Salesforce Amplifies Its Presence in the Middle East
Mohammed Alkhotani at Agentforce World Tour. (Image: Supplied)
Business software titan Salesforce is making significant inroads into the Middle Eastern market, marking a newfound commitment to enhancing its operations in the region. Over the past three months, the global CRM and AI powerhouse has more than doubled its team, expanded technical operations, and is making substantial investments across the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Expanding Vision and Workforce
In a recent conversation with Gulf Business, Mohammed Alkhotani, Salesforce’s Senior Vice President and General Manager for the Middle East, laid out his vision for the future. “Our expectation is to grow the business three times over the coming four to five years,” he said, emphasizing that this isn’t merely about setting up another commercial office. The company has tripled its focus on solution engineers and technical capabilities.
Salesforce has opened a new office in the UAE, committed to a whopping $500 million investment in Saudi Arabia, and is establishing local data centers in collaboration with AWS. The company is also pioneering an AI Innovation Centre in partnership with IBM while collaborating with local universities to embed Salesforce certifications into educational programs, addressing the surging demand for qualified talent.
Spotlight on Agentforce World Tour
These ambitious plans were highlighted at Salesforce’s flagship event, the Agentforce World Tour, held at Madinat Jumeirah in Dubai. Gathering over 3,000 customers, partners, and associates, the event delved into AI’s transformative potential across vital sectors including retail, real estate, education, and energy.
The lineup of keynote speakers was impressive, featuring Alkhotani himself, along with Marco Hernansanz, Salesforce’s Executive Vice President and CEO for Southern Europe, Middle East, and Africa; Maha Alaoui, Head of Solution Engineering for MEA; Polly Summer, Chief Adoption Officer; and Olfa Kharrat, Director of Product Management for AI and Agentforce. Each shared valuable insights on how Salesforce integrates AI, data, and CRM to help organizations evolve and transform.
Showcasing Client Success
Several prominent clients, including the National Bank of Kuwait, Aldar Education, and Engie, took the stage to share their success stories using Salesforce tools like Agentforce, Data Cloud, and Customer 360. They demonstrated how these tools have enabled them to digitize operations and enhance customer experiences significantly.
“This event provides the perfect platform to showcase how Agentforce can transform organizations through AI agents that work alongside human employees,” Alkhotani noted. He stressed that the focus is on delivering higher efficiency and improved customer experiences.
Embracing AI
A recurring theme during the event was the rise of digital labor enabled by AI. Sales representatives in the UAE are currently spending only 27% of their time engaging with customers, driving businesses to seek automation for mundane, repetitive tasks. According to Salesforce’s research, an impressive 75% of UAE sales teams have either begun implementing AI solutions or are actively experimenting with them.
“41% of the workforce faces low-value tasks daily,” Alkhotani pointed out. Digital labor can support teams or operate autonomously to handle these tasks, ultimately improving customer service.
Salesforce’s own internal deployment of Agentforce has already showcased the advantages of this approach. “By implementing Agentforce for our service employees, we reduced escalations by 50%,” he stated. The system now manages over 50,000 conversations per week and analyzes upwards of 850,000 articles weekly.
Preparing for AI Deployment
So how can organizations best prepare for effective AI deployment? Alkhotani emphasized starting from the business perspective: assessing current needs, envisioning how they wish to engage clients in the near future, and then working backward to identify the necessary AI tools, agents, data requirements, and architectural needs.
However, many businesses are still grappling with how to navigate the complexities of AI integration. “It’s understandable,” he said, “but some see it merely as a tech project, focusing on the infrastructure without connecting it to real use cases.” The critical takeaway? Focusing on business impact is essential.
The Urgency of Digital Transformation
In a region that is quickly embracing digital transformation, Alkhotani’s message is clear — AI has transitioned from being a luxury to a necessity. “Companies that delay risk falling behind,” he asserted. “With investments in digital labor, the focus should be on achieving better, faster, and more accurate results.”
This strategic push by Salesforce unveils the transformative power of AI within the Middle Eastern market, emphasizing the imperative for businesses to adapt or become obsolete in this rapidly changing landscape.
