Dive Brief:
- Salesforce is expecting “Agentforce,” a new high-priority artificial intelligence product, to supply a “modest contribution” to the enterprise software company’s revenue this year, departing CFO Amy Weaver said Wednesday.
- The new product is still in the early phase of getting adopted among customers, Weaver said during her final earnings call as the software provider’s finance chief.
- “We expect the momentum to build throughout the year, driving a more meaningful contribution in fiscal '27,” she said.
Dive Insight:
The news comes as Salesforce and other major tech companies continue to spend heavily on AI amid growing questions about the strength of its return-on-investment potential.
On Wednesday, Salesforce posted weaker-than-expected total revenues of $10 billion for its fiscal 2025 fourth quarter ending Jan. 31, up 8% over the year-earlier period.
For its full-year fiscal 2026, the company reported projected revenues of $40.5 billion to $40.9 billion, up 7% to 8% compared with the prior year, a forecast that fell short of analysts’ expectations.
Salesforce’s stock fell about 4% on Thursday, closing at $295 per share.
In September, the company’s venture capital division, Salesforce Ventures, announced a new $500 million AI fund, marking a total commitment of $1 billion in the space over a period of 18 months.
That announcement came just days after Salesforce unveiled Agentforce, a suite of AI “agents” designed to perform workplace tasks. At the time, CEO Marc Benioff said the company was seeking to deploy one billion agents by the end of 2025.
Since October, the company has closed more than 5,000 Agentforce deals, including 3,000 that are now paid, according to its latest earnings report.
“Our investments in this space have been deliberate and focused, and we are now starting to yield strong returns,” Weaver told investors Wednesday.
Morningstar analysts said in a Thursday client’s note that Agentforce “represents a good long-term opportunity to transition from a mostly human agent labor force to a mostly virtual agent pool over time.”
“While profitability remains a source of strength, we see a path for continued margin expansion even as the firm invests in artificial intelligence innovation,” they said.
