The technology industry loves a gold rush. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the late \u201890s, companies raced to claim their piece of the \u201cinformation superhighway,\u201d stockpiling bandwidth and investing in domain names. A decade later, the mobile revolution sparked a similar frenzy, with businesses scrambling to launch apps, regardless of whether they served a true purpose. The cloud era brought a similar rush, as organizations rapidly embraced distributed computing, often before understanding its strategic value. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, we’re seeing a similar pattern with AI<\/a> as the models that power AI solutions are becoming increasingly commoditized. Indeed, the market is flooded with large-language models (LLMs<\/a>), specialized models, and open-source alternatives, all promising better speed, lower cost, and smarter results. New entrants like DeepSeek\u2019s R1 add to the pile, fueling hype and a fear of missing out<\/a>. If CIOs aren\u2019t buying the latest and greatest or building their own specialized model, they worry the AI revolution will pass them by while competitors race ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As with past technological booms, however, the real value doesn\u2019t lie in acquiring the core technology \u2014 in this case, \u201cdo-it-yourself\u201d (DIY) AI. It lies with how you apply it to drive meaningful business outcomes. Just as the true winners of the internet era weren\u2019t those who bought the most bandwidth but those who created the most compelling digital experiences, today’s AI leaders will be those who focus on deploying digital labor within a deeply unified platform that connects AI to real-time data, logic, and workflows. <\/p>\n\n\n\n … AI leaders will be those who focus on deploying digital labor within a deeply unified platform that connects AI to real-time data, logic, and workflows. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s the approach that will end up delivering truly tangible results, and it\u2019s why the Salesforce Platform<\/a> and its agentic layer, Agentforce<\/a>, are so important. By integrating everything needed to design, develop, and deploy trusted agents, it drives automation, boosts efficiency, and transforms the customer experience \u2014 \u200cwithout unnecessary complexity. Here\u2019s a dive into why having a unified platform<\/a> is so critically important for AI rollouts that aim to unlock business value and why technology leaders need to see past the hype around models. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n