​​From There’s an App to There’s an Agent: An Anti-Manifesto on How AI Is Transforming Our Lives

Fifteen years ago, Apple coined the phrase 'there's an app for that' with its iconic iPhone 3G commercial. A decade and a half later, App Store developers have generated more than $1.1 trillion in total billings and sales, demonstrating the power of an open ecosystem of choice across one easy to use platform.

The technology industry has made significant strides since the early versions of mobile phones, from the rise of social media to the creation of electric vehicles, and the increasing popularity of cloud-based software. Just as the internet was hailed as the technological breakthrough of the 20th century, artificial intelligence (AI) is already the most momentous advancement of the 21st. In less than two months, ChatGPT gained 100 million users, while Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat took two to five years to achieve the same milestone.

These days, every technology company has an ambitious AI manifesto, with lofty visions of a utopian future where autonomous technology reigns supreme. But let's take a moment to bring the conversation back down to earth. We're here to show you how AI is transforming everyday aspects of our lives in practical but meaningful ways. It's not about lofty visions of the future, it's about making your life easier - right now.

We're here to show you how AI is transforming everyday aspects of our lives in practical but meaningful ways. It's not about lofty visions of the future, it's about making your life easier - right now.

Adam Evans, SVP Product, Salesforce AI Platform

Moving from apps towards agents:

Salesforce has been making hard stuff easy for 25 years - from moving to the cloud, unlocking the potential of data, and now, delivering the power of enterprise AI. Over the past four years, we've completely reinvented the Salesforce Platform to create a modern open ecosystem for building and customizing not just apps, this time, but autonomous AI agents across one easy-to-use platform: Agentforce. In fact, Salesforce and its partners will generate more than $2 trillion in revenue by 2028, fueled by artificial intelligence.

Salesforce customers have already brought Agentforce to life by building over 10,000 autonomous agents designed to tackle specific business challenges. They learned that "if you can describe it, Agentforce can do it." Just as Apple popularized apps, we believe this is the era of "there's an agent for that."

Humans with Agents Drive Customer Success Together.

AGENTFORCE IS HERE

Agentforce's AI agents go beyond chatbots' or copilots' conversational capabilities - they take action on your behalf. Whether it's managing your schedule or resolving customer service issues, AI agents make your life easier by tackling daily challenges, not adding to them. Agents are poised to become the primary gateway for consumers engaging with their favorite brands and companies. By addressing common frustrations with today's app overload, agents will streamline interactions and redefine how consumers experience brands, setting a new standard for the future.

In countless ways, modern businesses fail to meet the expectations of consumers. Forthcoming Salesforce AI agent research reveals that consumers are spending up to nine hours trying to resolve a single issue with customer service. And nearly a third walk away from these interactions without finding a solution. Thankfully, the days of endless hold music, shouting "speak to a representative," and endless rerouting, are nearly over.

OpenTable turns to Agentforce to power customer service

​​​​Let's take everyone's favorite restaurant reservation service, OpenTable, as an example here.

Deeply integrated with Service Cloud, Agentforce will empower OpenTable's support team by autonomously handling routine tasks, such as reservation changes and loyalty point redemptions, allowing agents to focus on delivering exceptional service in more complex situations. Instead of spending months planning for every scenario and hard-coding complicated decision trees, they intend to use Agentforce's intuitive natural language prompts and point-and-click configuration.

Deeply integrated with Service Cloud, Agentforce will empower OpenTable's support team by autonomously handling routine tasks, such as reservation changes and loyalty point redemptions, allowing agents to focus on delivering exceptional service in more complex situations.

Adam Evans, SVP Product, Salesforce AI Platform

The seamless integration with Salesforce allows the team to manage data effortlessly without coding, easily adjusting which information to display or hide and focusing on key data. With everything unified in one system, the business team can now provide faster, more effective support, significantly improving satisfaction for its global customer base. OpenTable is tackling consumers' top frustrations with customer service like limited self-service options and frequent transfers between departments, highlighted by the new Salesforce research. With AI agents, these pain points are being eliminated, creating a smoother, more satisfying customer experience for the brands we know and love.

Entering an agentic world

The ways we interact with technology will continue to evolve rapidly. AI agents, like those powered by Agentforce, are already becoming an essential part of how we work, communicate, and solve real-world problems.

Despite initial skepticism about AI's role in everyday life, many consumers are ready to embrace its potential. And, according to the same research, one-third of consumers now prefer purchasing products through automated or digital means rather than interacting with a person. Nearly a third would opt for AI agents to get faster service, and 34% say they'd work with an AI agent to avoid repeating themselves. This trend is especially pronounced among Gen Z and millennials, with almost one-third already comfortable with AI shopping on their behalf.

AI agents, like those powered by Agentforce, are already becoming an essential part of how we work, communicate, and solve real-world problems.

Adam Evans, SVP Product, Salesforce AI Platform

Much like the early days of apps 15 years ago, the potential of AI agents is only just beginning to unfold. While the grand visions of AI captivate us, it's the real, tangible improvements in our daily experiences that make the biggest impact. We're at a pivotal moment where every business, CEO, manager, and employee has the chance to reimagine what it means to get work done. By embracing an agent-first approach, they can redefine their operations and stay ahead. From big purchasing decisions to everyday tasks, we can now say with confidence: There's an agent for that.

Go deeper:

• Read more on how Agentforce is inventing the future of agents

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