Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, has confirmed that his company is considering how to reutilize its contact center team.
The news comes after the CRM leader revealed that Agentforce now resolves 85 percent of its customer contacts.
That seemed to create a labor overload, with the CEO previously suggesting that Salesforce is "reducing headcount" in the contact center.
However, in a new interview, Benioff stressed that he hopes to retain much of that talent and support them in transitioning between roles at the company.
"I oversee about 9,000 support agents at Salesforce out of our 75,000 employees," said Benioff during an appearance on the TECHtalk podcast.
I believe about half of those agents will be able to transition into other roles — revenue positions like SDRs (Sales Development Representatives) and BDRs (Business Development Representatives) — because we’ve already shifted half a million conversations to the agentic layer.
Notably, Salesforce customer Gucci took a similar approach after implementing Agentforce.
Instead of cutting staff, it reskilled live service agents as sales reps. Since then, the fashion house has boosted its contact center revenue by 30 percent.
Perhaps Benioff has taken inspiration from the success story.
Nevertheless, many other brands aren't considering a restructuring. Instead, they're actively leveraging the latest AI and digital innovations to lower customer service headcounts.
In March, UK telecoms giant Sky shut down three contact center locations, cutting 2,000 jobs. Zalando and Zomato soon followed suit.
Given these stories, contact centers appear on the verge of an AI reckoning. Soon, this could surge across the enterprise, with advancements in generative and agentic AI.
Already, according to a Morgan Stanley study, Agentforce customers are experiencing 20–50 percent cost reductions. These primarily stem from headcount reductions, alongside office space and overhead savings.
Yet, while some contact center staff may despair, it's critical to note that many service operations suffer from high levels of turnover.
Sources suggest that the average staff turnover rate in contact centers lies between 30 and 45 percent. As such, to some extent, AI agents may replace natural attrition rates.
What Else Did the Salesforce CEO Have to Say?
During the podcast, interviewer Keith Shaw suggested that while companies may talk about reskilling, there’s often no funding behind it, and people can be left to their own devices. Then, they get laid off while the company hires new AI specialists.
According to Shaw, that trend is making a lot of people nervous.
The podcaster then asked if the tech industry needed to step up and create more job certainty through reskilling programs.
