The energy at Salesforce Connections 2025 in Chicago was undeniable. But beneath the surface of exciting networking among fellow consultants, digital marketers, and AI enthusiasts, a fundamental industry shift was taking place.
Connections wasn’t just another conference; it was the formal unveiling of a new paradigm: the agentic era of marketing. The key takeaway is clear — the role of the marketer is about to be redefined, evolving from campaign conductor to strategic orchestrator, powered by AI.
Here’s a breakdown of the key announcements that are paving the way for this new chapter.
A strategic shift to two-way customer dialogue
For years, outbound marketing at scale has been a one-way street, with campaigns sent from the ubiquitous “no-reply” email address. A central theme of the Connections main keynote was the obsolescence of this model. The vision presented was one of a dynamic, two-way conversation where AI agents can instantly field replies, answer questions, and guide customers, transforming monologue-style marketing into a responsive dialogue.
This concept was put to the test in a compelling agentic use case competition between three Salesforce Partners. Watching the different approaches to handling real-time, AI-driven conversations was insightful, showcasing robust and impressive solutions that highlighted the tangible potential of this interactive and highly personalized experience.
Agentforce: The marketer’s new strategic partner
Leading this transformation is Agentforce, Salesforce’s AI agent platform, which was positioned as a true strategic partner for marketers. This is a significant leap beyond simple generative AI tools that assist with copy.
Agentforce is designed as an autonomous partner capable of planning, creating, and optimizing entire campaigns from a single, high-level goal. The objective is to free marketers from tactical execution — building audiences, designing journeys, making in-flight adjustments — so they can focus on overarching strategy and business outcomes.
The convergence: A unified foundation with Marketing Cloud Next
The vehicle for delivering these capabilities is the new Marketing Cloud Next platform. Critically, Salesforce is positioning this as a convergence, not a forced migration. The platform is set to unify tools like Engagement (ExactTarget), Account Engagement (Pardot), and Personalization into a single interface built upon the solid foundation of Salesforce Data Cloud. This strategy promises to break down historical data and operational silos, allowing marketers to work from a single source of truth, within their preferred execution platform, while deciding how and when to transition to the new toolset at their own pace.
A standout feature that demonstrated this power was the ability to seamlessly and dynamically “daisy chain” Journey Builder experiences. Releasing this October, it will empower Agentforce to intelligently link disparate, complex journeys. Marketers can define the campaign, and the AI agent will determine the optimal path for each customer based on real-time signals — a major step toward truly adaptive and autonomous marketing.
AI on the ground: A glimpse into future potential
The presence of AI was tangible throughout the event. Helpful robots roamed the campground floor, providing directions and information, offering a real-world glimpse into an AI-assisted future beyond just the digital channel of interaction. Witnessing these agents in action was exciting, and it also served as a practical reminder that this powerful technology is still an iterative work in progress.
In a memorable interaction, I asked an AI agent named Henry for a session recommendation. He confidently suggested a talk that had occurred two hours earlier. This humorous moment perfectly encapsulates where we are today: On the cusp of a technological revolution, where the immense potential is clear, even as the final layers of polish are still being applied.
The agent era is here
Connections 2025 was more than a product showcase; it was a clear statement about the future. The evolution toward agentic marketing, enabled by Agentforce and the unified Marketing Cloud Next platform, is set to elevate the marketing function. The journey is just beginning, but the path forward is incredibly exciting. The agentic era of marketing is not just on the horizon; it has arrived.
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