Mark Benioff, CEO of Salesforce Inc. (NYSE:CRM), refuted the “software bears” who predict a bleak future for the software industry.
Benioff’s rebuttal on X, on Monday, comes amid the impressive performance by Agentforce at Pearson and PenFed. At Pearson, Agentforce has been autonomously managing order statuses, refunds, and lost access codes, leading to a 40% increase in customer queries resolved without human intervention, as reported by Pearson’s VP, Gabriele Bauman.
Similarly, at PenFed, Agentforce has been instrumental in handling password resets and account unlocks for employees, resulting in a 40% reduction in total IT tickets, according to Shree Reddy, EVP & CIO at PenFed.
Benioff underscored that these results validate the Agentic Enterprise’s ability to deliver tangible ROI today, and not just hype. He referred to it as “Agenticware”, not Software.
Benioff Defends AI Transformation
Benioff’s Salesforce has been facing challenges, with Wall Street predicting a potential downfall for the enterprise software company due to the rise of artificial intelligence. The business model of Salesforce, which involves selling software to large companies on a per-employee basis, is expected to be impacted as AI agents become more proficient at performing real-world tasks.
Despite fears of "SaaSpocalypse" and over a 28% decline in Salesforce’s stock since the beginning of this year, Benioff remains optimistic. He believes that AI is enhancing Salesforce’s value to its customers. He also asserts that leading AI labs couldn’t replace what Salesforce offers in terms of security, compliance, and other essential features, and would rather partner with him.
Benioff, in his interview with the Wall Street Journal, stated, “People think we have our back against the wall when in fact the opportunity has never been greater.”
On Wednesday, Salesforce Inc. announced Headless 360, moving to an API-first model that enables AI agents and humans to run workflows across data, apps, and business logic, even as the broader software sector faced a selloff. Headless 360 exposes Salesforce Customer 360 stack via APIs and tools, enabling AI agents to operate in coding environments like Anthropic‘s Claude Code and Cursor. It also adds an Agent Fabric layer for governance and orchestration across AI systems.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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