Salesforce

Corporate brand

A global enterprise software company best known for cloud-based customer relationship management and connected business applications.

Last updated October 30, 2026

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Overview

Salesforce is an American enterprise software company headquartered in San Francisco and best known for delivering customer relationship management through a software-as-a-service model. Founded in 1999 by Marc Benioff, Parker Harris, Dave Moellenhoff, and Frank Dominguez, the company helped popularize the idea that business software could be accessed online through subscriptions rather than installed and maintained primarily on customers’ own servers. Its early “end of software” positioning made the company a prominent advocate of cloud computing and subscription-based enterprise technology. The company’s core portfolio covers the commercial activities that connect a business with its customers. Sales Cloud supports lead, opportunity, account, and sales-process management. Service Cloud handles customer support, service conversations, case management, and field-service workflows. Marketing Cloud provides campaign, customer-journey, messaging, and marketing-automation capabilities, while Commerce Cloud supports digital commerce. Salesforce Platform enables organizations and developers to build custom applications, automate processes, and connect data across the Salesforce environment. The broader portfolio also includes analytics and visualization through Tableau, integration and API-management capabilities associated with MuleSoft, collaboration through Slack, learning through Trailhead, and a third-party software ecosystem through AppExchange. Salesforce expanded from a CRM provider into a wider enterprise platform through sustained product development and acquisitions. Important purchases included ExactTarget, Demandware, MuleSoft, Tableau, and Slack. These transactions broadened the company from sales-force automation into marketing, commerce, integration, business intelligence, collaboration, and application development. Salesforce also operates free or lower-cost offerings for smaller teams and provides professional services, training, data integration, and application-development tools. Artificial intelligence has become a central part of the brand’s product strategy. Einstein, introduced in 2016, added predictive and embedded AI capabilities across Salesforce services. The company later introduced generative-AI features, Einstein GPT, Einstein Copilot products, and Agentforce, an agent-oriented system designed to let software agents perform or assist with customer-service and other business tasks. Salesforce also offers sustainability-related tools, including Net Zero Cloud, for tracking environmental and emissions objectives. Salesforce became a public company on the New York Stock Exchange in 2004 and joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average in 2020. Its growth has been accompanied by periodic workforce reductions, leadership changes, scrutiny of acquisition strategy, and debate over the social and political implications of its technology and executive positions. Marc Benioff remains the company’s chair and chief executive. Salesforce continues to compete as a large global enterprise SaaS provider, positioning its products as an integrated customer, data, analytics, collaboration, automation, and artificial-intelligence platform.

History

Salesforce was established on March 8, 1999, by Marc Benioff, Parker Harris, Dave Moellenhoff, and Frank Dominguez. Benioff had previously been an Oracle executive, while early financial backing included Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison and CNET founder Halsey Minor. The first Salesforce prototype appeared later in 1999. The company’s central proposition was that CRM could be delivered as an online service, allowing customers to subscribe to continuously updated applications rather than undertake conventional software installations. The collapse of the dot-com bubble affected Salesforce severely. The company reduced its workforce by about one-fifth, but continued developing its subscription model and promoting the provocative “end of software” message. Revenue nevertheless grew during the early years, and Salesforce built visibility through unconventional marketing, including demonstrations outside a Siebel Systems conference. In 2003 it held the first Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, establishing an event that became an important product, developer, and customer platform. Salesforce went public on the New York Stock Exchange in June 2004 under the CRM ticker. It broadened its ecosystem with IdeaExchange in 2006 and AppExchange in 2005, allowing customers and partners to suggest product improvements and distribute third-party applications and services. The company passed $1 billion in annual revenue in 2009 and launched Service Cloud that year, extending the business beyond sales management into customer support. During the 2010s Salesforce pursued both internal development and acquisitions. It bought companies involved in social-media monitoring, performance management, marketing, commerce, mobile software, integration, and application platforms. Trailhead, launched in 2014, created a free learning environment for Salesforce technologies. Einstein, launched in 2016, brought artificial intelligence into the company’s cloud products. The acquisitions of MuleSoft in 2018 and Tableau in 2019 were especially significant: they strengthened integration, data connectivity, analytics, and visualization. Salesforce completed the Tableau transaction for approximately $15.7 billion. In 2020 Salesforce joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Its corporate and executive structure also changed. Keith Block left the co-CEO position in February 2020, and Marc Benioff became sole CEO. Salesforce announced the acquisition of Slack in December 2020 and completed the approximately $27.7 billion transaction in July 2021. Slack became a major collaboration layer around Salesforce’s CRM and workflow products. Bret Taylor served alongside Benioff as co-CEO from 2021 until his departure from that role in early 2023. The company continued to add AI, sustainability, commerce, data, and developer capabilities. Einstein GPT and ChatGPT-related Slack functionality were announced in 2023, while later products included Einstein Copilot and Agentforce. Salesforce Foundations, introduced in 2024, bundled connected functionality from core cloud offerings. The company also expanded through acquisitions such as Airkit.ai, Spiff, Own, Zoomin, PredictSpring, and Tenyx, according to the cited reference material. Salesforce has faced pressure to improve efficiency after rapid pandemic-era hiring. It announced a reduction of approximately 10% of its workforce in 2023 and further cuts in 2024. Activist investor Elliott Management disclosed a significant investment in 2023, adding scrutiny of capital allocation and operating performance. The brand has also faced controversy over Marc Benioff’s political statements and reported discussions concerning the use of Salesforce AI in immigration enforcement. Despite these issues, Salesforce remains an active global enterprise SaaS company centered on CRM, data, collaboration, automation, and artificial intelligence.

2024
Salesforce Foundations introduced
[1]Salesforceen.wikipedia.org
The company introduced a bundled set of connected capabilities across its sales and service products.
2022
Corporate name simplified
[1]Salesforceen.wikipedia.org
The legal name changed from Salesforce.com, Inc. to Salesforce, Inc.
2021
Slack acquisition completed
[1]Salesforceen.wikipedia.org
Salesforce completed its acquisition of Slack, adding a major collaboration platform to its portfolio.
2020
Joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average
[1]Salesforceen.wikipedia.org
Salesforce became a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
2019
Tableau acquisition completed
[1]Salesforceen.wikipedia.org
Salesforce completed its acquisition of Tableau, expanding its analytics and visualization capabilities.
2016
Einstein introduced
[1]Salesforceen.wikipedia.org
Salesforce launched Einstein as an artificial-intelligence platform for its cloud services.
2014
Trailhead launched
[1]Salesforceen.wikipedia.org
Salesforce introduced its free online learning platform for Salesforce technologies.
2009
Service Cloud launched
[1]Salesforceen.wikipedia.org
Salesforce expanded into customer-service management with Service Cloud.
2005
AppExchange launched
[1]Salesforceen.wikipedia.org
The company launched an online marketplace for third-party applications and consulting services.
2004
Initial public offering
[1]Salesforceen.wikipedia.org
Salesforce listed on the New York Stock Exchange under CRM.
2003
First Dreamforce conference
[1]Salesforceen.wikipedia.org
Salesforce held its first annual Dreamforce event in San Francisco.
1999
Company founded
[1]Salesforceen.wikipedia.org
Marc Benioff, Parker Harris, Dave Moellenhoff, and Frank Dominguez founded Salesforce as a software-as-a-service company.
1999
First prototype launched
[1]Salesforceen.wikipedia.org
The first Salesforce prototype was launched in November.

Products and positioning

An integrated, customer-centered enterprise cloud platform combining CRM, data, analytics, collaboration, automation, and artificial intelligence.

CRM and sales automation
Sales Cloud
Sales Cloud manages accounts, contacts, leads, opportunities, forecasting, and sales workflows. It is the product most directly associated with Salesforce’s original CRM proposition and is designed to give sales teams a shared view of customer relationships and commercial activity.
Customer service software · 2009
Service Cloud
Service Cloud supports customer-support operations, including case management, service conversations, knowledge resources, automation, and related field-service workflows. It extends Salesforce’s customer data model into post-sale support and engagement.
Marketing automation
Marketing Cloud
Marketing Cloud provides tools for campaign management, customer journeys, messaging, segmentation, and marketing automation. Its capabilities were strengthened through Salesforce’s acquisition of ExactTarget and related marketing technologies.
Digital commerce
Commerce Cloud
Commerce Cloud supports digital storefronts, commerce operations, and customer purchasing experiences. Salesforce expanded this area substantially through the acquisition of Demandware.
Platform as a service
Salesforce Platform
Salesforce Platform, formerly Force.com, lets organizations and developers build applications, automate processes, and extend Salesforce using hosted infrastructure, Apex, Visualforce, and Lightning components.
Enterprise collaboration
Slack
Slack is a workplace messaging and collaboration platform acquired by Salesforce. It provides channels, direct messaging, integrations, and workflow capabilities that can connect employees and business processes with Salesforce data.
Analytics and visualization
Tableau
Tableau is a visual analytics and business-intelligence platform acquired by Salesforce. It enables users to explore, visualize, and communicate data and complements Salesforce’s CRM and data capabilities.
Artificial intelligence · 2016
Einstein and Agentforce
Einstein introduced AI capabilities across Salesforce products, while later generative and agentic offerings added assistants, content generation, prediction, and software agents able to support customer-service and business tasks.
Training and education · 2014
Trailhead
Trailhead is a free, interactive online learning platform covering Salesforce products, administration, development, data, and related professional skills.
Software marketplace · 2005
AppExchange
AppExchange is Salesforce’s marketplace for third-party applications, integrations, consulting services, and industry solutions that extend the Salesforce ecosystem.

Controversies

2026
AU Small Finance Bank investigates potential data leak
AU Small Finance Bank stated that it was investigating a potential data leak involving a Salesforce-hosted platform holding limited vehicle-loan customer data. The investigation followed a claim by the hacker group ScarlettGroup that it had breached the lender and a threat to leak customer and corporate data. The bank said its own systems were unaffected and that banking services were operating normally. The reported breach was not established as confirmed.
Source
2025
Political statements and immigration-enforcement controversy
Marc Benioff’s public support for Donald Trump and his call for National Guard deployment in San Francisco generated criticism from local political figures and was followed by an apology for the National Guard comments. Reports that Salesforce presented AI-related ideas to support Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s staffing and deportation operations created additional controversy concerning the use of enterprise technology in government enforcement.
Source
2020
Class action filed over Hanna Andersson customer data breach
Plaintiff Bernadette Barnes filed a class action complaint against Salesforce and Hanna Andersson, alleging negligence and violations of California's unfair competition law in connection with a customer data breach. The complaint alleged that malware on Hanna Andersson's e-commerce platform scraped customer information and that the companies inadequately protected user information.
Source
2020
The Privacy Collective brings GDPR claims against Oracle and Salesforce
The Privacy Collective brought class action claims against Oracle and Salesforce in Dutch, English and Welsh courts, alleging that their processing and sharing of personal data collected by third-party cookies for targeted advertising breached the GDPR. Oracle denied the claims and said it would defend against them; Salesforce also disputed the allegations and said it intended to demonstrate they were without merit.
Source

2003Dreamforce
Global
Salesforce created Dreamforce as an annual customer, partner, developer, and product event. It became a major communications and community platform for the brand.
Outcome. Developed into a recurring global ecosystem and product-marketing event.
Source
2000The end of software
United States
Salesforce used the “end of software” message to promote online subscription delivery and contrast its SaaS model with conventional installed enterprise software. The campaign included highly visible activity around a Siebel Systems conference.
Outcome. Helped establish Salesforce as a prominent early advocate of cloud enterprise software.
Source

Brand decisions

2024
Launch Salesforce FoundationsProduct launch
Background
Salesforce sought to make connected CRM functionality easier to adopt across departments and customer segments.
Action taken
It introduced Salesforce Foundations, bundling capabilities from sales and service products.
Aftermath
The initiative reinforced the company’s positioning as an integrated CRM platform rather than a collection of isolated applications.
Source
2024
Expand AgentforceOther
Background
Salesforce made agentic artificial intelligence a central part of its platform strategy after earlier Einstein and generative-AI initiatives.
Action taken
The company introduced and deployed Agentforce for conversational and operational business tasks.
Aftermath
Agentforce became a leading expression of Salesforce’s shift toward AI agents embedded in enterprise workflows.
Source
2023
Workforce restructuringStrategy
Background
Salesforce said it had hired too aggressively during the COVID-19 period and needed to improve efficiency as market conditions changed.
Action taken
The company announced a workforce reduction of approximately 10%, or about 8,000 positions, along with reductions in office space.
Aftermath
The restructuring increased attention on Salesforce’s cost discipline, growth priorities, and investor relations.
Source
2020
Acquire SlackM&A
Background
Salesforce aimed to add workplace collaboration and a communication layer closely connected to CRM workflows.
Action taken
Salesforce announced and later completed the acquisition of Slack.
Aftermath
Slack became part of Salesforce’s broader customer, employee, and workflow platform strategy.
Transaction value. Approximately US$27.7 billion (Announced December 2020; completed July 2021)
Source
2019
Acquire TableauM&A
Background
Salesforce sought to deepen its analytics and business-intelligence capabilities beyond core CRM.
Action taken
It completed the acquisition of Tableau in a transaction valued at approximately $15.7 billion.
Aftermath
Tableau became a major analytics component of the Salesforce portfolio.
Transaction value. Approximately US$15.7 billion (2019)
Source

Recent events

2026-10-30
Salesforce agrees to acquire Rune Technologies[6]Salesforce 同意收购 Rune Technologiestechcrunch.com
Reported: 2026-10-30
Salesforce has agreed to acquire Rune Technologies for $375 million in cash and stock. The deal was reported by Resilience Media.
2026-10-30
AU Small Finance Bank investigates potential data leak[5]AU Small Finance Bank investigates potential data leakmoneycontrol.com
AU Small Finance Bank said it was investigating a potential data leak involving a Salesforce-hosted platform with limited vehicle-loan customer data, after hacker group ScarlettGroup claimed to have breached the lender and threatened to leak customer and corporate data. The bank said its own systems were unaffected and banking services were operating normally; the reported breach was not established as confirmed.
2026-10-20
Salesforce agrees to acquire Braze[7]Salesforce 同意收购 Braze247wallst.com
Reported: 2026-10-20
Salesforce agreed to acquire marketing software company Braze in an all-cash deal valued at $5.66 billion.
Unconfirmed
Salesforce announces definitive agreement to acquire Listen Labs[8]Salesforce 宣布达成收购 Listen Labs 的最终协议smallbiztrends.com
Reported: 2026-10-14
Salesforce announced a definitive agreement to acquire Listen Labs, an AI-powered platform that automates the customer feedback research lifecycle from designing studies to analyzing feedback. Salesforce anticipates the acquisition will close in the fourth quarter of its fiscal year 2027.
Unconfirmed
Salesforce announces renaming AIForce to SIForce amid Trump's 'super intelligence' push[9]特朗普推动“超级智能”改名之际，Salesforce宣布将AIForce更名为SIForcetheverge.com
Reported: 2026-10-11
According to The Verge, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff announced that the company would rename AIForce to SIForce, hours after President Trump declared that the White House considers use of 'Artificial Intelligence' instead of 'Super Intelligence' to be 'the enemy.' The report frames the rename as part of Silicon Valley companies capitulating to Trump's push to rebrand AI as 'super intelligence.'
2026-08-24
Salesforce launches Slack Code for collaborative AI software development[10]Salesforce推出Slack Code，用于协作式AI软件开发newsbytes.ph
Reported: 2026-08-24
Salesforce launched Slack Code, a feature available across all Slack plans that lets software development teams work with AI coding agents such as Anthropic's Claude Code, Cognition's Devin, GitHub Copilot, OpenAI's ChatGPT, and Vercel agents inside shared Slack code channels, with separate access required for the partner AI services.
2026-08-20
Slack launches Slack Code coding channels[11]Slack推出Slack Code编程频道thenextweb.com
Reported: 2026-08-20
Slack launched Slack Code, a coding product that adds project-specific channels where teams and AI agents write, review and ship software together inside the chat app. It is available on any Slack plan, with access to each partner agent sold separately, and launches with agents from Anthropic, Cognition, GitHub, Vercel and OpenAI.
2026-08-10
APEI unveils AI-powered Student Lifecycle Platform built with Salesforce[12]APEI推出与Salesforce共建的AI驱动学生生命周期平台prnewswire.com
Reported: 2026-08-11
American Public Education, Inc. announced it is building an AI-powered Student Lifecycle Platform using Salesforce for its American Public University System, intended to unify admissions, financial aid, advising, tutoring and career services. Rollout is expected to begin with Rasmussen University and Hondros College of Nursing in Q1 2027 and continue through 2027 into the first half of 2028.
2024-09-17
Salesforce and Saks Fifth Avenue expand collaboration[13]Salesforce与Saks Fifth Avenue扩大合作finanznachrichten.de
Reported: 2024-09-17
Salesforce announced an expanded collaboration with Saks Fifth Avenue to use Salesforce technology to enhance Saks' luxury shopping experience.
2022-01-25
Silverline announces Mediaocean integration for Salesforce Media Cloud[14]Silverline宣布为Salesforce Media Cloud推出Mediaocean集成financialpost.com
Reported: 2022-01-25
Silverline announced a Mediaocean integration for Salesforce Media Cloud that automates RFP creation and provides notifications and opportunity information in Salesforce.

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