Salesforce
kicked off its annual Dreamforce user conference this week in San Francisco with the launch of an updated set of generative artificial intelligence software tools.
The cloud-based software provider launched the first edition of its Einstein AI software tools in 2016, and updated them earlier this year with Einstein GPT, a chatbot-style interface for Salesforce tools in the style of Open AI’s ChatGPT.
On Tuesday, Salesforce (ticker: CRM) announced updates to Einstein, including the debut of Einstein Copilot, a conversational AI assistant that can be used across the company’s software portfolio.
Salesforce becomes the latest in a growing list of companies offering AI-based “co-pilots” to provide a natural language interface to make it easier to use complex enterprise software.
Microsoft
(MSFT), for instance, has launched co-pilot software for its Microsoft 365 office suite and for its GitHub programming tools.
“Einstein Copilot will drive productivity by assisting users within their flow of work, enabling them to ask questions in natural language, and receive relevant and trustworthy answers that are grounded in secure proprietary company data from Salesforce Data Cloud,” the company said in its launch announcement. “In addition, Einstein Copilot proactively offers options for additional actions beyond the user’s query—such as a recommended action plan after a sales call, or creating a new service knowledge article.”
The company also announced Einstein Copilot Studio, “an easy new way for companies to build an entirely new generation of AI-powered apps with custom prompts, skills, and AI models.” Both Einstein Copilot and Copilot Studio will launch in a pilot phase this fall, the company said.
Salesforce explained that Einstein Copilot can summarize customer activity, streaming customer service interactions, automatically generate email for marketing campaigns, and manage catalog data, among other things.
The company also debuted the “Einstein 1 Platform,” a combination of Einstein and the company’s Data Cloud. “The Einstein 1 Platform gives companies the ability to safely connect any data to AI-powered CRM experiences and build AI-powered apps with low-code,” the company said.
In a note previewing the conference, Monness Crespi Hardt analyst Brian White pointed out the company didn’t schedule an investor day in connection with the event. “We expect the industry’s generative AI propaganda machine to be in overdrive at Dreamforce; however, we believe the market is finally beginning to recognize the inconsequential near-term economic impact of this AI fairytale,” White writes.
White maintains a Neutral rating on Salesforce shares. “In the long run, we believe Salesforce is well positioned to capitalize on digital transformation with a strong cloud portfolio, and leverage a leaner cost structure; however, we believe the darkest days of this downturn are ahead of us. ”
Write to Eric J. Savitz at [email protected]
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