Salesforce Layoffs: Artificial Intelligence (AI) hit cloud-based software company Salesforce has announced plans to cut over 4,000 jobs, reducing its workforce from 9,000 to 5,000 which is a nearly 45% reduction. The decision comes as AI agents now handle half of all customer interactions, reshaping the way the company delivers support services. Confirming the layoffs on the Logan Bartlett podcast, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said, “AI is taking on a larger share of customer-facing operations.”
However, the move marks a sharp turnaround from Benioff’s remarks just two months ago. In July, he told Fortune that AI was designed to support workers, not replace them, emphasizing, “the humans are not going away.” Back then, he dismissed “scary narratives” around job losses, highlighting AI’s accuracy issues and insisting that “you need the human in the loop” because “AIs can’t fact-check.”
What Is AI Agents
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It is an autonomous software program designed to perceive its environment, make decisions, and take actions to achieve specific goals without direct human intervention. These agents leverage artificial intelligence, particularly large language models and machine learning, to reason, plan, and learn from their interactions.
Furthermore, CEO Marc Benioff called it “the eight most exciting months of my career” as he described how AI technology has reshaped the company’s operations. The cloud software giant is not only applying AI in customer support but also expanding it into sales. For years, Salesforce had a backlog of over 100 million uncalled sales leads collected over 26 years. To tackle this, it introduced an “omnichannel supervisor” system that enables AI and human agents to work together—allowing AI to flag tasks that need human intervention. (Also Read: Semicon India 2025: India A Beacon Of Stability Amid Global Uncertainty, Says Ashwini Vaishnaw)
Meanwhile, the tech giants like Nvidia are joining Salesforce in deploying AI agents for critical tasks. These companies are using the technology to advance cybersecurity, software engineering, and chip design.
