Ethics by design.

Embedding ethics into our products.

Ethics by Design is the intentional process of embedding our ethical and humane use guiding principles in the design, development, and delivery of Salesforce software and solutions, particularly when it comes to working with data.

einstein looking to the horizon with binoculars

We strive to empower our employees, partners, and Trailblazers to consider technology’s potential benefits and harms so we can build tools and features that help us navigate uncertainty, increase trust, and positively impact the world.

This process of Ethics by Design unites diverse perspectives to consider the unintended consequences of our technology, creatively problem-solve to mitigate those risks and minimize product misuse that could compromise the safety and success of our customers and all stakeholders.

At Salesforce, Ethics by Design informs our teams’ creation of trusted artificial intelligence (AI) products, as well as efforts in responsible marketing — both of which empower our customers and users to utilize data and AI responsibly.

We also support the development of ethical pandemic-response technology, such as Work.com and Vaccine Cloud, that emphasize a human-centric approach to customer service, and prevent the reinforcement of implicit biases and harmful verbiage in our technical content and code through our inclusive product language initiative.

Building with intention.

One way we enable our internal teams to consider all possible outcomes when designing and developing products and features is through leveraging Consequence Scanning, a responsible innovation methodology developed by U.K.-based think tank Doteveryone.

This process takes the form of a workshop and focuses on uniting a diverse set of perspectives to pinpoint the consequences of the technology being created — positive and negative, intended and unintended. It then provides the opportunity for the group to creatively problem-solve and take ownership to address any identified risks.

We’ve adapted this methodology to fit our needs and are sharing our learnings, resources, and tools with the public through our Build with Intention Toolkit.

Making progress through multistakeholder partnerships.

To learn more about the process of Ethics by Design, read the “Ethics by Design” report. Salesforce is a Steering Committee member of the World Economic Forum’s Responsible Use of Technology Project. This joint report examines how trust and ethics add business value and illustrates what an organizational approach to the responsible use of technology looks like.