What is Agentforce? How does Agentforce works?

Discover more about what Agentforce is and how Salesforce Agentforce, an AI agent platform, can revolutionize customer support, streamline workflows, and drive business efficiency. Keep reading to know more, as Cymetrix, an Agentforce partner company helps you unveil all the mysteries around this platform!

We live in a digital-driven world where customer expectations are at an all-time high, hence, businesses are constantly seeking new and innovative solutions to streamline operations and deliver exceptional experiences to their customers. This constant urge has led to the manifestation of AI agents like Salesforce AgentForce—an AI-powered agent by Salesforce that transforms how businesses interact with customers, manage workflows, and optimize operations.

But you’ll be surprised to know that Agentforce is not another AI tool like a chabot; it's a revolutionary approach to harnessing AI for 24/7 support to employees and customers. Whether in sales, marketing, service, or e-commerce, AgentForce empowers businesses to deliver faster, smarter, and more personalized solutions, paving the way for unparalleled efficiency and customer satisfaction.

So, today, Cymetrix’s Salesforce Partners in the USA are here to help you unveil all the mysteries around Agentforce. From its capabilities, use cases, and unique features. Stay tuned as we dive further into more details about Agentforce AI agents. 

What is Agentforce?

Salesforce Agentforce is a platform that enables enterprises to build custom AI agents to support their teams and customers. However, unlike traditional chatbots, which are often limited to pre-programmed responses, Agentforce’s AI agents operate autonomously, leveraging advanced reasoning and contextual understanding to handle complex queries and execute tasks across multiple domains.

Now, you must be wondering ‘What are AI agents?’ Well, let’s take a look!

What are AI agents?

AI agents are autonomous systems or programs designed to perform specific tasks independently and are capable of human reasoning and decision-making. They can understand natural language, interact with users, and act on instructions based on contextual inputs. These agents use AI models to predict outcomes, suggest solutions, and carry out actions without requiring constant human supervision.

But, what are AI agents capable of? Here’s a quick overview:

Role of AI agents

AI agents, like AgentForce, play a pivotal role in transforming business operations:

1. Enhancing Customer Support: AI agents respond instantly to customer queries, autonomously resolve common issues, and escalate complex cases to human agents when needed.
2. Streamlining Sales and Marketing: By analyzing customer data, AI agents identify and score leads, recommend strategies, and can even help build a customer journey in a flow.
3. Shopping assistance: Guide shoppers to easily browse products and streamline purchases by guiding search queries and personalizing product recommendations.
4. Optimizing Internal Operations: From managing orders to coordinating schedules, AI agents take care of repetitive and time-intensive tasks, allowing human employees to focus on strategic work.

Agentforce builds on this concept, combining the power of Salesforce’s Atlas Reasoning Engine and a wide range of pre-built tools, that employ human reasoning for complex problem-solving. This enables Agentforce to provide accurate, context-aware responses and adapt dynamically to unique business needs.

By integrating trusted data from the Salesforce Data Cloud, Agentforce ensures that every interaction is relevant and meaningful. This level of intelligence makes Agentforce a critical asset for organizations aiming to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.

What is Agentforce used for?

As we learned above, Agentforce is a versatile AI-agent platform by Salesforce, designed to simplify and enhance a wide array of business operations. It automates repetitive tasks, provides intelligent insights, and ensures seamless customer interactions across departments like sales, service, e-commerce, and marketing. By integrating advanced AI capabilities with Salesforce’s robust ecosystem, AgentForce empowers businesses to deliver exceptional experiences while optimizing internal workflows.

Below, we will explore how Agentforce adds value across these core areas:

In Service

AgentForce enhances customer service by providing efficient support and ensuring customer satisfaction at every touchpoint:

• Escalation to Human Agents: Seamlessly transfers complex issues to human representatives with complete context for efficient resolution.
• Sentiment Analysis: Detects dissatisfaction in customer interactions, triggering escalations and ensuring prompt action.
• Technical Troubleshooting: Resolves technical issues like login errors, API malfunctions, and product set-up concerns, ensuring smooth operations for customers.

In Sales

AgentForce supports sales teams by automating lead management, identifying upsell opportunities, and optimizing client interactions:

• Lead Management and Qualification: Automatically qualify incoming leads, prioritize them, and streamline onboarding processes.
• Sales Upselling: Suggests tailored products and services based on customer history and interaction data, boosting conversion rates.
• Data Management: Improves data accuracy by processing, syncing, and reconciling discrepancies across systems, ensuring sales teams work with clean and actionable insights.

In E-Commerce

AgentForce revolutionizes e-commerce workflows by streamlining order management, inventory queries, and product recommendations:

• Order Status and Tracking: Provides real-time updates on order status, delivery timelines, and any delays.
• Returns, Exchanges, and Refunds: Simplifies the process for handling returns, exchanges, and refunds by guiding customers through policies and procedures.
• Product Recommendations: Offers personalized product suggestions, comparisons, and complementary product options to enhance the shopping experience.

In Marketing

AgentForce empowers marketers to create targeted campaigns, improve customer engagement, and maximize ROI:

• Pricing and Promotions: Provides information about pricing, discounts, and promotional offers while proactively encouraging sales.
• Content Creation: Develops personalized campaigns and content using data-driven insights, ensuring maximum relevance for the target audience.
• Scheduling Sales Meetings: Automates the scheduling of sales and client meetings, ensuring availability and timely follow-ups.

How is Agentforce different from traditional chatbots?

Nowadays, chatbots have become a common feature in customer support and business automation. But as businesses face increasingly complex demands, traditional chatbots often fall short. That’s where AI agents such as Agentforce step in, transcending the limitations of basic chatbots and redefining what intelligent automation can achieve.

Unlike traditional chatbots, which are primarily rule-based systems designed to follow pre-set scripts, AgentForce combines autonomy, intelligence, and integration to deliver a dynamic, human-like interaction experience. Its capabilities go beyond simple query resolution, making it a pivotal tool for businesses looking to optimize operations and elevate customer engagement.

To know more, don't forget to read 'How Agentforce Service Agents is better than traditional chatbots'

What are the key features of Salesforce Agentforce?

We have talked about Agentforce in detail and know that it’s an autonomous platform, with an Advanced reasoning engine, that offers Agent Builder and can be used for cross-functional tasks across multiple departments. Now, let’s see and know more about all these core features in a bit more detail. 

Autonomous Agents

AgentForce is built to operate autonomously, minimizing the need for constant human intervention. These agents are designed to:

• Perform tasks independently, such as customer support, sales management, and workflow automation.
• Make decisions based on real-time data, ensuring accuracy and speed in operations.
• Adapt to dynamic business environments, handling complex scenarios without manual oversight.

Atlas Reasoning Engine

At the heart of AgentForce lies the Atlas Reasoning Engine (also called the brain of Agentforce agents). It is an AI-powered reasoning engine that drives intelligent decision-making and task execution based on the assigned role.

What It Does:

• Simulates human reasoning to process complex queries and provide precise solutions.
• Uses natural language understanding to interpret customer requests with context and depth.
• Continuously learns from interactions to improve responses, efficiency, and accuracy.
• Organize prompts into a different category with a defined scope and rules, including which actions an agent can and cannot take.

Agent Builder

The Agent Builder is a tool within AgentForce that allows businesses to create and configure custom agents tailored to their unique needs.

Here are some of the key Features of the Agent Builder:

• Ease of Setup: With an intuitive interface, businesses can design agents without requiring deep technical expertise.
• Customization Options: Configure workflows, decision-making parameters, and interaction styles to align with your brand and operations.
• Integration: Seamlessly connects with Salesforce’s ecosystem and external systems for maximum functionality.

How to Set It Up:

1. Define the Purpose: Identify the key tasks or workflows the agent will handle.
2. Customize: Use the Agent Builder to configure capabilities, rules, and integrations.
3. Deploy and Monitor: Launch the agent and monitor performance to refine its operations over time.

Trust & Guardrails

Salesforce places a strong emphasis on trust and security, and AgentForce reflects this commitment through its robust Einstein Trust Layer. With AgentForce, teams can define natural language-based guardrails, enabling agents to operate within clear boundaries. 

The Einstein Trust Layer further enhances security by allowing AgentForce to use any large language model (LLM) safely. It ensures that no Salesforce data is ever viewed or retained by third-party model providers, giving businesses the confidence to leverage AI without compromising privacy or compliance.

What It Ensures:

• Secure handling of sensitive customer data.
• Adherence to privacy regulations and corporate policies.
• Transparent decision-making processes with clear audit trails.

Pre-Built AgentForce Agents

AgentForce includes several pre-built agents, designed to cater to specific roles and tasks across industries. These agents help businesses get started quickly by providing ready-to-deploy solutions tailored to common use cases.

These are some Pre-Built Agents you will find within Agentforce:

• Service Agent: Provides efficient, personalized customer support by resolving inquiries, managing tickets, and escalating issues to human agents when necessary.
• Sales Development Representative (SDR): Automates lead qualification, outreach, and follow-ups to boost sales productivity and ensure seamless handoffs to sales teams.
• Sales Coach: Acts as a digital trainer for sales teams, offering real-time guidance, suggestions for upselling, and performance insights.
• Personal Shopper: Tailored for e-commerce, this agent offers personalized product recommendations, assists with purchases, and provides support for returns and exchanges.
• Campaign Agent: Assists marketing teams by automating campaign creation, tracking performance, and ensuring personalized customer outreach.

How does Agentforce work?

Agentforce works by combining the power of artificial intelligence with Salesforce’s robust ecosystem to deliver intelligent, automated solutions for businesses. From creating custom agents to leveraging trusted data and advanced reasoning, AgentForce integrates seamlessly across workflows, providing precise, context-aware responses and efficient task execution. Here’s a closer look at how it operates:

Agent Creation and Configuration

AgentForce allows businesses to create custom AI agents tailored to their specific needs using the Agent Builder tool.

How It Works:

1. Define Objectives: Identify the tasks or workflows the agent will manage, such as customer support, sales, or marketing.
2. Configure the Agent: Use Agent Builder’s intuitive interface to set up workflows, decision-making parameters, and escalation rules.
3. Customize: Tailor the agent to align with your brand voice, business goals, and operational requirements.
4. Deploy: Launch the agent and monitor its performance, refining configurations as needed for continuous improvement.

Bringing Trusted Data to Your Agents

A key strength of AgentForce lies in its ability to harness trusted data from Salesforce’s Data Cloud.

Role of Data Cloud:

• Provides a centralized repository of real-time customer data.
• Enables agents to access accurate and relevant information for personalized interactions.
• Enhances decision-making by combining historical data with predictive insights.

Role of Metadata:
Metadata refers to structured information about the data stored in the system. It helps AgentForce interpret data efficiently, ensuring that agents know how to use the flow and can quickly retrieve the information they need to perform tasks or resolve customer queries.

Prompt Builder:

AgentForce’s Prompt Builder enables businesses to craft tailored, repeatable prompts that guide agents in retrieving the exact data they need.

How It Works:

• Prompts are designed to find both structured and unstructured data in real time.
• Utilizes Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) to enhance responses by combining retrieval techniques with AI reasoning.

Why It Matters:
Prompt Builder ensures agents deliver precise, context-aware responses, enhancing efficiency and accuracy in task execution.

Intelligent Learning and Reasoning

AgentForce learns and adapts through Salesforce’s Atlas Reasoning Engine, ensuring it becomes smarter over time.

How It Works:

• Advanced Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): AgentForce combines data retrieval with AI-powered reasoning to generate precise, context-aware responses.
• Agentic Loops: The platform continuously learns from its interactions, refining its processes to improve accuracy and efficiency.
• Topic Classification: Automatically categorizes customer inquiries and routes them to the appropriate workflows or agents.

This intelligent learning capability ensures that AgentForce doesn’t just automate tasks but actively improves business outcomes.

Taking Action Across Workflows

AgentForce is designed to work across all workflows, integrating seamlessly with Salesforce’s Customer 360 ecosystem.

How It Supports Operations:

• Omnichannel Support: Engages with customers across multiple channels—email, chat, social media, and more—for consistent and cohesive communication.
• Prebuilt Flows: Leverages Salesforce’s prebuilt automation flows to streamline business processes, from sales lead qualification to service ticket resolution.
• Integration Across Teams: Ensures that all departments—sales, service, marketing, and operations—work cohesively by sharing data and workflows.

What Are the Different Types of AgentForce Agents?

AgentForce is designed to cater to the diverse needs of businesses across industries. Offering specialized agents ensures tailored solutions for specific operational requirements. These agents leverage Salesforce’s AI capabilities to optimize workflows, enhance customer experiences, and drive efficiency. Here’s a look at the different types of AgentForce agents and their key functions:

• 1. Healthcare Agents: Healthcare Agents streamline operations and enhance patient experiences by automating key tasks.
• 2. Retail Agents: Retail Agents empower businesses to provide personalized shopping experiences and optimize supply chain operations.
• 3. Banking Agents: Banking Agents simplify complex financial operations, ensuring efficiency and security.
• 4. Operations Agents: Operations Agents focus on backend processes, ensuring smooth and efficient business operations.
• 5. Customer Experience (CX) Agents: CX Agents prioritize customer satisfaction by delivering personalized and timely support.
• 6. IT Agents: IT Agents enhance technical support by resolving issues quickly and effectively.
• 7. Analytics Agents: Analytics Agents drive data-driven decision-making by providing insights and forecasts.
• 8. Finance Agents: Finance Agents automate financial operations, ensuring accuracy and compliance.

Conclusion

The integration of AI into business operations has become a necessity for staying competitive in this digital-driven world. Salesforce AgentForce, with its advanced AI capabilities and seamless integration with Salesforce’s ecosystem, from automating workflows to delivering exceptional customer experiences, Agentforce will empower your organization to operate smarter, faster, and more efficiently.

It is proving to be a transformative tool for modern businesses. If you are ready to see it in action, our Agentforce experts can provide a Free POC (proof of concept) to showcase how AgentForce can revolutionize your business. Contact us today and take the first step toward a smarter, and more efficient approach toward customer success!