Salesforce is unveiling a sea change in its artificial intelligence strategy at its annual Dreamforce conference this week, saying its AI tools can perform tasks without human supervision and will change the way software is charged.
The company is known for ushering in the era of software as a service, in which access to computer applications is rented via subscription. But as generative AI shakes up the industry, Salesforce is rethinking its business model for the emerging technology. The software giant will start charging $2 per call placed through its new “agents” — generative AI built to handle tasks like customer service or scheduling sales meetings without the need for human supervision.
The new pricing strategy also aims to protect Salesforce if AI leads to job losses in the future and enterprise customers have fewer employees to purchase subscriptions to the company’s software.
