Bernard Slowey: Forget Chatbots! Smart Brands Are Moving to AI Agents!

Marketing Trends

Imagine onboarding a new employee who never sleeps, speaks every language, knows all your products, and can handle thousands of customers at once.

That's the reality Salesforce is building with Agentforce — and it’s already transforming customer success, marketing operations, and revenue growth.

In this episode, Salesforce SVP of Digital Customer Success Bernard Slowey joins us to break down how they became Customer Zero for Agentforce, what went wrong (and right), and why agentic AI is reshaping the future of marketing and operations.
If you lead marketing, operations, or customer success — and you’re serious about not falling behind — this episode is your AI playbook.
Key Moments:
00:00: What Is Agentforce? Introducing Salesforce’s Digital AI Workforce
01:21: Meet Bernard Slowey: VP of Digital Customer Success at Salesforce
01:46: From AOL to Salesforce: Bernard’s Career Path Through the Tech Revolution
03:57: The Rise of AI Agents: Why Chatbots Are Officially Obsolete
06:36: AI Agents vs. Chatbots: What They Are and Why They Matter
11:22: Lessons from the Frontlines: What It Takes to Implement AI Agents
15:16: Inside Salesforce: How Agentforce Came to Life
18:55: How Salesforce Launched Agentforce in Just 4 Weeks (And What They Measured)
30:27: Rethinking Success: Metrics That Actually Matter in AI Rollouts
38:25: Why Traditional Customer Service Automation Is Failing Us
42:36: Real Use Cases: How Salesforce Clients Are Winning with Agentforce
44:11: AI Implementation Challenges (And How to Solve Them)
50:32: Cross-Functional Teams and the Future of AI Collaboration
57:18: Why AI Still Needs a Human Touch in Customer Experience
58:33: The New Job Titles and Skills Emerging in an AI-First Era
01:04:02 Human Intuition vs. AI Logic: Finding the Right Balance
01:09:35 Customer Obsession in the Age of Automation

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