The State of Salesforce Report – Data & AI in 2024-2025

Each year, IBM’s report has focused on Salesforce’s evolving role in helping organizations tackle key business challenges, with a growing emphasis on AI, data, automation, and personalization as central pillars for transformation. The reports often reflect broader industry trends, showing how Salesforce can be used as a driver for innovation and business reinvention.

It may surprise you to know that IBM is now in its 14th year of reviewing Salesforce. The last few editions of IBM’s “State of Salesforce” reports have each highlighted emerging trends and strategic shifts in how Salesforce is used by enterprises, with a particular focus on data, AI, and digital transformation. Here’s a quick recap of the key themes from previous reports leading up to the 2024-2025 edition:

2023-2024

AI & Automation

Industry Clouds

2022-2023

Digital Transformation Acceleration

Sustainability & Resilience

Hyper-personalization

2021-2022

Customer-Centric Transformation

AI Adoption & Data Integration

2020-2021

Adaptation to Remote Work

Customer Trust & Loyalty

This year though, the report revolves around the transformative power of AI and data in driving the next era of customer experience and business reinvention. The report emphasizes how organizations using Salesforce must evolve with AI technologies, focusing on three key priorities to harness its full potential:

  • Leveraging Data: Organizations need to unlock the value of their data to drive meaningful business outcomes. Data remains a top barrier to innovation, with only a small percentage of users maximizing it effectively.

  • Differentiating with AI: AI is not just an add-on but a key driver of innovation, personalization, and efficiency. Businesses that combine Salesforce’s native AI with custom AI workflows gain competitive advantages.

  • Orchestrating a Partner Ecosystem: Success in the AI era requires collaboration with trusted partners to build a robust ecosystem that helps businesses navigate changes and deliver integrated solutions.

Salesforce Consulting Partner

Consulting Partner

Salesforce Managed Services Provider

Managed Services Provider

Overall, the report highlights the importance of AI-driven transformation and the need for organizations to be proactive in leveraging data, adopting AI, and building strong partnerships to stay ahead in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Challenges of Salesforce – Hesitations and Usage Gaps with Data & AI

Like Smartbridge, IBM is a Salesforce partner, so bias is something to consider. Therefore they do not provide any overtly negative statements about Salesforce. However, it does touch upon certain challenges and areas where Salesforce users may face difficulties. These include:

  • Data Usage Gap: While 97% of Salesforce customers collect diverse data, only 24% are effectively leveraging it to transform customer experiences. This indicates a gap between the platform’s potential and how it’s being used by customers.
  • Customization Pitfalls: The report mentions that excessive customizations in Salesforce, particularly when not managed strategically, can lead to high maintenance costs and technical debt. This highlights a potential drawback for users if they over-customize the platform.
  • Apprehension with AI: A notable proportion of Salesforce customers (45%) express uncertainty or concern about using AI, with only 16% feeling confident in using AI workflows to transform experiences. This reflects hesitation among users, which could be seen as a barrier to realizing Salesforce’s full potential.
State of Salesforce Report on Data & AI
IBM's State of Salesforce 2024-2025

Recommendations for Getting Unstuck

Ultimately, the report is all about how businesses can really take advantage of AI and data to transform the way they operate. They basically say that most companies using Salesforce aren’t fully tapping into its potential—especially when it comes to data and AI.

The report highlights three main things businesses should focus on:

  • Get serious about data: A lot of companies have tons of data, but most aren’t using it effectively. They need to clean it up, manage it better, and make sure it’s fueling real business results, like better customer experiences and decision-making.

  • Apply AI strategically: Salesforce has built-in AI tools like Einstein, but IBM’s saying companies should go further by blending those tools with custom AI to really stand out. This way, businesses can automate more, personalize customer interactions, and gain a competitive edge.

  • Rethink old processes: You can’t just slap AI onto outdated processes and expect magic. They recommend simplifying things first and avoiding excessive customization, which can cause headaches down the road. Essentially, if you want AI to work, you’ve got to update how you operate.

And, of course, IBM pushes for companies to build a strong ecosystem of partners who understand AI and data, and to train their teams to be ready for this new AI-driven landscape. It’s all about making sure you’re not just staying current, but actually getting ahead by integrating AI and data into everything.

That’s the gist of it! It’s about getting smarter with data, being intentional with AI, and making sure your processes—and partners—are keeping up with the pace of innovation.

Smartbridge is not only a Salesforce consulting partner, but also an AI consultancy and Microsoft partner. If you are ready to embrace data and AI in new ways, set up a 30 minute no obligation consult with our experts in AI and Salesforce. We’ll gladly give you some initial guidance and recommendations.

Read the IBM State of Salesforce 2024-2025 Report >

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