Generative AI is already disrupting the consumer experience, but companies are still racing to figure out how to apply these innovations to the workplace – and the pressure is mounting. Sixty-two percent of workers say generative AI will require a new set of skills at work; at the same time, 80% of employers say generative AI will increase revenue.
This is not the next tech bubble – it’s already having real business implications. As AI continues to disrupt every industry and role, it’s the responsibility of employers to help prepare their workforce for the jobs of the future.
At Salesforce, we’re using data, AI, CRM, and trust to help our customers transform — and we’re customer zero. Earlier this year, we recognized the impact AI will have on our business, so we quickly stood up an AI Council with leaders across IT, product, ethics, legal, and trust, to help give our employees access to new technology in a way that’s innovative, responsible, and trusted. With their support, we’re enhancing critical areas of the employee experience to unlock new levels of productivity and accelerate customer success.
Reimagining how we hire with AI and automation
Recruiting is no longer about choosing the best talent among applicants. With assistance from AI, we’re exploring new ways to source the planet for talent – proactively finding candidate matches, as well as identifying the best talent among those who do apply.
With assistance from AI, we’re exploring new ways to source the planet for talent – proactively finding candidate matches, as well as identifying the best talent among those who do apply.
AI can help us match potential candidates to roles based on leads from our recruiting events, career website, social channels, and more — so those who have shown interest in our brand can be the first to know about new openings at Salesforce. At the same time, we’re using AI to help surface the right talent for the right job based on the skills of those who do apply. Last year, we got more than 2 million job applications, so it’s helping us identify top talent that we may have missed otherwise.
We’re taking this a step further by creating a talent marketplace for current employees to match them with open roles, learning, and mentorship opportunities based on their skills and career interests. And it will proactively serve up opportunities at critical times, so employees can continue to grow their career at Salesforce.
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When you hone in on skills and core competencies, you remove traditional barriers like direct technology industry experience and a college degree, which creates new pathways for top talent. It’s a win-win: employers can find and retain the best and brightest, and applicants have more equitable access into technology careers.
AI has augmented the way we find top talent, but we will always have people be the final decision makers.
Preparing our workforce for future jobs
We are reimagining how we develop and train every part of our organization.
We started with the first entrypoint into our company: internships. This year, our Futureforce summer internship and Tech Launchpad pre-internship programs focused on AI training and curriculum with projects focusing on Einstein, and building generative models, such as image content generation for Marketing Cloud.
We also offer AI reskilling and learning opportunities with Trailhead. In fact, for the first time, the entire company is tasked with reaching Ranger status – or completing roughly 100 courses, including these AI courses – on Trailhead by the end of the year.
It goes beyond reskilling. Through our programs, products, and processes, we’re creating a culture of continuous learning, so employees stay ahead of the curve.
Leveraging AI to support employees through moments that matter
Today, we launched Ask Concierge, an AI-powered employee support bot that is built on Slack and integrated with Service Cloud to provide employees easier access to company information and help.
It supports employees through moments that matter throughout their career — from onboarding to benefits, and everything in between.
In 2015, we introduced a searchable knowledge base and ticketing system, called Concierge, so employees could find solutions and get support when they need it. Now, with Ask Concierge, employees can ask questions naturally (no clunky keywords), and it will generate relevant responses, specific to the employee’s country or region, without employees having to cull through dozens of search results. Best of all, the app learns from employee feedback to improve and personalize future responses. And since it’s built on Slack, employees don’t have to leave their productivity platform to get their questions answered.
Best of all, the app learns from employee feedback to improve and personalize future responses.
Unlocking new levels of alignment and performance with AI
This year, we transformed our annual business planning process, called the V2MOM, by bringing together previously disconnected processes into a single “Performance Headquarters” to drive greater alignment among our 70,000 employees worldwide.
This Performance HQ, built on our Customer 360, brings together each employee’s V2MOM, their quarterly check-ins, individual development plans, and performance evaluations — processes that were previously disconnected. With all of this data in one place, we will be able to leverage generative AI to help create V2MOMs that are more closely aligned across the business, and goals that are more measurable. And with Slack, employees can add and edit goals, and get notifications on any necessary actions directly within the platform they already use for work.
This allows managers to measure and standardize performance, ultimately creating more equitable recognition based on data.
The workplace is continuously changing, and employers must evolve to help employees — and ultimately our customers — be successful.
More information
- Learn more about Salesforce AI here
- Read more news and stories from Dreamforce 2023
