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Salesforce Replaces 4,000 Support Roles With AI as Benioff Confirms Headcount Cut

Benioff frames the shift as moving support work to AI to expand sales capacity.

Overview

  • On The Logan Bartlett Show, Marc Benioff said support staffing fell from about 9,000 to roughly 5,000, with around 4,000 roles now handled by AI agents.
  • Salesforce reassigned many displaced employees to sales and introduced an agent-based model that calls back every person who contacts the company.
  • The company says a real-time monitoring tool detects when AI agents need human assistance and triggers alerts to escalate complex cases.
  • Benioff said AI systems have handled about 1.5 million customer conversations with satisfaction scores comparable to human agents and are initiating roughly 10,000 callbacks per week.
  • Salesforce cites data investments, including the Informatica acquisition and earlier $50 million in AI-driven personnel savings, as it scales the approach, while outside reports highlight ongoing customer preference for human support.