Ready to Uplevel Your Service? Meet the New Wave of AI Agents

Here’s the reality: Customers want fast, flawless service, but your team is stuck using outdated tools while costs keep climbing.

Our research finds that 82% of service reps say customer expectations are higher than ever. Yet those same reps are buried in repetitive tasks, toggling between systems, and struggling to keep up as response times rise and customer satisfaction scores dip.

The old approach — hiring more staff and making customers wait on hold with 20 minutes of soft jazz — isn’t just outdated. It’s broken and costly.

That’s where digital labor like Agentforce comes in. These AI agents aren’t here to replace human service — they’re here to make it better. Powered by your own data and operating within your trusted guardrails, Agentforce handles both routine and complex cases, delivers accurate, personalized answers, and knows exactly when to hand things off to a human.

With the latest generation of AI agents powered by Agentforce, your team can focus on what they do best: solving meaningful problems and building stronger customer relationships. The payoff? Lower costs, faster resolutions, and better experiences across the board. Let’s take a closer look.

What you’ll learn:

• Why AI matters now more than ever
• Getting started with AI in service
• The next wave of Agentforce is here

Why AI matters now more than ever

Let’s be honest‌ — ‌every business leader is looking at their bottom line. But service leaders face a different reality. They’re not optimizing costs in a vacuum. Their business is built on human connection, understanding a customer’s frustration, and showing genuine care when things go wrong.

Every efficiency gain in service has to preserve ‌ — hopefully even enhance ‌ — ‌ the human element that customers‌ value. Our research finds 88% of customers say good service makes them likely to return as customers. That means tomorrow’s success rests on today’s service. 

Your customers don’t care that you’re juggling budgets or dealing with staffing challenges. They want answers fast, solutions that work, and interactions that feel personal. That’s a tall order when your team is already stretched thin. AI agents powered by Agentforce offer a solution that meets customer expectations and cost goals — a rarity that now possible. They don’t just slash operational costs — they elevate the entire customer service experience.

AI changes the game

AI flips the script entirely. Agentforce can take care of routine and complex issues, pull up customer history to personalize responses, and work 24/7 without burning out. But here’s the kicker‌ — they’re there to help your reps to do their jobs better, not replace them.

Agentforce gives reps the info they need, right when they need it. It accesses past conversations, suggests next steps, surfaces relevant knowledge base articles, and even drafts responses — so reps aren’t left scrambling. That means less time spent digging, and more time actually helping customers.

When reps have that kind of time and focus, they can dig into the work that truly makes an impact — tackling complex issues, strengthening customer relationships, and finding new ways to add value. And it matters: 85% of service leaders say their teams are now expected to drive a greater share of revenue.

The pressure is real

Organizations today face a perfect storm. Customer expectations are higher while economic pressures demand efficiency and cost control. In this world of staffing shortages and tight budgets, Agentforce delivers the digital support teams need to stay efficient and responsive.

We’ve seen the impact firsthand ourselves. Salesforce’s Help page has more than 740,000 articles — a valuable but vast resource that can be challenging to navigate quickly. Agentforce understands the problem and takes action, surfacing the right answers in a natural, conversational way — and it’s working. So far, it’s resolved 83% of cases without any human assistance.

Bridging the trust gap 

Questions surrounding AI agents are worth taking seriously. Can the technology actually represent your brand properly? Can it provide the same level of support your customers expect? These aren’t unreasonable concerns ‌ — ‌ they’re smart questions that deserve real answers.

Agentforce taps into real-time data from Salesforce and other systems through Data Cloud, so it gets the full picture of your customer’s journey and delivers personalized service at scale. This means it understands case context, knows your customers, and can tell when it’s time to bring in a human. It’s not here to replace your customer service voice — it’s here to amplify it. And even when a human rep isn’t involved, you can count on Agentforce to keep the service experience feeling just right.

What makes Agentforce really stand out, though, are the guardrails in place that protect your data. Agentforce is committed to maintaining the highest standards of data security and privacy, using advanced encryption methods to protect data both in transit and at rest. A key part of how Salesforce works differently ‌is the trust layer that guards your data. (Back to top)

Getting started with AI in service

You’re sold on AI. Now it’s time to turn that excitement into action. With the right approach, organizations can move from idea to implementation with confidence, building momentum step by step..

Success with AI is about having the right building blocks in place. Get the following fundamentals right, and AI can become a workforce multiplier for your team.

Knowledge and data

Your AI is only as smart as the data you give it. That includes both structured and unstructured data. Structured data like case records and product info helps with clear context. Unstructured data — things like chat transcripts, emails, and notes — captures the real conversation. Interaction data is especially valuable because it shows how customers actually communicate and what they need. That’s why it’s so important to ground your AI in a solid knowledge base and connect it to your customer service management platform, so it has full context for every interaction.

Think of your knowledge base as your AI’s training manual. The better organized your information is, the smarter your AI becomes. This means keeping customer and product information current, and making sure your knowledge base reflects the latest in your service practices.

For instance, in Service Cloud, AI agents get a complete view of each customer relationship. That’s how you go from generic responses to conversations with Agentforce that feel genuinely helpful.

Building on what you have

AI isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. Some organizations have the data and systems in place to go full throttle. If that’s not you, don’t worry. There’s an on-ramp for everyone.

Take a regional utilities provider that uses a knowledge management system to help reps handle service outages and billing questions. With Agentforce, an AI agent can tap into that same knowledge base to guide customers through self-service — like checking outage status or updating payment methods — and escalate to a human when needed. The customer experience stays consistent, but it’s quicker for customers and takes pressure off the support team

No matter where you’re starting, you’re not starting from scratch. AI is all about augmenting your existing processes, not replacing them entirely. Your current processes ‌ lay the foundation of AI for customer service. 

Platform power

Here’s where the Salesforce platform changes the game. Instead of cobbling together disconnected tools and hoping they work together, you get a fully integrated ecosystem. AI agents can access everything they need across Service Cloud, Sales Cloud, and Marketing Cloud — from customer data and case histories to product catalogs and support articles. It’s all connected in one metadata-driven platform, giving your AI the full context to deliver smarter, faster service. 

This integration is what makes AI agents built with Agentforce so effective in the flow of work. Agentforce shows up in the critical moments that make or break customer experiences. When a complex case needs to be transferred, AI-powered tools like Work Summaries provide contextual information so the receiving agent knows exactly what’s happening. When a rep is troubleshooting a technical issue, Service Rep Assistant can surface relevant solutions in real-time.

With Service Cloud, AI agents do more than just respond. They’re powered by the full Salesforce platform to understand context, personalize every interaction, and offer smart recommendations based on a complete view of the customer.

Elevating your team

The best part about AI agents providing much-needed digital labor? Your customer service reps get to be problem-solvers again. Instead of reading scripts for password resets, they’re handling complex technical issues, managing escalated situations, and building relationships with high-value customers.

As your reps prepare themselves for this next phase of work, consider free online training from resources like Trailhead to sharpen their AI skills. Invite them to join the Serviceblazer Community on Slack where they can meet other service professionals learning to work with this new technology. (Back to top)

The next wave of Agentforce is here

The most exciting part of this transformation isn’t theoretical ‌ — ‌ it’s happening right now. New AI tools are launching that make sophisticated customer service automation accessible to organizations of any size. 

Agentforce for Service

Agentforce for Service is our new and improved AI solution tailor-made for service organizations, providing AI-powered assistance along every step of the customer journey. Tools to manage customer inquiries, track service requests, and ensure that customer issues are resolved efficiently, Agentforce for Service is perfect for businesses that need to enhance their customer service capabilities and provide a seamless support experience.

Let’s consider this customer experience to envision Agentfore for Service in action:

1. Customers are met with self-service powered by Agentforce across every customer service channel from your website and mobile app to SMS, chat, and voice.
2. Escalating to a human? Agentforce automatically escalates to the right rep with Case Classification and Case Routing.
3. Conversation Catch-up gets the rep up to speed and Service Rep Assistant delivers a multi-step action plan grounded in case data, customer history, and knowledge.
4. As the rep works on the case, they receive intelligent, personalized recommendations in their company’s approved tone through Service Replies and Service Email Assistant. 
5. If the customer has a unique but complex question, the rep pivots to Slack where an internal Employee Agent helps triage the case.
6. Success! The rep resolves and closes the ticket with Case Wrap Up and Summaries.

This isn’t just automation‌ — ‌it’s an orchestration of every moment that matters in customer service. 

Agentforce for Service works right in the flow — with embedded actions and an intuitive, agentic experience built for getting things done. And with Agentforce for Service, you get unlimited access to the new internal Employee Agent. This next evolution delivers an AI assistant for your reps that’s always on, 24/7. 

Agentforce

Agentforce is Salesforce’s comprehensive cross-cloud agentic platform that brings AI agents to every part of your business operations. It’s the umbrella solution that powers intelligent automation across sales, marketing, commerce, and beyond.

While Agentforce for Service focuses specifically on transforming your customer support operations with purpose-built service agents, Agentforce itself extends that same agentic intelligence across your entire Salesforce ecosystem. Or more simply: Agentforce for Service handles your customers. Agentforce handles everything else.

Agentforce 1 Service Edition

Agentforce 1 Service Edition gives you everything you need to scale AI across your customer service operation — all in one seamless package. It brings together Agentforce with Sales and Service Cloud, so your team can manage and automate customer interactions across channels without juggling disconnected tools or worrying about usage caps on allotments. Every feature is available whenever you need it, with the flexibility to scale AI across your team, hassle-free.

Here’s what’s inside:

• Agentforce for Service: Support your reps with predictive and generative AI built right into their workflow to offer real-time suggestions, draft responses, and help to close out cases efficiently.
• Self-Service: Use AI agents on your website or customer portal. so customers can find answers and resolve issues on their own, anytime they need help — even at 3:00 a.m. on a major holiday.
• Digital Engagement: Extend your support to messaging apps like SMS, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger, so customers can connect with you on the customer service channels they already use.
• Service Cloud Voice: Use AI in your voice channels to handle high call volumes and assist customers in real time.
• Sales & Service Cloud Unlimited Edition: Use the full power of Salesforce CRM across your teams. AI agents can tap into unified customer data to deliver more personalized, context-aware support.
• Slack for Service: Make collaboration seamless with tools like case swarming and built-in access to the, helping your team solve problems faster together.
• Feedback Management: Gather feedback at key points in the customer journey and turn it into actionable insights to continuously improve service quality.
• Customer Experience Intelligence: Get a clear view of trends, performance metrics, and customer sentiment to help your team understand what’s working and where to optimize.
• Data Cloud: Connect customer data from across your systems in real time, so AI agents have the context they need to respond quickly and accurately.
• Tableau Next: Help teams visualize performance, spot trends, and take real-time action to improve customer service with AI-powered insights from Tableau Next, built right into Service Cloud.

With Agentforce 1 Service Edition, your team gets everything it needs to deliver personalized, efficient service at scale — powered by AI, grounded in trust, and built to grow with you.

The right time, the right partner

When your team gets the intelligence they need, your customers get the experience they deserve. And your organization gets the competitive edge that comes from making both possible.

Salesforce is continuously innovating based on customer feedback and customer success. Our current slate of AI agents — through Agentforce – usher in faster response times, higher customer satisfaction scores, and teams that can focus on their customers. The next wave of AI agents is here. Organizations that move now aren’t just implementing new technology — they’re positioning themselves to lead in an era where exceptional service defines competitive advantage. (Back to top)