Introduction: why Dreamforce 2025 matters
Dreamforce 2025 runs Oct 14–16 in San Francisco (streamed on Salesforce+). This year’s spotlight is Salesforce’s push toward the Agentic Enterprise with updates to Agentforce, the AgentExchange marketplace, and vertical AI use cases across Health, Retail, Financial Services, and Manufacturing.
Image source: Dreamforce
The path toward Dreamforce was shaped by TrailblazerDX 2025 and the later presentation of Agentforce 3 in June 2025. Salesforce added capabilities that improved the visibility, integration, and reliability of AI agents, showing progress in making them practical for large-scale use.
These updates showed that Salesforce is moving AI from an episodic tool to a practical platform for automating work with AI agents. Dreamforce 2025 is expected to push this vision further, with new announcements around Agentforce and industry-specific AI solutions.
The global shift to AI is backed by adoption trends:
- McKinsey’s 2025 Global AI Survey found that 78% of organizations in 2024 use AI in at least one business function, up from 50% in 2022.
Image source: McKinsey & Company
- The Slack Workforce Index report from June 2025 found that in just six months, daily AI usage among desk workers increased by 233%, reflecting a rapid shift in how employees rely on AI at work.
- IDC projects that worldwide AI spending will exceed USD 600B by 2028.
For Salesforce professionals, these signals make Dreamforce 2025 an important milestone. It will showcase how AI is reshaping workflows, compliance, and customer experiences and provide practical insights that attendees can take back to their teams and apply immediately.
Agentforce today: from Copilot to autonomous Agents
Salesforce has redefined its AI vision by transforming Einstein Copilot into Agentforce, a platform for building and running autonomous agents. Unlike Copilot’s one-step prompts, Agentforce agents can execute multi-step workflows, integrate with external systems, act as digital teammates, and automate business processes with minimal human input.
Since its launch in September 2024, Agentforce has already gone through multiple iterations. Its latest release, Agentforce 3 in June 2025, marked the next logical step in the platform’s development. Features such as the Command Center and Model Context Protocol (MCP) give enterprises greater visibility and simplified integration options.
Image source: Agentforce
Beyond the core platform, Salesforce has also introduced industry editions of Agentforce, including Agentforce for Health, Retail, and Manufacturing, each designed with specialized compliance features, prebuilt workflows, and data models. We will go into more detail below.
According to the Slack Workforce Index report from June 2025, within six months, more than 8,000 customers had signed up to explore and deploy Agentforce.
Success stories of Agentforce implementation
- 1-800Accountant reports that Agentforce resolves 70% of routine inquiries autonomously, particularly during tax season. During its first 24 hours, Agentforce handled over 1,000 client engagements.
- Absa Group (banking) leverages Agentforce in South Africa to speed debit order reversals by 88% and achieve a 2x boost in contact center productivity.
- Good360, a nonprofit distributing donated goods, uses Salesforce Data Cloud and AI to match donations with local charities, cutting manual processing time by 50%.
At Dreamforce 2025, Salesforce is expected to preview a new iteration of the Agentforce platform, with capabilities such as multi-agent orchestration, deeper integration possibilities, and upgrades to the Atlas AI engine.
AgentExchange: six-month milestone
When Salesforce launched AgentExchange in March 2025, it introduced a new concept: an “AppExchange for AI Agents”. The goal is to let admins and developers browse, try, and deploy prebuilt AI components rather than build everything from scratch.
Image source: AgentExchange
At launch, AgentExchange included over 200 partners (e.g., Google Cloud, DocuSign, Box) that contributed agent actions, templates, and connectors. Hundreds of prebuilt actions, topics, and agent templates were available, all under Salesforce’s security and compliance validation.
Key takeaway for Salesforce professionals
- AgentExchange builds on the idea that AI should be modular, interoperable, and governed, not built entirely in-house.
- AgentExchange enables a plug-and-play AI model, allowing professionals to assemble agents from reliable components instead of reinventing them.
- This reduces implementation risk and accelerates time-to-value.
- As the marketplace grows, selecting the right components and understanding how to integrate or customize them becomes a new core skill.
AI across industries: vertical use cases
Salesforce continues to package industry patterns such as workflows, data models, and guardrails into its vertical clouds. Expect more demos at Dreamforce 2025 showing how agents plug into real compliance and service flows.
1. Healthcare: smarter support for patients and doctors
Healthcare providers are under constant pressure to improve patient experiences while staying compliant with strict regulations. Salesforce is addressing this with Agentforce for Health.
- Patient self-service: The University of Chicago Medicine is piloting AI agents to handle scheduling, insurance checks, and other routine inquiries. Patients can use a chatbot interface 24/7, reducing call center load and freeing staff for more complex needs.
- Assistant for clinicians: Clinicians can use AI agents to summarize records, generate referrals, or update care plans. These interactions are powered by Agentforce in the background, with every action routed through the Einstein Trust Layer to ensure HIPAA compliance and data protection.
Image source: Agentforce for Healthcare
2. Retail: personalized journeys and smarter stores
Retailers are leveraging AI to create integrated shopping experiences that link e-commerce with physical stores. Salesforce is packaging this into Agentforce for Retail.
- Guided shopping: AI acts as a personal assistant, recommending products based on browsing history or past purchases. Customers can chat with an “AI stylist” that checks inventory and even adds items to their cart.
- Post-purchase automation: Agents handle high-volume questions like “Where is my order?” or return requests, cutting support costs and improving customer satisfaction.
- Modern POS integration: With Retail Cloud’s Modern POS, in-store associates can access unified data, see a customer’s journey, and receive AI-driven suggestions for additional sales.
Image source: Agentforce for Retail
3. Manufacturing: efficiency at scale
In manufacturing, Salesforce AI is helping companies streamline operations and reduce downtime. Presented in August 2025, Agentforce for Manufacturing focuses on predictive analytics and workflow automation.
- Predictive maintenance: AI agents analyze sensor data and detect potential equipment failures. This reduces repair time and prevents costly unplanned downtime.
- Faster order processing: JPW Industries reported cutting order processing from 16-24 hours to less than 1 hour using Salesforce AI.
4. Financial services: security and productivity
Trust and efficiency are top priorities in financial services. Salesforce’s Agentforce for Financial Services is bringing AI capabilities that combine security with productivity.
- Fraud detection: AI agents in Agentforce can monitor transactions, flag anomalies for review, and even initiate steps in the dispute process.
- Advisor copilots: Wealth managers can rely on copilots to prepare meeting notes, gather compliance documents, and suggest next-best actions before client conversations.
Image source: Agentforce for Financial Services
Key takeaway for professionals
At Salesforce, vertical AI is being embedded into everyday workflows across industries. For Salesforce professionals, understanding both the industry cloud data models and the AI capabilities layered on top will become a differentiator. Dreamforce 2025 will be the place to see these solutions in action, hear real customer stories, and learn how to adapt them to your own context.
Expected announcements and themes
“… I am on a mission to make Salesforce an agentic enterprise, and I think that this is what can really transform every company …”
Every year, Dreamforce delivers a mix of vision-setting and product news. In 2025, the spotlight will be on Salesforce’s transformation into an Agentic Enterprise. The keynote will outline how Agentforce and AgentExchange are becoming central to AI-driven business. Expect bold statements about AI adoption and how Salesforce intends to lead the next era of digital labor.
Image source: Dreamforce
Star speakers and thought leadership
The event will once again attract leading voices in technology and innovation. Speakers at Dreamforce 2025 will include:
- Marc Benioff – CEO of Salesforce, delivering the Visionary Keynote on the Agentic Enterprise.
- Sundar Pichai – CEO of Google, fireside chat on AI partnerships and multi-cloud integrations.
- Andrew Ng – Founder of DeepLearning.AI, session on AI best practices and rapid prototyping.
- Brian Niccol – CEO of Starbucks, discussing customer loyalty and reinvention strategies.
- May Habib – CEO of Writer, on enterprise AI productivity and generative writing.
- Matthew McConaughey – Actor and Salesforce advisor, speaking on sustainability, equality, and the human side of AI.
The list of speakers can be found at this link.
Product highlights
Dreamforce is also where Salesforce announces new features and updates across its platform. Among the most anticipated in 2025:
- Agentforce 4 – watch for multi-agent orchestration, deeper integration, and improvements to the Atlas AI engine.
- Data Cloud 2.0 – watch for updates including real-time segmentation, improved data sharing, and expanded AI-driven insights.
- New Agentforce development tools – likely announcements of enhanced builders, testing environments, and monitoring capabilities to help admins and developers create and refine agents more easily.
- Industry AI Expansions – Salesforce is expected to expand Agentforce industry offerings, including Retail, Health, Financial Services, Manufacturing, and the Public Sector, with packaged vertical “skills” for specific use cases.
- Multi-cloud AI features – improvements to how Agentforce and Data Cloud work across Sales, Service, Marketing, and Commerce Clouds, enabling unified, AI-powered customer journeys.
Possible surprises
Dreamforce often brings unexpected news. Attendees should watch for:
- Potential acquisition announcements, especially in AI safety or data integration.
- New partnerships with hyperscalers or AI vendors could also be revealed, extending the ecosystem of connectors available on AgentExchange.
- AI ethics initiatives aimed at strengthening customer trust, building on the company’s messaging around Trusted AI.
- Sustainability + AI announcement, we could see an “AI for Climate” or “AI for Earth” program launched.
Dreamforce 2025 and the future of Salesforce roles
The rise of Agentforce and industry-specific AI will reshape career paths for Salesforce professionals. Roles such as AI Solutions Architect and Agentforce Consultant are quickly gaining importance, as organizations need experts who can design, deploy, and optimize AI agents at scale.
For Salesforce Administrators, the shift is equally significant. Routine “busy work” like data entry and manual workflows is being automated. Admins are transforming into automation champions, responsible for configuring agents, monitoring their performance, and ensuring trust and compliance.
Certifications to prioritize
Dreamforce 2025 is putting the spotlight on AI and data skills. Professionals should consider:
- Agentforce Specialist – a certification focused on building and managing AI agents, expected to launch with exam discounts during Dreamforce.
- Data Cloud Consultant – reflecting the growing demand for unified data skills.
Supporting skills in MuleSoft and Tableau remain valuable for data integration and analytics.
Industry specialization
As Salesforce expands vertical AI, professionals who combine cloud expertise with industry knowledge will stand out. Examples include Health Cloud with HIPAA-compliant AI workflows, Financial Services Cloud for compliance use cases, and Manufacturing Cloud for predictive automation.
Dreamforce attendees can also look forward to discounted certification exams. To help you get ready for exams, check out the Focus on Force platform, which provides study guides and practice exams that help professionals strengthen their knowledge and prepare for certifications.
Making the most of Dreamforce 2025
Dreamforce can feel overwhelming with an enormous number of sessions and workshops on the schedule. Use Agenda Builder to plan sessions that map to your role or target certification, and catch replays on Salesforce+ if you’re remote.
Image source: Dreamforce agenda builder
Salesforce offers a Trailhead module called Dreamforce Ready 2025, designed to help professionals plan ahead. It covers how to create a personal agenda, pick sessions that match your role, and prepare for networking opportunities. Completing the module ensures you arrive at Dreamforce with clear goals and a strategy to make the most of your time.
Networking is just as valuable as the keynotes. Join Trailblazer Community meetups to connect with colleagues from across the ecosystem, and don’t miss Dreamfest, where Metallica will headline the benefit concert. These informal spaces often spark lasting career connections.
To stay up to date with events, install the Salesforce Events app on your smartphone. This app will help you navigate the event space, plan your agenda, and stay on top of announcements.
Those who are joining remotely can follow along through Salesforce+, which provides live broadcasts and a large library of replays after the event. Even without being in San Francisco, you can watch keynotes, product launches, and customer stories, then replay the most relevant sessions on your own schedule.
Following up after Dreamforce
The real value of Dreamforce comes after the event ends:
- Set aside time in the weeks following to review your notes.
- Watch session replays you may have missed.
- Share key takeaways with your team.
- Reach back out to new contacts on LinkedIn or through the Trailblazer Community to keep conversations going.
- Look for ways to pilot at least one idea or tool you discovered during the conference.
Turning inspiration into actionable steps ensures that the excitement of Dreamforce translates into measurable progress for your organization.
Conclusion: aligning skills with the agentic future
Dreamforce 2025 highlights how AI agents and industry-focused solutions are becoming central to the Salesforce platform. From healthcare and finance to retail and manufacturing, vertical AI solutions are no longer pilots, they are moving into real operations.
For Salesforce professionals, this means that the most valuable projects in the near future will involve assembling agents from trusted components and adapting them to industry needs. Now is the time to align both your learning path and your active projects with these trends to stay competitive. Strengthen your skills with AI certifications, experiment with Agentforce, and deepen your industry knowledge to stay ahead.
To be ready for Salesforce’s next wave of AI, explore the Agentforce Specialist Study Guide on Focus on Force platform.
