Salesforce Shifts 3,000 Employees to Sales Roles Amid Integration of Agentic AI Technology

Salesforce Undergoes Internal Restructuring Amid AI Integration

San Francisco-headquartered Customer Relationship Management (CRM) company Salesforce is undergoing internal restructuring and recalibrating budgets as the company shifts existing talent to newer functions such as sales amid AI agents taking over older job roles. Vala Afshar, chief digital evangelist, made this announcement during a visit to Mumbai on May 18.

As part of this restructuring, Salesforce has added approximately 3,000 employees to its sales function. These employees were reskilled and redeployed from other lines of business within the company, without any external hires. This move has significant budgetary implications, including changes in leadership and management structures, as well as the need to recalibrate performance indicators.

Salesforce's strategy to integrate AI tools is not new, as co-founder and CEO Marc Benioff had previously stated that the company could reduce its need for engineers by using AI tools for coding and improving productivity. In 2026, Salesforce plans to spend close to $300 million on Anthropic tokens, primarily for coding work.

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Salesforce's AI token expenditure has seen a significant increase in recent years. In the last calendar year, the company used 12.3 trillion tokens, a number that was surpassed in just two months this calendar year. These tokens are used to execute quick tasks, such as closing service cases, scoring marketing leads, and shifting sales opportunities.

Afshar emphasized the need for companies to become more efficient in their use of tokens and to identify blockages and wastage in business operations to balance costs and productivity. He also highlighted the importance of reskilling employees and redeploying them to new functions, rather than simply removing them.

India is a critical market for Salesforce, with the company's economy expected to add $89 billion in revenue by 2028, according to IDC data. Salesforce India reported a consolidated profit of Rs 1,292.30 crore for the financial year 2024-25, a 45.46 percent increase from the previous year. The company's revenue from operations grew 46.49 percent to Rs 13,140.60 crore, with the topline including both sales in India and receipts for work done for global operations out of the country.

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