Today on World Environment Day, Salesforce reflects on its founding philosophy: that business is the greatest platform for change. In India, this core belief is brought to life through the company’s pioneering 1-1-1 model and commitment to sustainability — uniting philanthropy, employee action, and AI innovation across the region to build a more resilient and sustainable future.
This work across India aligns closely to Salesforce’s global Nature Positive Strategy goals of reducing impact, leading nature restoration at scale, and accelerating customer success, alongside the company’s ongoing commitment to understand and reduce the environmental impact of AI while delivering on its potential for good.
1-1-1 Philanthropy
When Salesforce was founded, the company committed 1% of employee time, 1% of equity, and 1% of product to giving back, rewriting the corporate mandate. More than two and a half decades later, this framework continues to drive deep local impact in India, one of the fastest-growing regions for talent, innovation, and social progress.
Arundhati Bhattacharya, President & CEO, Salesforce South Asia said, “India stands at a remarkable intersection of innovation, talent, and opportunity. As we continue to grow and transform, we must recognise that enduring progress depends on responsible stewardship of both our natural resources and our human potential. We have both the opportunity and the responsibility to build something that lasts. This World Environment Day is a reminder that growth and sustainability are not competing priorities; they must advance together.
At Salesforce, our 1-1-1 model reflects a simple belief: businesses have a responsibility to create value not only for shareholders, but for communities and the planet. In the agentic era, technology gives us an unprecedented opportunity to solve problems at scale. Its greatest promise lies not just in driving efficiency, but in helping people, communities, and organisations build a more sustainable future.”
Investing in People and Opportunity
A more sustainable future begins with equipping people with future-ready skills and economic opportunities in the green economy.
The real-world value of this training is visible in places like Dantoo village in Jharkhand. There, five Green Skills interns installed solar vendor lights and a multipurpose solar disaster system. This single initiative transformed the community’s daily life, improving night-time study conditions for more than 20 students, enhancing economic productivity for local women, and generating a cumulative ₹3,00,000 through new solar and LED repair initiatives.
Looking toward systemic scale, the Green Skills and AI Academy, a partnership with the 1M1B Foundation and Wadhwani AI, aims to train 100,000 young people and connect 15,000 directly to livelihoods within India’s growing green workforce.
Creating lasting change requires people to show up, and Salesforce employees actively contribute their time, expertise and passion through initiatives like Global Volunteer Month and volunteer time off.
Scaling Impact Through AI
Technology can help scale impact, but people remain at the centre of it.
Many nonprofits and educational institutions across India use Salesforce technology. The next chapter is harnessing agentic AI to extend their reach and impact.
Earlier this year, Salesforce launched the India cohort of the Salesforce Accelerator — Agents for Impact. The initiative provides grants, technology, and pro bono expertise to help four nonprofits, including Teach For India, Antarang Foundation, Foundation For Excellence, and Latika, build custom AI agents for education, career guidance, scholarships, and disability services. Salesforce applies this same approach to sustainability, with a nature-based Salesforce Accelerator having launched in 2025.
“At Salesforce, we believe business has both the responsibility and the ability to drive meaningful change. When technology, people, and purpose come together around a shared commitment, the impact extends far beyond what any one organisation can achieve alone. Our 1-1-1 model was built on the idea that giving back creates lasting change, and our work across India demonstrates the power of that approach in action.”
— Sunya Norman, SVP, Impact, Salesforce
Environmental Stewardship at Scale
In the Himalayas, local teams are actively backing massive re-greening and ecological repair efforts across India. Through the Himalayan Restoration Project, a partnership with the Zoo Outreach Organisation,, teams have helped restore 12 acres of degraded forest. Working hand in hand with local communities who have witnessed thinning snowfall and wildlife encroaching on their farms for decades, the initiative focuses on rebuilding the vital relationship between people and the land they depend on.
Similarly, in the Western Ghats, teams work alongside the Forest First Samithi in the Wayanad and Nagarhole region to manually uproot invasive Senna trees, freeing native ecosystems one root at a time. With Salesforce’s support, 248 acres are now under active restoration, allowing native grasses to return and providing a recovered habitat for the elephants and deer that depend on them.
This deep on-the-ground commitment is reinforced by ongoing employee action—including teams supporting local tree-planting initiatives in Gurgaon and water stewardship efforts in Bengaluru and Hyderabad—which directly aligns with and drives Salesforce’s global goals, including its commitment to help fund the conservation, restoration, or growth of 100 million trees by 2030, and its participation in the Forest Future Alliance — the broad coalition launched at the World Economic Forum in Davos to secure global forests.
Collective Impact for the Future
This World Environment Day, the message remains clear: lasting progress happens when people, communities, businesses, and technology unite around a shared purpose.
Whether through creating green livelihoods, restoring critical ecosystems, or helping organisations harness AI for good, Salesforce continues to demonstrate how people, planet, and purpose can come together to create meaningful and lasting impact.
