Salesforce will enable partners, including professional services firms, to integrate its Agentforce 360 and Data 360 offerings into their custom software.

Agentforce 360 is a suite of AI-powered automation features embedded throughout Salesforce’s software-as-a-service platforms. The company’s Sales Cloud platform, for example, includes an Agentforce 360 feature that can take a look at a salesperson’s presentation and suggest improvements. For marketers, Salesforce provides automation tools that ease tasks such as finding the buyer segment a new ad campaign should target. Customers who wish to automate chores not supported out of the box can build custom AI agents.

AI tools can only automate work tasks if they have access to company’s business data. The other focus of Salesforce’s announcement, a cloud platform called Data 360, addresses that requirement. It pulls files from a firm’s internal systems into a centralized repository where the information can be queried by Agentforce 360.

Going forward, Salesforce will enable the 5,000-plus ISVs in its partner ecosystem to integrate Agentforce 360 and Data 360 into their products. The SaaS giant is not simply opening API access to the two offerings but will also provide resources to help ISVs productize them. There’s a white-labeling option and a data management tool, Salesforce Archive for ISVs, that can move infrequently accessed user records to cold storage.

Salesforce’s partner ecosystem includes not only 5,000-odd ISVs but also more than 7,000 system integrators that provide professional services to its customers. Boardroom Insight reached out to the company for information on how the move to open Agentforce 360 will affect those consulting partners. A Salesforce spokesperson said that the initiative will enable system integrators to turn into ISVs by launching AI-powered software products. According to the company, Agentforce 360 automates some of the infrastructure deployment and regulatory compliance tasks involved in bringing new software to market.

According to the spokesperson, the benefit to system integrators’ clients is faster time-to-value. Deploying ready-to-use software is easier than building a custom solution from scratch.

It’s fairly common for IT consultancies to move into the pre-packaged software market. SaaS products generally have higher margins than professional services, which creates a strong incentive for system integrators to try and productize their coding know-how. Plus, a consultancy’s existing customer base can represent a lucrative initial market for a new software offering.

Salesforce is rolling out go-to-market tools to help partners monetize their Agentforce 360-powered products. An app called Partner Marketplace that is set to launch next year will streamline the order-to-cash workflow. Additionally, Salesforce will give partners access to data on how end-users interact with their Agentforce 360 applications. The company says that this usage data can help software providers find business growth opportunities. 

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