Shachar Ted Brenner is a prominent professional in the field of technology and business innovation, with a recent career in Salesforcewhere he participated in the team responsible for Einstein Copilotnow known as Agentforce.
With a strategic vision and a results-oriented approach, Brenner has established itself as a benchmark in the adoption and optimization of technological solutions that enhance customer experience and operational efficiency. His ability to lead teams and high-impact projects positions him as an essential interlocutor in the analysis of technological trends and their practical application in the business world.
during the past Salesforce Agentforce World Tour held in Madrid, we had the opportunity to speak with him about Agentforce. This is what he told us.
(MCPRO) How did the idea for Agentforce come about and what makes it so innovative?
(Shachar Ted Brenner) The idea of Agentforce was born in January 2023, during a hackathon in Tel Aviv (Israel). At that event, two engineers on the team, one specializing in back-end and another in front-end, created a conversational assistant for Salesforce. This assistant answered questions like “What are my top opportunities?” and displayed filtered lists of relevant information or a detailed summary of accounts. It was so innovative that it won first prize at the hackathon.
What really accelerated its development was the decision by one of the engineers to send the prototype directly to Mark Benioff, our CEO. It was a bold move, but Mark was so impressed that in just eight months we launched Copilot, which then evolved into Agentforce. What makes Agentforce innovative is not just its ability to answer questions, but how it leverages Salesforce data and metadata to make contextual and efficient decisions.
(MCPRO) In a business context, what does it mean to be “agent-first”?
(Shachar Ted Brenner) 25 years ago, Salesforce transformed the industry by proving that companies could be cloud-first. Then we evolved towards the “mobile-first” concept, adapting to the needs of the mobile era. Today, being “agent-first” is the next logical step.
This involves adopting autonomous and proactive agents that work as personal assistants for each employee, optimizing processes and maximizing productivity. A practical example is how agents can personalize the customer experience in real time. Imagine a retail agent that not only processes returns, but also offers recommendations based on the customer’s preferences, purchase history, and geographic location.
(MCPRO) Can you share a recent case that illustrates the potential of Agentforce?
(Shachar Ted Brenner) During Dreamforce 2024, many companies showed great interest in trying Agentforce. I remember the case of an engineer who had received training the day before and created two fully functional agents in just two hours: one to handle returns and another for customer service. The next day, these agents were up and running in production. This case demonstrates not only the effectiveness of Agentforce, but also its speed and ease of implementation.
Additionally, we saw how these agents could integrate with Salesforce’s data ecosystem to provide accurate and informed responses, leading to significant improvement in operational efficiency.
(MCPRO) How does Agentforce integrate with external systems?
(Shachar Ted Brenner) One of the big advantages of Agentforce is its ability to work with data that is not necessarily within the Salesforce ecosystem. Thanks to our “zero data” technology, you can integrate with platforms like AWS or Snowflake, for example.
This means that companies do not need to centralize all their data in Salesforce to benefit from Agentforce. The platform uses this data to offer contextualized and relevant responses, which is especially useful in industries such as banking, airlines or retail.
(MCPRO) Some people fear that agents could replace humans. What do you think of this?
(Shachar Ted Brenner) I understand the concern, but Agentforce is not designed to replace people, but to support them. For example, in retail, an agent can handle requests of up to 500 euros, but any more complex case would be referred to a human, who provides added value. The goal is to free employees from repetitive tasks so they can focus on strategic and innovative initiatives.
Therefore, agents do not substitute, but rather complement. Imagine a company with 1,000 engineers. If those engineers spend less time on operational tasks and more time innovating, the impact on the company’s competitiveness can be enormous.
(MCPRO) How does Salesforce ensure transparency in agent decisions?
(Shachar Ted Brenner) In Europe, the AI Law requires organizations to explain how responses from AI-based systems are generated. Agentforce complies with these regulations by incorporating transparency as a fundamental pillar. From the design, agents are able to justify each action or response, something essential to build trust with our clients.
Additionally, Agentforce Analytics provides advanced observability tools that allow companies to analyze how agents are behaving and what areas need adjustment, both before and after deployment.
(MCPRO) If a company’s data is not of good quality, how does this affect Agentforce?
(Shachar Ted Brenner) Data quality is crucial. During setup, Agentforce allows you to test existing data to identify potential issues. Additionally, its analytics capabilities can detect problematic patterns in real time, helping customers continually improve their data.
However, the ultimate responsibility for data quality lies with customers. Some companies prioritize this more than others, but Salesforce offers strategies and tools to help them address these challenges.
(MCPRO) Is it correct to say that Agentforce is an evolution of RPA (Robotic Process Automation??
(Shachar Ted Brenner) In part, yes. Agentforce builds on many traditional RPA concepts, such as process automation, but takes them a step further. Thanks to advanced generative technologies, agents not only automate tasks, but also understand natural language, make decisions within predefined parameters, and act as intelligent assistants. This makes a big difference compared to previous solutions.
(MCPRO) How does Salesforce measure user satisfaction with Agentforce?
(Shachar Ted Brenner) Agentforce Analytics includes metrics such as usage rate and user feedback. Additionally, we are developing additional tools to measure satisfaction more accurately. These metrics help companies identify areas for improvement and ensure their customers are satisfied with agent interactions.
