Dreamforce 2023: Largest AI Event in the World

As the curtains rise on Dreamforce 2023, the tech world eagerly awaits three days of innovation, inspiration, and transformation. With over 1,500 enlightening sessions, an impressive 40,000+ in-person attendees, the support of 150 dedicated sponsors, and a global online audience numbering in the millions, this year’s Dreamforce promises to be an event like no other.

Since 2013, Dreamforce has been organized to introduce new technologies, and every year, the dates, venues, and keynote speakers will change. But one thing remains consistent over the years: Attendees can Learn, Connect, Give back, and Have fun in the event.

Let’s get a summary of the complete event in a few minutes. Start by introducing the keynote speakers and discussing the highlighted sessions in Dreamforce 2023.

Speakers around the Globe

Dreamforce 2023 boasts an impressive roster of thought leaders, industry AI experts, and luminaries from various domains from different countries.

This year’s keynote speakers from across the globe, including the visionary Marc Benioff, will ignite the stage with their insights and visions. Joining them are a constellation of thought leaders, such as Dr. Alondra Nelson (Harold F. Linder Professor, Institute for Advanced Study), Marc Benioff (Chair, CEO & Co-Founder, Salesforce), Sam Altman (CEO, OpenAI), Dr. Fei-Fei Li (Sequoia Professor of Computer Science; Co-Director, Institute for Human-Centered AI, Stanford University), and others, each bringing their unique perspectives on new technology that can transform businesses way they do.

September 12, 2023

Parker Harris, Co-founder and CTO, Salesforce talks about how businesses can create AI-powered Apps and Workflows with Salesforce Data Cloud and Einstein AI

Parker Harris, the Co-Founder and CTO of Salesforce, made an important point: a company’s success with AI depends on how well it handles its data. He mentioned that almost 25 years ago, they introduced something called the metadata framework, which was like the glue that connected data across different applications, making innovation possible.

Today, thanks to advancements such as the seamless integration of Salesforce Data Cloud and Einstein AI within the Einstein 1 Platform, companies possess the means to develop AI-powered applications and workflows effortlessly. These innovations can significantly boost productivity, cut costs, and provide customers with truly remarkable experiences.

Sam Altman unveiled his  cinematic pick at Dreamforce 2023

During Dreamforce 2023, Sam Altman, the driving force behind ChatGPT, offered an intriguing glimpse into his personal taste. In a surprising revelation, he shared his favorite movie, “HER”, which sparked curiosity among attendees. Spike Jonze’s 2013 sci-fi movie “Her,” in which actor Joaquin Phoenix (a heartbroken man) is experiencing a divorce. His life takes an unexpected turn when he develops a deep connection with an AI virtual assistant named Samantha, compellingly voiced by Scarlett Johansson. As a prominent figure in the world of AI, Altman’s choice undoubtedly holds significance, leaving many intrigued to explore the cinematic inspiration that resonates with the visionary leader behind cutting-edge AI technologies.

Marc Benioff, chief executive officer of Salesforce.com Inc., speaks about Einstein Copilot

Salesforce’s new Einstein Copilot, similar to other generative AI assistants in the tech market, prioritizes simplicity and productivity. System administrators can tailor its functionality to their company’s needs, specifying data access and references. For instance, Einstein Copilot can perform various tasks, including automatic context-based updates and sales email generation, personalized customer service responses, customized email, and website content, support for digital storefronts and catalog management, conversion of natural language prompts into code, and industry-specific personalization in finance, healthcare, education, and sales.

Martis, Director of Product at Salesforce, announced an upcoming pilot of a new no-code builder.

In session 1, “AI Spotlight: Power Relevant Moments with Einstein Studio”, Darryl Martis, Director of Product at Salesforce, presented the Einstein Copilot Studio Model. The speaker shed light on how this model design helps businesses meet the challenge of delivering value from AI to model builder users. By integrating external AI models from platforms like AWS Sagemaker and Google Vertex AI to Salesforce, using Cloud data to train these models in a no-code, zero ETL fashion. He showed how to apply these tools to custom predictive and generative AI models and how these models can be used to improve the customer experience. Martis also announced an upcoming pilot of a new no-code builder. In October, users in Model Studio can create a predictive model directly.

Bhavani, Technical Architect, FEXLE Services Private Limited, emphasized Salesforce release updates and security maintenance.

Bhavani Sharma, a technologist with over 16 years of experience, explored the world of Salesforce integrations and APIs, highlighted the importance of practical, simple, and impactful integrations, and described the Salesforce Platform API as a bridge connecting systems. Sharma shared best practices, common pitfalls, and success stories in the session “Integrate with the Salesforce Platform APIs: Best Practices” to ensure that the merger was technically sound and aligned with broader business objectives. He also demonstrated how to request access tokens and handle failed API calls. He also discussed the importance of regularly reviewing API restrictions, staying on top of Salesforce releases, and maintaining security.

The speakers shed light on how the data cloud can help you personalize your customer relationships

73% of consumers expect brands to understand their unique needs. Andrew Lee (Salesforce Marketing Cloud Product Marketing Team) and Meenal Varsani and Pete Burns (Heathrow Airport) discussed the potential of the Salesforce Data Cloud to unlock value from customer data. They established how the data cloud could create a profile view of each customer, enabling personalized marketing strategies. The team at Heathrow shared the journey of using Salesforce to overcome the challenges of data personalization and how they have used the platform to deliver personalized, real-time communications to their customers. They also shared their plans to use Data Cloud to enhance customer experience and generate revenue.

September 13, 2023

Michael Scruton, Slack senior principal success manager, Salesforce, and Mellisa Chan, Director, Product Management, Salesforce

The speakers had an engaging discussion about Slack’s roadmap and the innovations aimed at enhancing productivity. They introduced Slack as an Intelligent Productivity Platform (IPP) powered by AI and automation, making work simpler and more scalable. They emphasized its capabilities, such as efficient data and knowledge search, seamless collaboration without switching contexts, and its applicability not only to internal teams but also to customers and partners. The session also covered the recent UI refresh, which helps users stay focused on their tasks. Additionally, they discussed Slack’s integration with Salesforce 360, featuring 12 pre-built integrations designed to maximize ROI. New features like Slack AI and Slack Lists were introduced to streamline business processes and enhance collaboration. The session concluded with a demo illustrating how Slack’s automation, knowledge, and AI features synergize to improve workflow efficiency.

Mayte Zavaleta, Director of Product Manager, discusses “how to prepare your company for AI-enhanced self-service”.

“Three Steps to AI Enhanced Self Service,” Mayte Zavaleta, Director of Product Manager for Self Service, discussed the transformative power of AI in the customer service industry. The session began with reflections on the current state of the customer service industry and the role of self-service. Then, the speakers discussed the steps that need to be taken to maximize the benefits of AI in self-employment. Delia Medina, VP of Global Customer Service Innovation for First Benefit, shared their experiences with AI during their company’s transformation, highlighting its importance and the need to emphasize the integration of AI and automation.

Larregui and Topalli gave a sneak peek at features in the Winter ’24 release.

During this session, “Understanding Data Cloud for Salesforce Developers”, Senior Developer Advocates Danielle Larregui and Aditya Naag Topalli gave insightful presentations on harnessing the potential of the Data Cloud for developers. They walked attendees through the connectors and databases they set up, showed the versatility of the Ingestion API for streaming and batch data ingestion, and Amazon highlighted the seamless integration between SageMaker, showing how users can use data cloud data to train AI models. Larregui and Topalli also gave a sneak peek at features in the Winter ’24 release, including integration with Google’s Vertex AI and intuitive point-and-click AI model-building tools. It ended with a practical demonstration of accessibility facilitated by Lightning Web Components.

Megan Rolando, Director of Supply Strategy Operations and VP of Sales Development, states that 70% of current operations will be automated.

This Dreamforce session “Sales Engagement: Guided Selling and AI Built into Your CRM” discussed the transformational potential of sales engagement and AI in CRM and highlighted the importance of automation in sales, noting that 70% of current operations will be automated work. It had to be a significant change in his approach. The session featured Megan Rolando, Director of Supply Strategy Operations and VP of Sales Development. This concluded with a question and answer session covering the importance of supporting new tools within a company, the role of predictive AI in business improvement, and adopting a flexible approach using other methods.

September 14, 2023

Satya Sekhar, Lead Developer Advocate at Salesforce unlocking the power of styling hooks

Speaker Satya Sekhar Chegondy discussed advanced Lightning Web Components (LWC) best practices in the “Advanced Best Practices for Lightning Web Components” session. The session began with a brief introduction to LWC and its products. The speaker then explored topics such as playlists, recycling, communication protocols, error handling, performance, safety features, and the design of the Lightning Web Components. The speaker emphasized the importance of using best practices such as lazy instantiation, conditional rendering, and electronic data services for the efficiency of printed products. Also, the session ended by sharing best practices and using styling hooks to customize the base components.

Satyaram Swamy, Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Air India shed light on how leveraging Data and AI enhances the customer experience

The session “Data + AI + CRM + Trust: The Perfect Equation for Innovation” featured discussions with Satyaram Swam and Kapil Sharma, Senior Manager, Martech, BMO Financial Group. They shared their insights on how their organizations use Data and AI to transform the customer experience. At this session, the Data Cloud Einstein team highlighted the power of data-driven companies, including examples of businesses that have used the power of data to transform themselves. They also discussed the challenges of integrating data from different sources and how Data Cloud can help overcome these issues by capturing, organizing, and synchronizing integrated customer data across Salesforce.

Matthew Moloney, Vice President of Enterprise Sales and Alliances for Flextrack says $5.4 trillion market growth with  AI + Extended workforce cloud

In this session “AI + Extended Workforce Cloud: $5.4 Trillion Market ”, Matthew Moloney and Michael MacNeill, Global OSP Sales Leader at Salesforce, discussed the potential of AI in managing the global non-employee workforce. They highlighted the importance of trust in data management and the role of Salesforce in providing a secure platform for handling enterprise workforce data. They also discussed the significant opportunities for system integrators, global GSI, and technology partners in the $5.4 trillion non-employee workforce market. The session emphasized the potential of AI in improving hiring processes, predicting attrition, and optimizing supply chains. The speakers also highlighted the role of procurement, HR, and IT as key buyers in this space.

Networking Opportunities

Dreamforce 2023 is poised to be an extraordinary event that celebrates the spirit of innovation, bringing together leaders, visionaries, and trailblazers from across the globe.

While the event is a treasure trove of knowledge and innovation, it’s also a melting pot of networking opportunities. Attendees can connect with peers, forge new collaborations, and explore potential partnerships to drive their organizations forward.

Final Take

As Dreamforce comes to an end, it reflects on an extraordinary event that brought together brilliant minds, cutting-edge technology, and boundless opportunities. These new cutting-edge technologies shape how businesses enhance productivity and achieve sustainability goals. With 1500+ enlightening sessions and a stellar lineup of speakers, this year’s Dreamforce was a beacon of innovation and collaboration. The lessons learned, connections made, and shared vision for a brighter future will continue to shape business journeys. Undoubtedly, like every year, Dreamforce brings a better tomorrow fueled by the boundless possibilities of the Salesforce community.