Salesforce Picks London for First AI Center, Building on $4B Investment in the UK

The decision signals a vote of confidence in the United Kingdom’s AI economy, and is accompanied by news about Salesforce Ventures investments, new products, and training in artificial intelligence

 More than 17,500 delegates attend Salesforce World Tour London, with customers including Aston Martin, McLaren Racing, Simplyhealth, Just Eat Takeaway, and John Lewis Partnership sharing AI learnings

Organisations in the Salesforce partner ecosystem, including Accenture, Deloitte Digital, IBM Consulting, and Slalom have expanded Salesforce UK AI capabilities to meet growing demand for services

LONDON – June 6, 2024 – Salesforce, the #1 AI CRM, has chosen London for its first AI Center – a physical space that will foster collaboration by bringing together industry experts, partners, and customers to advance AI innovation while providing critical upskilling opportunities.

The Salesforce UK AI Center, located in London’s Blue Fin building, represents the latest vote of confidence in the UK by the No. 1 CRM software company, which last year pledged to invest $4 billion in AI innovation and growth in the UK over five years. 

As part of its UK focus, Salesforce Ventures has invested more than $200 million in UK companies including ElevenLabs, the text-to-speech and AI voice generator, and AutoGenAI, the world’s leading AI bid writing engine. 

The launch of the UK AI Center and the latest investment figures were announced as Salesforce hosts its annual London World Tour, with more than 17,500 attendees registered to hear from customers including Aston Martin, McLaren Racing, Simplyhealth, Just Eat Takeaway, and John Lewis Partnership.

At the event, the company will also unveil its latest AI product innovations and announce that Salesforce Data Cloud will be available on Hyperforce — the trusted platform architecture built on the public cloud — in the UK starting in July.

“AI has the potential to drive major growth for UK businesses – with the UK AI market predicted to reach over $1 trillion by 2035. To realise this opportunity, industry-leading experts must work together to develop innovative solutions and overcome obstacles,” said Zahra Bahrololoumi, CEO, Salesforce UKI. “By locating Salesforce’s first AI Center in London, we are sending a clear message to customers and partners on AI: we are deeply committed to working closely together so that you can reap the rewards of this transformative technology, while ensuring it is a force for good.”

AI has the potential to drive major growth for UK businesses – with the UK AI market predicted to reach over $1 trillion by 2035.

Zahra Bahrololoumi, CEO, Salesforce UKI

Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Growth, Howard Dawber, said, “London is fast becoming one of the most important centres of AI businesses in the world, and we warmly welcome the decision by Salesforce to launch its pioneering UK AI Center in the capital.”

“This new UK AI Center will bring industry experts together to innovate and collaborate. It will provide training for Londoners to access the jobs and opportunities of the future and boost our economy as we continue to work towards a fairer and better city for everyone,” Dawber continued.

Janet Coyle CBE, Managing Director of Grow London at London & Partners, one of the founders of London Tech Week, said, “Salesforce’s plans to open a new AI Center in London clearly shows how much the city is embracing the technology. We’re making some really good progress in AI research, aiming to be Europe’s top spot in it. And it’s not just my opinion. Our research shows that over three-quarters (77%) of decision makers at international AI companies consider London to be more supportive of AI development than other major AI hubs.”

Building on their recent global commitment to the Salesforce Zero Copy Partner Network, industry-leading organisations including Accenture, Deloitte Digital, IBM Consulting, and Slalom are investing in their Salesforce UK AI practices to meet the growing demand for AI implementation services in the region:

• “Generative AI is a top driver of reinvention today and we see tremendous opportunity to help our clients in the UK unlock the power of their data and build a strong digital core for AI with Salesforce Data Cloud. Building on the joint acceleration hub for generative AI that Accenture and Salesforce launched last year, we’ve helped global and regional clients harness the transformative potential of AI and we look forward to our continued work to accelerate enterprise adoption in the UK.” – Emma Kendrew, Accenture’s Technology lead in the UK, Ireland & Africa
• “Salesforce is a priority alliance for Deloitte Digital. We’ve invested to grow our practice to the largest in the UK with over 125 people certified in Salesforce’s AI accreditation. Our focus is on deepening our capabilities in AI and data and, together with Salesforce, we are uniquely positioned to help our clients realise the value of AI and generative AI technologies responsibly and ethically.”– Colin Jeffrey, Lead Partner, Deloitte Digital UK
• “IBM Consulting is committed to driving digital transformation and innovation, and we are investing in our client services to support the adoption of Salesforce AI technology with clients across the UK.” – Tim Elcott, Salesforce Practice Leader, UK and Ireland, IBM Consulting
• “Slalom and Salesforce are moving full speed ahead to help customers activate data and AI use cases in Salesforce, bringing increased business value to reality. In this region alone, Slalom is creating over 200 new Salesforce, data, and AI-skilled jobs in both Dublin and Manchester, and continuing to invest in the growth of our London team.” – Dave Williams, President of Slalom UK & Ireland

The opportunity for growth in the UK is further demonstrated by IDC’s estimates that the UK Salesforce economy — the impact of Salesforce and its network of partners — could create more than 500,000 jobs in the UK by 2028.*

To ensure the UK workforce is equipped with the skills needed to embrace these roles, it will be vital to provide the right training opportunities. This will be an important focus of the Salesforce UK AI Center, which will host its first free event, the AI Now Tour, on June 18. 

The AI Now Tour will equip over 100 developers and administrative workers across the industry with the skills they need to build the next generation of generative AI applications. This event will be the first in an ongoing program, and will support the company’s commitment to train 100,000 developers worldwide.

In addition, Salesforce continues to provide further upskilling opportunities through Trailhead, the company’s free online learning platform. To date, Trailhead has helped more than 7 million people build their skills and prepare for the future of work with AI. In the UK alone, users have earned 2.9 million badges on Trailhead from having completed learning modules and projects.

More information:

• Tune in to World Tour London on Salesforce+ and read more World Tour London news here
• Learn more about the Salesforce UK economy
• Learn more about Salesforce Ventures

*IDC Infographic, sponsored by Salesforce, The UK Salesforce Economy, doc #US51175423, November 2023

Any unreleased services or features referenced here are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available.