Marc Benioff (CEO, Salesforce): the Future of Digital Labor & the Agentic Era
EP 127 of The Logan Bartlett Show: Untold stories from tech's inner circle
This week, Marc Benioff joined the show and shared his thoughts on Satya Nadella’s recent predictions, the rise of digital labor, the reality of AGI today, and the multi-trillion-dollar market potential of agentic technology.
Click here to view the episode transcript | Watch on Youtube | Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts
✉️ Episode Memo
→ Marc’s Response to Satya’s Critiques
Satya suggested that business applications could collapse in the agent era because they’re essentially just CRUD databases with added business logic.
Marc’s response: Microsoft has disappointed everybody with how they’ve approached AI. Copilot has been a huge disaster from a branding and validation standpoint, and customers barely use it. "We’re out there right now in production with thousands of customers, and they’re just not at that level. Customers don’t look at them and don’t take them seriously in AI, nor should they, because they’re not even making the AI themselves."
→ What the Split of Software vs. Agentic Revenue Might Be
Salesforce recently signed a 9-figure, multi-year deal with a major telecom company. The deal’s breakdown is about ⅓ agentic and ⅔ software. While there aren’t enough examples yet to establish a clear pattern, the deal shows how the split could evolve as software companies incorporate agents into their product roadmaps.
→ How CEOs Should Be Thinking About AI
It’s easy to get lost in a theoretical AI future, but CEOs need to stay grounded—offering clear solutions, explaining products and pricing, and showing how they deliver value now. That’s why Marc praised Jensen’s keynote—it was actionable, specific, and highlighted the tangible value their products will deliver while avoiding abstract AGI concepts.
→ The Current Reality of AGI
While someday we might speak into the air and get instant answers, we’re still living with smartphones, laptops, video calls, and email. AI is powerful and can do a lot, but AGI is not here yet. For Marc, it’s about using today’s AI to enhance what’s possible now—not over-indexing on a "post-PC, post-phone" fantasy.
→ The Moral Obligation to Retrain Employees on AI
Silicon Valley debates whether companies have moral obligations at all, but Marc believes embracing these obligations creates stronger businesses and a better economy. Salesforce invests heavily in AI training through its Trailhead retraining platform and over $150M in donations to Bay Area schools, which strengthens the workforce pipeline. Each of us has great ideas to improve schools, hospitals, and communities, and we should act on them because it makes business better.
⭐ Trailer
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