Embracing Ai And Innovation: Advice From Evp, Adam Alfano

If you’re looking for an inspiring conversation on the future of business, this is it. We sat down with Adam Alfano, EVP of Global SMB & Emerging Products at Salesforce, and he shared his inspiring professional journey and valuable insights on how businesses are using artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies to fuel growth like never before. 

We’ll cover the key takeaways from this interview, as well as his view on the impact of AI on small and growing businesses, and advice for entrepreneurs all over the world. 

Key takeaways from Adam: 

• Adam’s origin story and career journey
• The impact of AI on growing businesses
• Emerging products and innovation
• The future of work and collaboration
• Adam’s advice for business leaders

Adam’s origin story and career journey

Adam’s career path is a fascinating blend of diverse experiences. After completing his finance degree, he worked in the metals and steel industry while pursuing his passion for music; however, we didn’t ask him to play anything. 

His journey took a significant turn when he was referred to Salesforce by a friend in Toronto, where the company had established its second North American hub. Starting in 2008, Adam worked his way up through various roles, including selling to small businesses and eventually founding and leading the manufacturing vertical. His experience and success in these areas ultimately led to his current role, where he oversees the Global SMB and emerging products team.

The impact of AI on growing businesses

One of the most significant themes in our chat was Adam’s perspective on the transformative impact of AI on startups and small businesses. “The number of SMB companies out there is going to grow dramatically… and AI is going to make humans a lot more productive,” he stated. He highlighted that AI isn’t just a tool for enterprises anymore, but a new way for SMBs to compete, enabling them to scale and grow without proportional increases in headcount.

Adam emphasized that AI will make humans more productive, and businesses that adopt these technologies early will have a competitive edge. He shared that Salesforce has already seen significant productivity gains, having hired over 700 people in the Global SMB segment while increasing productivity with AI. “These agents are helping us grow faster and broader and better… But it also needs to work really well alongside the processes of humans.”

As for sales? Adam says that AI has you covered: “Business development through SDR agents that can prospect while you sleep and cover terrain that your humans maybe can’t productively do is another great one. We have an SDR team that’s been driving that discipline of combining great tech and great process discipline.”

Service? He says personalized experiences with AI is the way to go. “Creating a better service experience for your customers is a great place to start with agents… We saved $50 million by [having] our agent on the help site. These agents are omniscient. They have the body of knowledge of your entire ethos of data and products — everything.” Use this data to fuel better experiences.

Emerging products and innovation

So, where are Salesforce’s products for small business headed? Adam discussed how his team focuses on incubating new products and bringing them to market everyday. They create products that target new buyer personas — and this innovation is why Salesforce stands out among other CRMs.

The emerging products team plays a crucial role in driving innovation and expanding Salesforce’s offerings. He stated, “The emerging products team builds infrastructure and go-to-market and really executes the beginnings of products that often don’t fit perfectly into the rest of our portfolio.” Examples include employee service tools that help with HR processes and compensation planning tools acquired through strategic purchases like SPIFF, a leading commission management platform, powered by Salesforce. 

The future of work and collaboration

We touched on the future of work and collaboration, with Adam emphasizing the role of Slack as a central platform for team collaboration. “If I was starting a business today, the first thing I would do is run and sign up for Slack,” he stated. He noted that Slack, combined with Salesforce’s other products like Sales Cloud and Service Cloud, creates a powerful ecosystem for businesses.

Adam talked about how the integration of AI agents within Slack transforms productivity and workflows for smaller teams. Businesses are now using Slack to boost productivity and simplify operations. Channels keep team communication organized, ensuring all relevant stakeholders are kept in the loop on projects and initiatives. 

The integration of AI agents within Slack is now aiding workflows, allowing business owners to automate routine tasks and gain valuable insights from their data. Growing teams are now collaborating on levels they never could before, and responding more quickly to customer needs. They didn’t have access to these tools five years ago, so imagine what can happen in the next five years.

Adam’s advice for business leaders

When it comes to AI, Adam shared, “I wouldn’t resist… I would take action… Get going, but also stay very innovative and evolve as you go. Start with high-value, somewhat simple use cases… You’ll see multistep improvements almost immediately as you get rolling.” 

He also highlighted the importance of integrating AI tools with existing processes and training them to work effectively alongside human employees. For business leaders looking to truly use AI and emerging technologies to their benefit, Adam offered these key pieces of advice:

1. Start early: Don’t resist the adoption of AI tools. Begin with high-value, relatively simple use cases.
2. Stay innovative: Be prepared to evolve your processes and strategies as AI technology continues to advance rapidly.
3. Focus on productivity: Use Slack and AI to augment human capabilities, improving productivity across all areas of your business.

Learn more from Adam here on this on-demand webinar, Embracing an AI mindset in business and in life, on The Revenue Leadership Podcast E38: How Adam Alfano Is Leading Salesforce Into Its AI Era, or check him out on our very own Salesforce+ episode Grow and Scale Your Small Business with Agentforce.

That’s a wrap: Embrace the AI journey

It’s great to hear an EVP’s insights on how businesses can use the power of AI and emerging technologies to fuel growth, improve productivity, and stay competitive. As the landscape continues to evolve, business leaders who embrace these changes and adapt their strategies accordingly will be well-positioned for success.

Start your journey with a free trial of Starter Suite today. Looking for more customization? Explore Pro Suite. Already a Salesforce customer? Activate Foundations today to try Agentforce.

AI supported the writers and editors who created this article.