{"id":88715,"date":"2025-07-24T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=88715"},"modified":"2025-08-22T09:56:43","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T16:56:43","slug":"ai-agent-customer-service-salesforce-learnings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/stories\/ai-agent-customer-service-salesforce-learnings\/","title":{"rendered":"When AI Agents Join the Customer Support Team: Lessons From a Successful In-House Test Case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-shadow-box is-style-takeaways\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-black-color has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-471ecb11ca02c2e7ea813f9dd3857484\" id=\"h-key-takeaways\">Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Key learnings from Salesforce\u2019s \u201ccustomer zero\u201d experience on deploying Agentforce on its Help site include the importance of continuous AI agent training, the need for curated content over sheer volume for better AI responses, and the value of establishing conversational and empathetic AI personalities.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>The initiative emphasizes a hybrid workforce model where AI and humans collaborate, with a focus on seamless handoffs for nuanced issues and a proactive approach to customer engagement.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>When AI agents join a workforce, they bring a host of new abilities. They\u2019re fluent in multiple languages. They can handle thousands of conversations simultaneously without missing a beat. And they\u2019re available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet despite these admirable traits, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/agentforce\/ai-agents\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AI agents<\/a>, like any early-career employee, still make the occasional misstep \u2014 giving the wrong answers or striking the wrong tone. Fortunately, like most employees, they can be taught.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Salesforce learned this firsthand as \u201ccustomer zero\u201d for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/agentforce\/?d=cta-body-promo-8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Agentforce<\/a>, the company\u2019s digital labor platform. Starting in fall 2024, select Salesforce customers logging on to <a href=\"http:\/\/help.salesforce.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">help.salesforce.com<\/a> to ask a question or troubleshoot a problem had the option of working with a digital help agent built on the Agentforce platform.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ten months after its debut, Agentforce is handling 45,000 conversations per week \u2014 more than 1 million in all by early July \u2014 with resolution rates in the 85% range. The numbers continue to rise week by week.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"contextual-driver has-text-align-left contextual-driver--watercliff\">\n\t<header class=\"tidbit-header\">\n\t\t<h2 class=\"tidbit-head\">\n\t\t\t1 Million Support Requests Handled by Agentforce, and We\u2019re Just Getting Started.\t\t<\/h2>\n\t<\/header>\n\t<div class=\"tidbit-body\">\n\t\t<p><\/p>\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"tidbit-link label\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"label has-right-arrow has-right-arrow--small\" href=\"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/blog\/support-requests-agentforce\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t<span>READ THE ANNOUNCEMENT<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 10\">\n\t<path d=\"M13.92 5.38a1 1 0 000-.76.9.9 0 00-.17-.26.25.25 0 000-.07l-4-4a1 1 0 00-1.46 1.42L10.59 4H1.07a1 1 0 000 2h9.52l-2.3 2.29a1 1 0 000 1.42 1 1 0 001.42 0l4-4a.25.25 0 000-.07.9.9 0 00.21-.26z\" \/>\n<\/svg>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img class=\"tidbit img-watercliff\"\n\t\tsrcset=\"\n\t\t\thttps:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/wp-content\/themes\/newsroom\/assets\/images\/article-tidbit-watercliff-large@0.5x.png 84w,\n\t\t\thttps:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/wp-content\/themes\/newsroom\/assets\/images\/article-tidbit-watercliff-large@1x.png 168w,\n\t\t\thttps:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/wp-content\/themes\/newsroom\/assets\/images\/article-tidbit-watercliff-large@2x.png 336w\n\t\t\"\n\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/wp-content\/themes\/newsroom\/assets\/images\/article-tidbit-watercliff-large@1x.png\"\n\t\talt=\"Illustration of watercliff\"\n\t\tsizes=\"(min-width:1024px) 175px, 130px\"\n\t>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n\n\n\n<p>True, that remains only a small fraction of the 3 to 4 million visits to the Saleforce Help site every month. And yet, by resolving transactional queries, the AI agents are ensuring that humans can focus on the more relationship-driven, nuanced work that people are best at.<br><br>That dynamic extends beyond the support team. \u201cMy need for headcount has not diminished as the result of AI,\u201d said Zachary Stauber, Senior Director of Agentforce Data &amp; AI within the company\u2019s Digital Success group, who was a key member of the launch team.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat has significantly changed, though, is I no longer need to hire people to handle menial tasks\u201d and can instead hire people to focus on work more valuable to the overall business.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Critically, Salesforce\u2019s agentic customer service implementation is answering key questions that all types of businesses and organizations may have in these early days of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/agentforce\/what-is-agentic-ai\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">agentic AI<\/a> era. What does it take to successfully onboard an AI agent? How do you coach a digital co-worker through its mistakes? And what skills do managers need in a truly hybrid workforce, where people and AI work side by side?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The key to good management, Salesforce learned, is understanding how to bring out AI agents\u2019 best\u200c \u2014 \u200cand use them to better serve customers. As AI agents grow more capable, success will hinge on how well organizations collaborate in a transformation that\u2019s not just technical but also requires a shift in thinking and in culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-art-of-training-digital-colleagues\"><strong>The art of training digital colleagues<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>After months of planning that began in mid-2024, the Salesforce Customer Support team had mapped out a carefully staged, four-week rollout of its new AI agent\u200c \u2014 \u200cbaby steps with limited exposure and extensive monitoring.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIn our first week, we limited our rollout to only 10% of authenticated users, which gave us fewer than 150 conversations to sift through manually,\u201d said Stauber, who had been part of a small launch team inside the company\u2019s Customer Success group. \u201cWe were really nervous. All of us were like, \u2018How is this going to work?\u2019\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These early conversations made clear that coaching \u200cAI agents would require human oversight \u2014 \u200cthe digital equivalent of on-the-job learning.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When customers chose the agent, most of the time Agentforce met their needs. But not always. When customers mentioned needing help with their \u201clive chat\u201d or a product name like \u201cDigital Engagement,\u201d Agentforce grew confused. Rather than providing guidance on those actual services, the AI agent thought users were demanding to speak with a human \u201csupport engineer\u201d (Salesforce\u2019s term for its thousands-strong corps of customer service experts).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another time, Agentforce recommended a competitor\u2019s product to a Salesforce customer. Not exactly the response you\u2019d hope for from your support team. The solution seemed simple: Add instructions that stopped the AI agent from doing that. But then it overcorrected by refusing to answer a customer\u2019s questions about integrating Microsoft Teams because it had been told not to discuss competitors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another early glitch: The team had instructed Agentforce to respond too restrictively, blocking even legitimate questions. So the team shifted to a \u201ccoaching\u201d rather than \u201cprescribing\u201d methodology. Instead of saying \u201cdon\u2019t mention competitors,\u201d for example, they instructed the agents to \u201cact in the best interest of Salesforce.\u201d It was as simple as deciding to \u201clet the LLM be an LLM\u201d rather than treating it like a traditional chatbot with binary rules.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Those hiccups seemed to confirm the wisdom of the launch team\u2019s decision to take a cautious approach in the early going. \u201cWe wanted to have extreme oversight over the experience,\u201d said Emily Winslow, Director of Agentforce Data &amp; AI.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But by the time CEO Marc Benioff checked in on the effort\u2019s progress a few weeks after the launch, mistakes were rare enough that he encouraged the team to scale more quickly.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMarc\u2019s feedback was very clear: You guys are being too conservative,\u201d recalled Bernard Slowey, SVP of Digital Success at Salesforce. \u201cHe was like, \u2018This technology is here, so let\u2019s get it out there and then let\u2019s learn from it.\u2019\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With that mandate, the traditional approach of extensive testing and gradual rollouts gave way to rapid iteration and real-time learning. \u201cOur roadmap is in days and weeks, not quarters,\u201d Slowey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There were also pleasant surprises in those first months. \u201cWe were ready to go in and start debugging, but that wasn\u2019t necessary \u2014 which was kind of cool,\u201d Stauber said. It wasn\u2019t bugs that needed fixing. Instead, the work involved continued training of the agent, including fine-tuning agent instructions after observing real customer interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"contextual-driver has-text-align-left contextual-driver--evergreen\">\n\t<header class=\"tidbit-header\">\n\t\t<h2 class=\"tidbit-head\">\n\t\t\tHow My Team is Working With AI Agents \u2014 and Why You Should Too.\t\t<\/h2>\n\t<\/header>\n\t<div class=\"tidbit-body\">\n\t\t<p><\/p>\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"tidbit-link label\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"label has-right-arrow has-right-arrow--small\" href=\"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/blog\/start-working-with-ai\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t<span>FIND OUT<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 10\">\n\t<path d=\"M13.92 5.38a1 1 0 000-.76.9.9 0 00-.17-.26.25.25 0 000-.07l-4-4a1 1 0 00-1.46 1.42L10.59 4H1.07a1 1 0 000 2h9.52l-2.3 2.29a1 1 0 000 1.42 1 1 0 001.42 0l4-4a.25.25 0 000-.07.9.9 0 00.21-.26z\" \/>\n<\/svg>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img class=\"tidbit img-evergreen\"\n\t\tsrcset=\"\n\t\t\thttps:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/wp-content\/themes\/newsroom\/assets\/images\/article-tidbit-evergreen-large@0.5x.png 84w,\n\t\t\thttps:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/wp-content\/themes\/newsroom\/assets\/images\/article-tidbit-evergreen-large@1x.png 168w,\n\t\t\thttps:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/wp-content\/themes\/newsroom\/assets\/images\/article-tidbit-evergreen-large@2x.png 336w\n\t\t\"\n\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/wp-content\/themes\/newsroom\/assets\/images\/article-tidbit-evergreen-large@1x.png\"\n\t\talt=\"Illustration of evergreen\"\n\t\tsizes=\"(min-width:1024px) 175px, 130px\"\n\t>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n\n\n\n<p>Stauber and his co-workers were also relieved to learn how much <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/data\/?d=cta-body-promo-8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Data Cloud\u200c<\/a> \u2014 \u200cSalesforce\u2019s solution for unifying disparate data across different sources\u200c so agents can use it \u2014 \u200csimplified deployment. The team \u201chydrated\u201d content from the developer portal \u2014 brought it in to Data Cloud \u2014 to address some of the gaps in the agent\u2019s responses. \u201cIt really changed how we think about building AI,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re so used to stitching together APIs and data sources. But suddenly everything we needed was just there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even so, early on, the AI agent wasn\u2019t able to respond when developers asked more technical questions. But that proved a shortcoming in the instructions rather than a limitation of the machine; no one had yet fed the agent the more technical documentation.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s no different in our heads than training one of our regular support engineers,\u201d Stauber said. \u201cIf you get a human on the phone and they don\u2019t have that piece of information, they can\u2019t answer the question.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet the solution wasn\u2019t simply giving Agentforce access to every last technical document. The team learned this lesson when a customer asked about a recent software update \u2014 and Agentforce referenced outdated release notes from 2018.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Slowey said these issues were likely due to \u201ccontent collisions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen there\u2019s too many articles about the same thing, you have poor content hygiene,\u201d he said. \u201cUltimately, we had to use agents to cull through content and clean it up, and if a piece of content hadn\u2019t been used in a year, we deleted it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a common misconception that with AI, more content equals better answers,\u201d Stauber said. \u201cThe reality is that more curated content equals better answers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-shaping-agentic-personalities\"><strong>Shaping agentic personalities<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Winslow, who spent hours each day reading Agentforce transcripts in those early weeks, was struck by one unexpected pattern: the depth of the conversations she was reading. \u201cWe saw much longer conversations than we anticipated \u2014 eight turns, 10 turns, with follow-up questions.\u201d The extended dialogues, she said, were \u201can early indication that this is something completely new.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The team also noticed that customers evidently felt more comfortable being vulnerable with an AI agent.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cCustomers are more willing to ask Agentforce questions that they might hesitate to ask a human support engineer, likely out of fear of judgment or embarrassment,\u201d Slowey said. \u201cIt feels less intimidating to most people.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Customers are more willing to ask Agentforce questions that they might hesitate to ask a human support engineer, likely out of fear of judgment or embarrassment. It feels less intimidating to most people.<\/p>\n<cite>Bernard Slowey, SVP of Digital Success at Salesforce<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet, in the early weeks, something was clearly missing from Agentforce\u2019s responses. \u201cThere was a very specific way that a human support engineer would display empathy for a customer\u2019s issues and reassure them,\u2019\u2019 Winslow said, \u201cand Agentforce did none of that.\u201d The AI was mimicking the clinical tone of technical documentation, not the conversational human voice Salesforce wanted to project. This was unacceptable for a company that prides itself on its customer relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-media-wrapping-container\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-media-wrapping-container\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-style-media-wrapping-container\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p>\u201cIt all felt too robotic,\u201d Stauber said, \u201clike it was completely scripted, even though it was 100% generative.\u201d The first step toward fixing that, he said, was to drop the team\u2019s deterministic mindset and \u201cjust let Agentforce be Agentforce.\u201d In other words, the team needed to resist the tendency to over-engineer and constrain the AI\u2019s responses. Soon, the AI agent began responding more like its human co-workers, providing more conversational and varied \u2014 but accurate \u2014 responses, rather than identical, scripted answers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"3 Tips to Set Up Your AI Agent | Agentforce Insider\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MtAnA6KZXQw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, even more work was needed to make Agentforce sound more natural and empathetic. And so, as Step 2, this past spring, the team hired seasoned conversational designer Hilary Hayes\u200c \u2014 \u200cwhose background includes nearly a decade in user experience (UX) and industrial design\u200c \u2014 \u200cto help bring what she calls \u201cmore heart\u201d to Agentforce.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was already doing a great job with left-brain tasks \u2014 retrieving facts, making connections, surfacing detail,\u201d Hayes said. \u201cWhat I\u2019m focused on is [what in humans we call] right brain: voice, tone, empathy. How does it greet users? Does it have a sense of humor?\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Her expertise is becoming even more essential as the Customer Support team works to give Agentforce voice capabilities\u200c \u2014 \u200cthe ability to listen and speak\u200c \u2014 \u200cin the coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPart of my role may be shaping the actual voice \u2014 synthetic or otherwise \u2014 that people hear when they interact with Agentforce,\u201d Hayes said. Her role is another reminder that deploying AI agents isn\u2019t just about technology. It\u2019s also about creating digital personalities that align with a company\u2019s values and customer service standards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-human-factor\"><strong>The human factor<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>As it turned out, the most delicate part of bringing Agentforce to the support team wasn\u2019t technical \u2014 \u200cit was human. Agentic AI\u2019s arrival stirred up anxieties among Salesforce support engineers who, until then, had been the main point of contact for customers seeking help. If \u200cAI could now answer customer questions, what did that mean for their job security?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In short order, they found that Agentforce worked best as a collaborator, not a replacement. Agentforce proved remarkably fast at certain tasks, such as retrieval and summarization. It could scan multiple articles and synthesize steps back to customers in seconds. But humans remained essential for solving problems that had no simple, off-the-shelf solutions. People draw on experiential knowledge that far exceeds what any AI model can access today.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cFrom the start, we made sure that the support engineers felt very connected to this,\u201d said Slowey. \u201cSo we\u2019ve included them in planning and improving the experience.\u201d He said the support engineers are integral to training Agentforce, analyzing poor responses and suggesting improvements.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The company also framed the change as a career opportunity rather than an existential threat. \u201cWe\u2019ve positioned Agentforce as another operational efficiency,\u201d said Mahua Choudhury-Hironaga, VP of Assisted Customer Experience, who oversees the support engineers handling online chat. \u201cPeople can focus on more complex questions and tasks they didn\u2019t have time for before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The learnings are also making an impact on how managers think about hiring.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The focus, Stauber said, has shifted to hiring people who could \u201cactually do something with that information or evaluate it in a way that is aligned specifically to whatever outcomes or goals we\u2019re trying to drive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"contextual-driver has-text-align-left contextual-driver--mountain\">\n\t<header class=\"tidbit-header\">\n\t\t<h2 class=\"tidbit-head\">\n\t\t\t5 Takeaways from Our Agentforce Implementation on Salesforce Help.\t\t<\/h2>\n\t<\/header>\n\t<div class=\"tidbit-body\">\n\t\t<p><\/p>\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<p class=\"tidbit-link label\">\n\t\t\t<a class=\"label has-right-arrow has-right-arrow--small\" href=\"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/blog\/5-takeaways-agentforce-ai-agent-implementation\/\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t<span>SEE THE TOP TIPS<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 14 10\">\n\t<path d=\"M13.92 5.38a1 1 0 000-.76.9.9 0 00-.17-.26.25.25 0 000-.07l-4-4a1 1 0 00-1.46 1.42L10.59 4H1.07a1 1 0 000 2h9.52l-2.3 2.29a1 1 0 000 1.42 1 1 0 001.42 0l4-4a.25.25 0 000-.07.9.9 0 00.21-.26z\" \/>\n<\/svg>\n\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t<img class=\"tidbit img-mountain\"\n\t\tsrcset=\"\n\t\t\thttps:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/wp-content\/themes\/newsroom\/assets\/images\/article-tidbit-mountain-large@0.5x.png 84w,\n\t\t\thttps:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/wp-content\/themes\/newsroom\/assets\/images\/article-tidbit-mountain-large@1x.png 168w,\n\t\t\thttps:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/wp-content\/themes\/newsroom\/assets\/images\/article-tidbit-mountain-large@2x.png 336w\n\t\t\"\n\t\tsrc=\"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/wp-content\/themes\/newsroom\/assets\/images\/article-tidbit-mountain-large@1x.png\"\n\t\talt=\"Illustration of mountain\"\n\t\tsizes=\"(min-width:1024px) 175px, 130px\"\n\t>\n\t<\/aside>\n\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-ai-and-humans-working-in-tandem\"><strong>AI and humans working in tandem<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>These days, customers logging on to Salesforce Help have the ready option to engage with Agentforce. But it\u2019s always a choice, never a requirement. \u201cThe moment a customer indicates they want to chat with a human,\u201d Winslow said, \u201cwe get them there as fast as possible.\u201d The system recognizes multiple signals that a customer wants human help\u200c \u2014 \u200cfrom explicit requests to speak to a human to more subtle cues, including profanity or other expressions of frustration. The AI agent is programmed to hand off conversations smoothly and quickly, maintaining context so customers don\u2019t have to repeat their issues to the live support engineer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Importantly, inside Salesforce, the escalation to a human isn\u2019t considered a failure\u200c \u2014 \u200coften, it\u2019s exactly the right outcome when customers need nuanced problem-solving or simply prefer human interaction. The team views these handoffs as part of a well-functioning system, not something to avoid or minimize.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To track progress, the team has developed comprehensive scorecards that track resolution rates, escalation levels, response times, and conversation volume. \u201cYou need to manage that similar to the way that you\u2019d manage support engineers,\u201d Slowey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-proactive-agents-nbsp\"><strong>Proactive agents&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking forward, Salesforce envisions a more proactive AI workforce. Current plans for Agentforce include not just voice capabilities but also personalized support based on customer data so they can take actions on behalf of users rather than just providing instructions. Instead of telling a customer the steps to fix an error, for instance, the agent could make the correction itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe want to be a lot more proactive,\u201d Slowey said. He imagines AI agents that check in with customers, recommend learning paths, and even create reminders about uncompleted training.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>We want to be a lot more proactive, Slowey said. He imagines AI agents that check in with customers, recommend learning paths, and even create reminders about uncompleted training.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In this new world, it\u2019s no longer a question of whether AI will transform customer support \u2014 \u200cit\u2019s already doing so. The challenge for organizations is how quickly they can learn to manage digital colleagues, coach AI teammates, and strike the right balance between automation and human expertise. For those willing to learn by doing, the rewards are substantial: a workforce that never sleeps and that can scale infinitely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Perhaps the biggest lesson has been embracing imperfection as a starting point. Traditional enterprise rollouts favor careful testing and gradual deployment. But AI agents learn differently\u200c. True, they needed to have well-defined guardrails so they stick to the intended tasks, which is a key part of Agentforce development for any use of agentic AI. But within those boundaries, there needs to be room for trial, error, and learning by doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The bottom line, Slowey said, is getting Agentforce in the hands of customers to learn and improve. \u201cIt\u2019s not always perfect,\u2019\u2019 he said. \u201cBut neither are humans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-go-deeper\"><strong>Go deeper:<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Read a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/blog\/start-working-with-ai\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">firsthand account of working with AI<\/a> and the team\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/blog\/5-takeaways-agentforce-ai-agent-implementation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">top five takeaways from deploying Agentforce on Help<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Check out an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/news\/stories\/agentforce-customer-zero\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">early account of the deployment<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Find out Salesforce\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/blog\/set-up-agent\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">three tips to set up AI agents<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways When AI agents join a workforce, they bring a host of new abilities. They\u2019re fluent in multiple languages. They can handle thousands of conversations simultaneously without missing a beat. And they\u2019re available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.&nbsp; Yet despite these admirable traits, AI agents, like any early-career employee, still make [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":88719,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sf_subhead":"","sf_i18n_disclaimer":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"alternateThumbnailId":0,"sf_product_cta_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"sf_content_type":[1730],"sf_theme":[21184],"sf_topic":[20528,21187,1757,19141,1732],"sf_product":[19930,2717],"sf_industry":[],"sf_role":[],"sf_multimedia_asset":[],"sf_location":[1798],"sf_collection":[21171,21199],"sf_visibility":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-88715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","sf_content_type-feature-stories","sf_theme-agentic-ai","sf_topic-agents","sf_topic-ai","sf_topic-customer-service-and-support","sf_topic-enterprise-ai","sf_topic-future-of-work","sf_product-agentforce","sf_product-data-360","sf_location-global","sf_collection-customer-zero","sf_collection-fy26-q2"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.2 (Yoast SEO v27.2) - 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