment links, email marketing, and the advanced data management and analytics functionality of Data Cloud.
These enhanced features empower businesses to leverage a wide array of tools without the need for additional purchases or data integrations — making it easier to create seamless customer experiences.
In addition to these enhanced capabilities, Salesforce Foundations also comes with Agentforce, including features such as turnkey agents for Sales and Service, Agent Builder, Prompt Builder, Model Builder, and Data Cloud. As an added benefit, Salesforce Foundations offers credits that cover the first 1,000 interactions with Agentforce Service Agent, giving businesses the opportunity to “try before they buy.”
Previously, many of these advanced AI tools were available only through more expensive licenses, such as the Sales Cloud Einstein license, which costs $50 per user per month as an add-on, or the Einstein 1 Sales license at $500 per user per month.
With Salesforce Foundations, companies with Enterprise Edition or higher can now access these powerful AI tools and features without the hefty price tag, allowing them to customize AI agents for various industry use cases and gain a competitive edge.
To provision the the Agentforce and Foundations SKU, you will need to ensure these products are added to your cart:
After the provisioning is complete, you will need to make sure that prerequisites are met such as turning on Einstein as well as Einstein Copilot for Salesforce.
Need help making Agentforce work for your business or have questions about the setup process? Our team of experts is here to help. Building an effective Agentforce Agent or "bot" requires more than just technical know-how — it demands a strategic approach that balances creativity and practical AI deployment.
While AI has made impressive strides in understanding and responding to conversations, it still faces challenges in ensuring interactions are relevant and meaningful. This makes it crucial to work with a skilled partner that understands both the nuances of AI and the specific needs of your business.
While Salesforce is making it much easier to customize and deploy AI with “low-code” or “no-code” tools, there are still some core concepts that your implementation team will need to have in their toolbelt, such as:
Our Agentforce Quickstart offering is a great way to get started with Salesforce AI tools in weeks, not months compared to the expensive DIY approach to AI.
Our Agentforce Quickstart is designed to help you identify an Agentforce use case to help you achieve your business goals — whether that be improving your case deflection rate with a Service Agent or engaging with prospects 24/7 with an SDR Agent.
“Every company we work with knows they need to get started in some form or another with AI Agents in order to not fall behind their competitors. We put together this offer to be an easy first step that is low in effort, but gets momentum moving in the right direction.”
— Hunter Austin, Kelley Austin Managing Partner
We’ll identify key areas of opportunity where your business may benefit from an Agent, as well as suggest enhancements to existing automation in your Salesforce org. Our Agentforce Quickstart includes the Implementation and Activation of a single Agent based on specified use case.
→ Reach out to get started with our Agentforce Quickstart today!
The not-so-short answer to this question is yes and no. While Agentforce does require that Data Cloud is set up, this doesn’t necessarily mean a full Data Cloud implementation. Setting up Data Cloud can be done by provisioning the $0 Data Cloud SKU in your org. Customers with Enterprise Edition or higher can get started with Data Cloud at no cost.
Our Data Cloud Use Case Viability Review is a great way to get started with Data Cloud. This collaborative process allows us to develop a tailored Point of View (POV) specific to your organization’s needs. At the end of the engagement, we’ll provide an Executive Summary Readout, showcasing a sample created with the free version of Data Cloud. Additionally, you'll receive a comprehensive Data Cloud Roadmap, outlining how your business can unlock the full potential of Data Cloud.
We’ve helped companies across industries, including a High Tech and Healthcare company, develop strategic use cases for how Data Cloud can benefit their business and drive growth.
→ Download our Data Cloud Use Case Viability Review One Pager
With Data Cloud, organizations can harmonize both structured (e.g. a Salesforce record) and unstructured data (e.g. emails, social media posts, etc.) from across their enterprise, ensuring that Agentforce Agents have access to all the relevant information they need. The Vector Database in Data Cloud makes processing all that unstructured data possible.
Data Cloud connects and unifies customer data, making it easily accessible and digestible for LLMs. Getting great (and accurate) results with generative AI chat apps like ChatGPT can be tough. That’s where RAG comes in. With the new RAG functionality, users can upload files and URLs as additional data sources, giving agents real-time insights.
RAG is an AI technique that allows companies to automatically embed their most current and relevant proprietary data directly into their LLM prompt. RAG can retrieve all types of unstructured data that helps AI give better answers, from operating procedures to product specifications to installation instructions, and more.
For example, when a customer contacts Agentforce, Data Cloud's RAG capabilities pull context from past emails, support tickets, product photos, and other sources, allowing agents to provide personalized, accurate resolutions. Data Cloud’s hybrid search can find the best knowledge articles and help agents determine the next steps, like automating follow-up emails or responses.
So while a full Data Cloud implementation isn't necessarily required to get started with AI Agents, adding Data Cloud to your Salesforce tool box is key to leveraging the full potential of Agentforce.
As Salesforce continues to push the boundaries of AI-driven innovation, the general availability of Agentforce marks a transformative moment for businesses across industries.
Whether you’re looking to enhance customer service, automate sales processes, or create personalized marketing campaigns, Agentforce’s autonomous AI agents provide the tools to drive real impact. Coupled with the power of Data Cloud, businesses can harness the full potential of their data, ensuring that their AI agents deliver smarter, more efficient solutions.
With Salesforce Foundations making it easier and more cost-effective to get started, there’s never been a better time to explore how Agentforce can elevate your business. Reach out to learn how our Agentforce Quickstart package can help you take the first step toward a more AI-powered future.
At Kelley Austin we're proud to provide tailored Salesforce solutions across a variety of industries. Our expert knowledge and many years of experience in all aspects of the Salesforce ecosystem have earned us high levels of satisfaction from our clients.
We're ready to find the right solutions for your industry today.