AI agents are autonomous, intelligent applications designed to perform specialized tasks that enhance employee productivity and improve customer experiences. These agents leverage large language models (LLMs) to analyze and comprehend the full context of customer interactions or automated triggers. They then autonomously make decisions about the next steps based on their understanding.

AI agents ensure responses align with a company’s brand voice and adhere to guidelines, drawing from trusted business data sources like Salesforce CRM, external Data Cloud inputs, and more. Available 24/7, these agents operate seamlessly across platforms, including self-service portals and messaging channels, proactively completing tasks within predefined boundaries. For complex issues beyond their scope, they escalate matters to human agents to ensure accurate and efficient resolutions.

How to Build AI Agents

Businesses can create AI agents using Agent Builder on Salesforce, which provides tools to design and deploy agents. Here’s an example scenario:

Scenario: Build a service agent that handles order tracking.

1. Define Topics and Actions:

• Topic: “Track My Order”
• Action: Retrieve the order status and share details with the customer.

2. Leverage Prompts:

• Prompt: “When was my order shipped?”
• Data used: Order details from Salesforce CRM, including shipping dates and tracking numbers.

3.Automate with Flows:

• Use Salesforce Flows to automate actions like querying the order database and fetching tracking information.

4. Connect with APIs:

• Use MuleSoft API connectors to pull live tracking data from external courier systems.

5. Customize with Code:

• Write Apex code to add logic that formats tracking data into a customer-friendly response.

Outcome:

A customer can chat with the agent, say, “Where’s my order?” and receive an instant reply:

Your order was shipped on Jan 10, 2025, and is expected to arrive on Jan 18, 2025

Types of AI Agents

AI agents can be designed for various roles and industries, and tailored to solve specific use cases. Here are some key examples:

• Service Agent: Replaces traditional chatbots with AI-powered systems that address diverse service issues without requiring preprogrammed scenarios, increasing service efficiency.
• Sales Development Representative (SDR): Engages prospects around the clock, answering queries, handling objections, and scheduling meetings using CRM and external data, freeing up sales teams to focus on relationship building.
• Sales Coach: Offers personalized training sessions, using Salesforce data and generative AI to help sales teams practice pitches and handle objections specific to deals.
• Merchandiser: Assists e-commerce teams with site set-up, goal setting, promotions, product descriptions, and insights, streamlining daily merchandising tasks.
• Buyer Agent: Enhances B2B buying by guiding buyers to products, processing purchases, and tracking orders through chat or sales portals.
• Personal Shopper: Acts as a digital concierge on e-commerce sites, providing tailored product recommendations and search assistance.
• Campaign Optimizer: Automates marketing campaigns, using AI to analyze, generate, personalize, and optimize campaigns based on business objectives.
• Agentforce (formerly Einstein Copilot): Supports employees by searching for data, creating action plans, and executing them within their workflow to boost efficiency.

How Agentforce Works

Agentforce agents function by combining data, reasoning, and actions:

1. Data Access: Agents connect to real-time data sources, such as Salesforce CRM or external databases, to provide accurate and context-aware responses.
2. Reasoning: By analyzing the context, agents plan and evaluate the next steps autonomously, ensuring decisions align with business goals.
3. Actions: Agents utilize workflows, automation, or APIs to complete tasks effectively, enabling seamless operations across platforms.

Why Choose Agentforce?

Agentforce offers a comprehensive solution to build and deploy reliable AI agents tailored to your business needs:

• Prebuilt and Customizable: Get started quickly with ready-to-use agents or create custom agents for specific requirements.
• Learning and Adaptability: Agents learn and adapt over time using enhanced data retrieval.
• Enterprise Security: Enforces company security policies to protect sensitive data.
• Integration with Customer 360: Ensures seamless handoff to employees when needed, creating a unified customer and employee experience.

With Agentforce, businesses can harness the power of AI to enhance productivity, improve customer engagement, and drive innovation.