Dreamforce 2023 live blog – day one keynote, news and updates from Salesforce
We’re live in San Francisco for Dreamforce 2023, the annual conference hosted by CRM company Salesforce.
Over the course of the three-day show, we’re expecting Salesforce to unveil a range of product updates, with AI undoubtedly set to take center stage.
Salesforce co-CEO Marc Benioff will be taking to the stage today for his traditional opening keynote, and we’re expecting a raft of announcements and releases – along with a few surprises
We’re going to be live at the keynote, so for all the news and updates, check out our full live blog below…
Good morning and welcome to our live blog covering Dreamforce 2023!
Salesforce’s annual conference is always a highlight of the B2B technology calendar, and we’re here in San Francisco to bring you all the news and updates.
So what are we expecting this year? Short answer…AI, and lots of it. Salesforce has always been at the forefront of AI innovation, so we’re expecting a whole heap of AI to help its customers around the world.
Today’s opening keynote is due to kick off at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST, and you can follow it live on the Dreamforce website here.
As usual, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff will lead proceeding, but we’re expecting a host of special guests, and for AI to play a central role.
Speaking of AI, we’ve already had a look at some of the big news to come out of Dreamforce this morning – the company has released Einstein 1, a supercharged AI platform that brings together data from all your various platforms to create intelligent and useful suggestions.
You can read our full article above, but the launch is a key indicator that AI is going to be a major theme at Dreamforce this year.
We’re seated and ready for the keynote, and it’s a typically Salesforce-y start to the date – ukelele music, Trailblazers in bright gold blazers, and Disney-esque giant mascots welcoming people in (Astro is always our favorite).
Half an hour to go…
As is tradition, we have the usual Hawaiian welcome – a very spiritual start to what will be a very tech-heavy morning…
After a brief introduction – and some music from none other than Dave Matthews, it’s time for the main event.
Following an intro video narrated by future Dreamfroce keynoter Matthew McConaghey, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff takes to the stage to rapturous applause from an adoring crowd.
“We’re going to have nothing but fun times over the next few days,” Benioff says, thanking everyone with the traditional Mahalo.
“We’ve been on these stages now for 25 years…there’s a lot of good days, and a lot of bad days…but we are deeply grateful for you,” he tells his employees.
Benioff says this is the most sustainable Dreamforce yet, with 74% of structures recycled or re-used.
He adds that Salesforce is the 3rd largest software company in the world – except in Japan, where it is #2.
Benioff notes that, “we’re inspired to see business is the greatest platform for change”- with the company still giving 1% of its equity, and contributing 8.3 million hours volunteering, as well as working with around 54,000 non-profits.
The company is also donating $20 million more to public schools in San Francisco and Oakland.
Benioff has some very funky cloud-themed sneakers (Converse?) on – he just marched right past us, acting out a story from his school days…
Here we go – it’s time to talk AI.
“We want to help our customers connect with their customers in a whole new way…but we recognise tehcnology is moving faster than ever…this data explosion, this burst of artificial intelligence – it’s like nothing we’ve ever seen before,” Benioff notes.
“This AI revolution is going to change who we are…but it will bring us back to who we are.”
Einstein AI is already incredibly popular, he notes, as Salesforce is already the number one AI platform used around the world.
“Now we have to think about – what are we doing with this technology?”
When it comes to the AI opportunity – “there’s no question that this AI opportunity is going to change everything…or anything,” Benioff notes.
But Benioff recognizes there is an AI trust gap – noting that LLMs can turn toxic very quickly. “We recognise this is a phenomenal opportuniy for the future, some place we all want to work to get to.”
The solution – Einstein 1. “We want to built the trusted AI platform for customer companies,” he notes. Integrated, intelligent, auotmated, Einstein 1 works with low code and no code, built to be open.
“This is our life’s work – this is what we’ve been doing for 25 years,” Benioff notes.
Einstein 1 is open to all the Salesforce family, as Benioff notes it is Trailblazers who will help lead the AI revolution.
This will include major overhauls when it comes to skills training, and Salesforce is also investing $500 million Ventures fund for Einstein 1 innovators.
The AI revolution is a trust revolution, Benioff notes – “we have a very different narratvie when it comes to AI – we are not afraid to say things that other companies are afraid to say.
“Your data is not our product – that’s not what we do here,” he asserts, unlike a lot of other companies.
“Transparency builds trust…We all know what can happen is AI goes wrong – let’s keep it going in the right direction.”
With that, Benioff hands over the mic to Parker Harris, Salesforce co-founder and CTO.
He starts off by talking about how the company is going to keep your data safe – primarily through the new Einstein Trust Layer.
Primarily, this looks to keep information protected from unscrupulous LLMs, as well as keeping it safe from hallucinations or any other toxicity.