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Enterprise technology has always moved faster than enterprise confidence. Systems became connected long before organizations fully understood the risks that came with that connectivity. Data moved across teams, tools, and systems without proper security and control measures. This leads to data privacy risks, poor or no governance frameworks, and compliance issues. Generative AI adoption brings this gap into sharper focus, and most enterprises struggle to fully embrace it. The hesitation is not resistance to AI but inability to move forward without guardrails. Salesforce Einstein Trust Layer helps in mitigating these challenges. Einstein Trust Layer is a secure architecture built within the Salesforce platform to ensure businesses can use GenAI solutions while keeping their data and privacy controls intact. So, how does Salesforce address the concerns of access, oversight, and accountability with the Einstein Trust Layer? How can businesses overpower the issues with security and compliance as they adopt AI at scale. In this blog, we will examine how Salesforce AI Cloud addresses these concerns and explains the role of the Einstein GPT Trust Layer. In addition, we’ll explore why trust has become the deciding factor in enterprise AI adoption. What is Salesforce AI Cloud Salesforce AI Cloud is designed to bring generative AI into the core of Salesforce applications without separating innovation from governance. Its purpose is straightforward: enable businesses to use large language models within CRM workflows while maintaining control over data, access, and outcomes. Rather than treating AI as an external add-on, AI Cloud embeds it across Sales, Service, Marketing, Commerce, and custom applications built on the Salesforce platform. The scope is intentionally broad, but the approach is conservative in the right ways. AI Cloud does not replace existing systems or bypass security layers. It works within them. Within Salesforce’s broader generative AI roadmap, AI Cloud acts as the execution layer. With the help of this, AI cloud can connect enterprise data, AI models, and real business workflows that are usable at scale. AI Models and Architecture Within AI Cloud AI Cloud includes purpose-built tools and functionality to deliver enterprise-grade AI and is Salesforce’s latest multidisciplinary endeavor to add AI capabilities to its product line. In many respects, it is a continuation of the company’s generative AI program, which was introduced in March 2023 and endeavors to integrate generative AI throughout the Salesforce technology stack. AI Cloud hosts and serves text-generating AI models from a variety of partners, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Cohere, Anthropic, and OpenAI, on Salesforce’s cloud platform. Salesforce’s AI research group offers first-party models, which support services such as code creation and business process automation. Customers can also introduce a custom-trained model to the platform, storing data on their own infrastructure. Einstein GPT: Generative AI Inside CRM Einstein GPT is the next generation of Einstein, Salesforce’s AI engine. By merging proprietary Einstein AI models with ChatGPT or other leading LLMs, customers may use natural-language prompts on CRM data to trigger powerful, real-time, tailored, AI-generated content. Einstein GPT Use Cases by Function Here’s a look at how Einstein GPT helps teams to boost productivity. Einstein GPT for Sales: Automate routine sales tasks such as drafting emails, scheduling meetings, and preparing for follow-ups. Einstein GPT for Service: Automatically generate knowledge of articles from past case notes. Auto-generate tailored agent chat responses to boost customer satisfaction through personalized and faster service engagements. Einstein GPT for Marketing: Generate tailored and targeted content in real-time to engage customers and prospects via email, mobile, social media, and advertising. Einstein GPT for Slack: Get AI-powered customer insights such as smart sales summaries via Slack and reveal user behaviors such as knowledge article updates. Einstein GPT for Developers: Leverage Salesforce’s proprietary LLM to boost developer productivity by using an AI-powered chat assistant to generate code for languages such as Apex. What is the Salesforce Einstein Trust Layer Salesforce Einstein Trust Layer is a robust safeguard that protects an organization’s data as it flows through the AI system, ensuring that internal and external security protocols are followed. This comprehensive layer consists of advanced encryption, data privacy measures, and access control to protect sensitive information. Its significance becomes more essential, especially when a user interacts with generative AI inside Salesforce; the Trust Layer governs that interaction before it ever reaches a language model. In simple words, Einstein GPT Trust Layer exists for a simple reason: Enterprises cannot send raw customer data directly to external models and hope for the best. The Trust Layer enforces rules around masking sensitive fields, preventing data retention by model providers, and ensuring responses stay within approved boundaries. This is also where Salesforce’s approach differs sharply from using standalone large language models. With a public or loosely governed LLM, the responsibility for data handling falls almost entirely on the user. With the Salesforce AI Trust Layer, that responsibility is built into the platform itself. Why the Salesforce Trust Layer Matters for Enterprises For enterprises, as they move towards adopting AI, the focus is more on control and less on experimentation. The Salesforce Einstein Trust Layer enables organizations to fully embrace AI and be confident that their data is not only delivering better outcomes but is also always protected. It also offers following benefits: Treats AI adoption as a governance decision, not just a technical one Aligns AI usage with existing compliance and risk frameworks Standardizes prompts to reduce inconsistency and unintended outputs Maintains audit trails for visibility and accountability Enables controlled, centralized rollout across teams and functions Enterprises can use third-party LLMs, Salesforce-owned models, or custom models through the Einstein GPT Trust Layer, allowing flexibility without compromising governance Core Capabilities of the Einstein Trust Layer Data Masking Before providing AI prompts third-party LLMs, automatically mask sensitive data such as personally identifiable information and payment information and customize the masking settings as per your company’s requirements. The availability of the Data masking capabilities of EinsteinGPT varies by feature, language, and geography. Dynamic Grounding Generate AI prompts with business context securely from structured or unstructured data by taking advantage of multiple grounding methodologies and prompt templates that can be scaled across your organization. Secure Data Retrieval Allow secure data access and contextualize every generative AI prompt while retaining permissions and data access limits. Zero Data Retention and Data Control Salesforce does not retain prompts or outputs. Once content is generated, the model forgets both the input and the response. Eliminate toxic and harmful outputs Scan and evaluate each prompt and output for toxicity and empower employees to share only suitable content. Ensure that no output is shared unless a moderator or designated content approver accepts or rejects it and saves every step as metadata to leave an audit trail to promote compliance at scale. Enterprise Readiness and Future Outlook: Salesforce AI Cloud The outlook on Generative AI seems promising as it is predicted that it could drive a 7% (or almost $7 trillion) increase in global GDP and lift productivity growth by 1.5% points over a 10-year period. These are remarkable numbers and therefore AI Cloud will propel businesses to new heights, with efficiency and productivity being the key differentiators. Key Salesforce AI Cloud Trends to Look Out for in 2026 Especially when with AI Cloud, Salesforce has created a user-friendly solution that generates AI prompts that rationalize data and ensure that the content provided is in complete alignment with an organization’s unique context. Intelligent CRM: CRM will be evolving into an autonomous, predictive partner for enterprises across the industry. Agentic AI: AI agents will handle and manage enterprise-wide workflows and decisions. Data Strategy Overhaul: Businesses will be focusing on clean, governed data that drives responsible AI success. AI-First Operating Models: It’s already evident with how AI is integrated into different CRMs but expect AI to be embedded across all functions. Closing Remarks As generative AI becomes an integral part of modern enterprise systems, it’s clear that trust and governance can’t be treated as an afterthought. These two are also crucial to your business because you cannot rely on one-off safeguards, or assuming native security features will cover every scenario in complex enterprise environments. However, with the help of Salesforce Trust Layer, you can integrate and use AI responsibly and still fit within existing security and compliance frameworks. This gives us an idea that AI adoption will accelerate, and enterprises need strong measures to protect customer trust and reduce risk without slowing progress. Therefore, to fully explore the potential of AI Cloud, connect with a trusted and certified Salesforce implementation partner. Our Salesforce AI services help marketing, sales, service, commerce, engineering, and IT teams work in providing scalable generative AI solutions that meet both business objectives and regulatory expectations. To learn more about how we can tailor unique scalable solutions for you by leveraging the power of GenAI, connect with an expert for Generative AI consulting services today! ▶ Watch Video

While the secret to understanding customers lies in your data, making sense of that data is a totally different ball game. Evolution in technology and concerns around user privacy have mushroomed new challenges for marketers to know their audience and deliver data-driven experiences. An AI-powered customer data platform (CDP) addresses these challenges and more. CDPs can connect with a single storehouse of data – one that is proprietary, trusted, and acquired with consent. Salesforce’s own CDP, Marketing Data Cloud, takes things up a notch. It puts marketers in control of the entire customer journey, allowing them to connect, unify, and act on data across all marketing touchpoints and enhance the customer experience across teams and departments – from sales, marketing, service, commerce, and more. Marketing Data Cloud from Salesforce accomplishes four primary functions: It connects. Connect all your customer data across apps, channels, and devices with out-of-the-box connectors, at scale. It harmonizes. Aggregate all your data into a single customer profile, autonomously. Data across multiple channels and teams all integrate seamlessly using configurable rules. It engages. Empower all departments with unified customer profiles and update them in real-time via AI-powered analytics. It delivers an experience. Data activated from Marketing Data Cloud drives real-time, tailored, timely customer experiences. In this article, we talk about eight use cases of how Marketing Data Cloud applies these aspects to resolve common challenges faced by marketers, along with their colleagues in sales, service, and commerce. From enhancing engagement to winning customer loyalty, these data-driven methodologies ensure a robust CDP can make every interaction count.  The Engagement Booster Engage your customers at the right moment with real-time data. Benefits: Better engagement with improved efficiency KPIs: Email Click-Through Rates, Conversions, Revenue Data Involved: Customer engagement data, web data, sales data, web and app visits, browsing history. CONNECT. CDP connects data from all sources within and outside of Salesforce. HARMONIZE. The customer's unified profile is created in the CDP. It includes all their engagement activity from across multiple channels and departments. And automatically updates the data in real time with every interaction. And if a customer opts in, CDP can automatically send personalized texts with tailored offers at the right time. ENGAGE. Geolocation data from a customer’s phone activates an engagement action. And when they walk into a physical store, a tailored offer is sent to their phone via the Salesforce messaging app to nudge them to make a purchase. EXPERIENCE. A customer is out shopping for a new smartphone that they have been eyeing for a while. To their surprise, they get a discount on the exact same product that they wanted to buy, right when they get to the aisle. The Smart Advertiser Make every dollar spent on ads count. Benefits: Higher Efficiency KPI: Return on Ad Spend Data Involved: Customer loyalty status, purchase history, case history, email interactions, browsing history, and geo-location history. CONNECT. CDP connects all customer data within as well as outside Salesforce – loyalty, purchases, case history, engagement data, demographics, and affinity data. HARMONIZE. CDP pulls out the customer’s unified profile and creates AI-powered segments.  Segment-level data insight from ad partners is incorporated to refine customer segments further for eg, customers looking for specific products and services. ENGAGE. CDP activates these segments on popular ad platforms to hyper-personalize ads for customers, all this while protecting the customer’s privacy. At the same time, CDP also suppresses ads to customers with unresolved service cases, customers who already purchased the item or returned it, and those unlikely to engage. EXPERIENCE. Customers view ads of products or upgrades, precisely what they had in mind and within their preferred price band. The Shopper Styler Drive Increase revenue with hyper-personalized e-commerce. Benefits: Higher Conversions KPIs: E-commerce Revenue Data Involved: Purchase history, browsing history, activity behavior, loyalty status, case history, and email interactions. CONNECT. CDP pulls data from all touchpoints between the customer and the brand such as purchase history, buying preferences, loyalty data, service engagement, website, and app engagement, and more. HARMONIZE. Leveraging the customer’s unified profile, CDP derives intelligent Insights on new metrics such as “propensity score” to predict the customer’s likelihood to buy a particular product. These insights enable marketers to make faster, data-driven, decisions. CDP can drive tailored shopping experiences and promote those products. ENGAGE. Commerce Cloud leverages insights from Data Cloud to provide tailored shopping experiences to the customer on their brand’s online store or app. And with the help of the customer’s propensity score, data points such as reward points, recent purchases, and recommended products are automatically served up. CDP can automatically activate relevant and timely actions in the customer’s journey. Actions like clicks and cart abandonment can initiate a background process that anticipates the customer’s needs and encourages action.   EXPERIENCE. When a customer visits their favorite mobile accessories brand’s website or app, they get personalized product recommendations. And if they abandon the cart before checkout (for whatever reason), CDP can automatically fire a reminder email with a discount incentive to nudge them to complete the order. The Website Winner Improve conversion with personalized experiences. Benefits: Increased engagement, higher conversions KPIs: Bounce rate, browsing history, average time spent on a product, session duration. Data Involved: Purchase history, engagement data, loyalty status. CONNECT. CDP draws together customer data across marketing, commerce, sales, and service interactions. HARMONIZE. After unifying all the customer data into a single customer profile, CDP identifies a customer’s past purchase behavior, including their recent purchases. CDP then places the customer in the post-sale segment focused on helping them to derive immediate value from their latest purchase.  ENGAGE. Based on the customer’s recent purchase data, CDP fires a personalized text via the Salesforce messaging app, with a link to the brand’s website to prompt them to learn more about the product and its usage. And as soon as the customer lands on the website, the page is dynamically populated with relevant how-to articles, care instructions, and other relevant and personalized content. EXPERIENCE When the customer clicks on the link to the website, they land on a webpage populated with relevant content based on their recent activity. This includes product-related articles, videos, images, and additional offers. The Cross-Seller Intelligent predictions for your customers’ next purchase. Benefits: More upsell and cross-sell opportunities, higher conversions KPIs: Sales, Product popularity, Average cart size Data Involved: Purchase history, browsing history, engagement data, loyalty status. CONNECT. CDP connects sales, loyalty, and service data to generate unified customer profiles and offers intelligent insights to reveal opportunities for cross-selling and up-selling based on the data. It can also suggest customer lifetime value (CLV), propensity scores, engagement scores, and more. HARMONIZE. CDP-powered insights create a new metric called affinity score which predicts a customer’s affinity towards other products. CDP then leverages this data to define new customer segments based on the insights. ENGAGE. CDP then activates this customer segmentation data across multiple customer engagement platforms. Customers get personalized emails, texts, tailored web and app experiences, and personalized ads on their preferred channels. EXPERIENCE. As customers browse an online store or app, personalized product recommendations are automatically served up. Customers can view these items and complete the purchase. The Insight Viewer Analyze marketing performance. Benefits: Optimized performance, Deeper Insights, Improved average time for ROI. KPIs: Product Views, Sales, ROI. Data Involved: Purchase history, cross-channel activity, Engagement, and Campaign performance. CONNECT. CDP connects data from all touchpoints across marketing, sales, service, and commerce, to create unified customer profiles. Analytics tools such as Tableau and Marketing Cloud Intelligence leverage this data to augment audience discovery and measurement. HARMONIZE. Marketing Cloud Intelligence helps marketers optimize campaigns and customer journey performance. Tableau provides deep customer insights to help teams discover new customer segments and behaviors that drive adoption and increase their lifetime value.  ENGAGE. CDP drives the wheel of optimization. Marketing Cloud Intelligence uses data from CDP to refine campaigns. Tableau serves up intelligent audience insights, identifying high engagement areas. These insights then flow back to CDP to drive hyper-personalization in every moment. EXPERIENCE. As customers enjoy their purchases, brands stay connected with personalized offers on their preferred channels. As data is being gathered and analyzed on the go, brands can measure and optimize campaign performance, discover new segments, and act on high-value actions. The Service Solver Convert service cases into happy customers. Benefits: Customer Satisfaction KPIs: Service Cases Created, Duration of open cases, CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score) Data Involved: Purchase history, Sales data, Service Data, Engagement data, Browsing activity. CONNECT. CDP pulls in comprehensive service data like service cases, customer service feedback, lifetime value, loyalty data, and more.   HARMONIZE. Service data in CDP augments the customer segmentation process. This helps marketers refine their engagement strategy based on customer service interactions. ENGAGE. In a scenario where a customer has an open service case, CDP gets notified and pauses all marketing activities tailored for that customer until the case is closed.  Additionally, because CDP is receiving all service data, the customer service team has access to the customer’s profile enabling them to be aware of their problem as soon as they reach out to a service rep, and then quickly resolve the issue. EXPERIENCE. Customers get their order related issues resolved in a matter of minutes. When a new case is logged, the service team quickly reaches out to the customer, being aware of their order and having access to their unified profile. Not only does the customer get the issue resolved quickly, but they automatically get a personalized email or text with a 10% discount voucher for their next purchase to make up for the mistake. The Loyalty Earner  Reward customers at every stage.            CONNECT. CDP connects data from a brand’s loyalty system into a customer’s unified profile, along with marketing, sales, and service data. HARMONIZE. Based on interactions with customers in a particular segment, CDP automatically places them into the relevant loyalty tier giving them access to tiered marketing offers and deals automatically. ENGAGE. CDP activates this segment across multiple engagement platforms and customers in this segment automatically start receiving personalized content. The content (which includes product recommendations and offers) is linked to their loyalty status and encourages them to aspire to be in the next loyalty tier for further exclusive benefits such as rewards, discounts, preorders, and more. EXPERIENCE. A customer’s latest purchase of mobile accessories automatically moves them to the next tier of loyalty status. This gives them access to exclusive discounts and offers. It’s time to build your own customer data strategy, and if you have one, you can always refine it. Our extensive experience in Salesforce consulting services can help. With a robust CDP, marketing teams can connect every interaction throughout the customer journey with a unified source of actionable, real-time data. They can truly understand their audience and deliver personalized engagement that drives revenue and builds lasting relationships. And that’s not where the value of CDP ends. In fact, it is just the beginning. Every department and team across sales, service, and commerce can also benefit from the power of a CDP. Powered by Customer 360, Marketing Data Cloud unifies all customer data across all channels and departments to create a single, unified customer profile that is updated in real-time with every interaction. With a unified view of your customer, Marketing Data Cloud empowers marketing, sales, service, and commerce teams to make every moment count. With a robust Customer Data Platform, your business can interact with your customers not as disparate departments, but as one brand with one voice. A brand that understands and engages with confidence, relevance, and trust. Whether it is prompt Salesforce support, hyper-personalized product recommendations or hyper-segmented targeted advertising, with Marketing Data Cloud you can make every customer interaction count and unlock the true power of real-time customer data. Want to learn more? Connect with our Marketing Data Cloud specialist today.

To sustain in today’s competitive business landscape, businesses require maintaining amiable relationships with their customers. Today, as customers grow more informed, they expect prompt and personalized responses to their queries. To keep up with customer expectations, organizations require adopting robust software like Salesforce. As one of the world's leading CRM platforms and a market share of approximately 20 percent, Salesforce is being utilized by enterprises of varying scales and across diverse sectors for streamlining business processes and smooth management of operations. However, to draw maximum value out of this platform, businesses must ensure its successful implementation. This is easier said than done and requires the expertise of one the most proficient Salesforce Consulting Partners. However, failing to choose the right partner for guiding an implementation can have a negative impact. Mentioned below are some fatal mistakes that organizations usually make when selecting a partner: Failure to Consider Business Goals: When selecting a partner, an organization must have a clear vision of their business goals, as well as their pain points. It’s very important to understand the requirement of implementing Salesforce for operational efficiency and the problems it could address. If they fail to evaluate all these, they are perhaps wasting their time and money upon engaging the services of a consultant. Engaging the Wrong Partner: Rushing into selecting a partner without thorough research isn't prudent. Rather than taking chances with an unfamiliar entity, organizations must invest their time in examining potential partners, comprehending their expertise, scrutinizing their previous projects, and gathering testimonials from former clients. The decision to appoint a certified and experienced Salesforce consulting partner can significantly impact the implementation process as engaging an inexperienced partner will result in wasting time, money, and effort, as they will be unable to offer optimal utilization of the Salesforce solution. Consequently, giving due diligence is crucial to selecting the right partner. No Support from the Internal Team: To fully harness the capabilities of Salesforce CRM, the internal team of an organization needs to collaborate closely with consultants. When enlisting Salesforce development services and consultants, organizations should ensure that their executive team is informed and actively participating. This involvement is crucial as the time, effort, and engagement of the operational team are crucial for successful implementation. This collaborative approach enables a comprehensive understanding of the implementation process, facilitating smooth integration of the Salesforce solution. Organizations should encourage their entire team to align with the Salesforce consultants and actively engage in utilizing their expertise. Once they grasp the workings of the Salesforce consulting partners, they can effectively maintain the momentum of the process. Partnering with Consultants for a Short-term: A common mistake frequently made by organizations is assuming that the role of Salesforce consultants concludes immediately after the deployment of the CRM solution. This assumption is wrong. Rather, after the deployment of the solution, the project transitions into a post-implementation analysis phase. During this phase, expert support is crucial for conducting a thorough analysis. This process ensures the seamless adaptation of the Salesforce solution and verifies that the platform has been appropriately configured. It's imperative to update the configuration after each Salesforce release to address any identified issues within the company's operational system. Engaging Salesforce consultants shouldn't be viewed as a short-term partnership, as their expertise will be indispensable for future customizations and enhancements within their CRM tool. Prioritizing Cost Over Quality: Organizations desire a reputed and experienced Salesforce consulting firm that fits within their budget and offers services at low costs. The temptation often lies in opting for cheaper alternatives. However, selecting a low-cost option can result in unexpected expenses, project delays, or even failure due to potential cost overruns. Hence, it is recommended to collaborate with certified developers to mitigate future complications. While this option may come at a higher cost compared to other alternatives, it significantly enhances the likelihood of achieving success. Ignoring the Marketing Expertise of Salesforce Consultants: When seeking top Salesforce consultants, organizations should focus on finding individuals capable of adeptly managing customer relationships within their organization. This approach not only empowers marketers to analyze campaigns, gauge ROI, and monitor leads for revenue generation but also ensures comprehensive proficiency in digital marketing—an aspect not mandatory for Salesforce consultants. To optimize their investment in CRM solutions, choosing consultants with digital marketing acumen is crucial. Besides facilitating CRM implementation, deployment, and customization, these consultants can effectively align CRM strategies with the digital marketing objectives of an organization. Thus, engaging an informed and skilled Salesforce consultant ensures efficient execution of tasks. Unwillingness to Invest in a Salesforce Admin: Salesforce consulting partners often recommend assigning a Salesforce Admin to oversee the utilization, upkeep, and enhancements of the Salesforce solution within companies. However, many companies aim to minimize investment costs and ignore the idea of hiring a Salesforce Admin. Consequently, consultants deploy the CRM solution and depart from the company. Effective utilization of Salesforce CRM demands knowledgeable oversight to unlock its full potential. Additionally, these solutions perform optimally with regular maintenance and functionality checks. Organizations and their team may lack the time to address CRM maintenance or functionality requirements. Ignoring AppExchange Reviews: Failure to explore the AppExchange during the research phase for potential partners indicates a lack of due diligence. AppExchange customer reviews serve as an excellent method to assess customer satisfaction levels. Reading reviews is crucial for understanding both the strengths and weaknesses of a product or software. Moreover, independent websites also provide evaluations of businesses and their products, offering valuable insights. The Bottom Line: Investing in Salesforce marks a significant step, requiring meticulous planning to fully leverage its suite of services. Engaging the services of one of the best Salesforce consultants, free from misconceptions and with a clear understanding, is crucial for maximizing the CRM solution's potential.

Business leaders, lawmakers, academicians, scientists, and many others are looking for ways to harness the power of generative AI, and reduce the risks of Generative AI. This can potentially transform the way they learn and work. In the corporate world, generative AI has the power to transform the way businesses interact with customers and drive growth. The latest research from Salesforce indicates that 2 out of 3 (67%) of IT leaders are looking to deploy generative AI in their business over the next 18 months, and 1 out of 3 are calling it their topmost priority. Organizations are exploring how this disruptive technology of generative AI could impact every aspect of their business, from sales, marketing, service, commerce, engineering, HR, and others. Business Adoption Trends and Risk Perceptions While there is no doubt about the promise of generative AI, business leaders want a trusted and secure way for their workforce to use this technology. Almost 4 out of 5 (~79%) of business leaders voiced concerns that this technology brings along the baggage of security risks and biased outcomes. At a larger level, businesses must recognize the importance of ethical, transparent, and responsible use of this technology. Why Managing Generative AI Risk Matters to Enterprises A company using generative AI services & technology to interact with customers is in an entirely different setting from individuals using it for private consumption. There is an imminent need for businesses to adhere to regulations relevant to their industry.  Irresponsible, inaccurate, or offensive outcomes of generative AI could open a pandora’s box of legal, financial, and ethical consequences. For instance, the harm caused when a generative AI tool gives incorrect steps for baking a strawberry cake is much lower than when it gives incorrect instructions to a field technician for repairing a piece of machinery. If your generative AI tool is not founded on ethical guidelines with adequate guardrails in place, generative AI can have unintended harmful consequences that could back come to haunt you. Companies need a clearly defined framework for using generative AI and to align it with their business goals including how it will help their existing employees in sales, marketing, service, commerce, and other departments that generative AI touches. Ethical and Responsible AI as a Business Imperative A while back, Salesforce published a set of trusted AI practices that covered transparency, accountability, and reliability, to help guide the development of ethical AI systems. These can be applied to any business looking to invest in AI. But having a rule book on best practices for AI development isn’t enough; companies must commit to operationalizing them during the development and adoption of AI. A mature and ethical AI initiative puts into practice its principles via responsible AI development and deployment by combining multiple disciplines associated with new product development such as product design, data management, engineering, and copyrights, to mitigate any potential risks and maximize the benefits of AI. There are existing models for how companies can initiate, nurture, and grow these practices, which provide roadmaps for how to create a holistic infrastructure for ethical, responsible, and trusted AI development. With the emergence and accessibility of mainstream generative AI, organizations have recognized that they need specific guidelines to address the potential risks of this technology. These guidelines don’t replace core values but act as a guiding light for how they can be put into practice as companies build tools and systems that leverage this new technology. Guidelines for the Development of Ethical Generative AI The following set of guidelines can help companies evaluate the risks associated with generative AI as these tools enter the mainstream. They cover five key areas. Accuracy and Reliability Businesses should be able to train their AI models on their own data to produce results that can be verified with the right balance of accuracy, relevance, and recall (the large language model’s ability to accurately identify positive cases from a given dataset). It’s important to recognize and communicate generative AI responses in cases of uncertainty so that people can validate them. The simplest way to do this is by mentioning the sources of data which the AI model is retrieving information from to create a response, elucidating why the AI gave those responses. By highlighting uncertainty and having adequate guardrails in place ensures certain tasks cannot be fully automated. Safety, Bias, and Toxicity Mitigation Businesses need to make every possible effort to reduce output bias and toxicity by prioritizing regular and consistent bias and explainability assessments. Companies need to protect and safeguard personally identifying information (PII) present in the training dataset to prevent any potential harm. Additionally, security assessments (such as reviewing guardrails) can help companies identify potential vulnerabilities that may be exploited by AI. Honesty, Transparency, and Data Provenance When aggregating training data for your AI models, data provenance must be prioritized to make sure there is clear consent to use that data. This can be done by using open-source and user-provided data, and when AI generates outputs autonomously, it’s imperative to be transparent that this is AI-generated content. For this declaration (or disclaimer), watermarks can be used in the content or by in-app messaging. Human Empowerment and Responsible Automation While AI can be deployed autonomously for certain basic processes which can be fully automated, in most cases AI should play the role of a supporting actor. Generative AI today is proving to be a powerful assistant. In industries, such as financial services or healthcare, where building trust is of utmost importance, it’s critical to have human involvement in decision-making. For example, AI can provide data-driven insights and humans can take action based on that to build trust and transparency. Furthermore, make sure that your AI model’s outputs are accessible to everyone (e.g., provide ALT text with images). And lastly, businesses must respect content contributors and data labelers. Sustainability and Environmental Impact of AI Models Language models are classified as “large” depending on the number of values or parameters they use. Some popular large language models (LLMs) have hundreds of billions of parameters and use a lot of machine time (translating to high consumption of energy and water) to train them. To put things in perspective, GPT3 consumed 1.3 gigawatt hours of energy, which is enough energy to power 120 U.S. homes for a year and 700k liters of clean water. When investigating AI models for your business, large does not necessarily mean better. As model development becomes a mainstream activity, businesses will endeavor to minimize the size of their models while maximizing their accuracy by training them on large volumes of high-quality data. In such a scenario, less energy will be consumed at data centers because of the lesser computation required, translating to a reduced carbon footprint. How to Safely Integrate Generative AI into Business Operations Integrating generative AI Most businesses will embed third-party generative AI tools into their operations instead of building one internally from the ground up. Here are some strategic tips for safely embedding generative AI in business apps to drive results: Using Zero-Party and First-Party Data Businesses should train their generative AI models on zero-party data (data that customers consent to), and first-party data, which they collect directly. Reliable data provenance is critical to ensure that your AI models are accurate, reliable, and trusted. When you depend on third-party data or data acquired from external sources, it becomes difficult to train AI models to provide accurate outputs. Let’s look at an example. Data brokers may be having legacy data or data combined incorrectly from accounts that don’t belong to the same individual or they could draw inaccurate inferences from that data. In the business context, this applies to customers when the AI models are being grounded in that data. Consequently, in Marketing Cloud, if all the customer’s data in the CRM came from data brokers, the personalization may be inaccurate. Keeping Training Data Fresh, Labeled, and Bias-Free Data is the backbone of AI. Language models that generate replies to customer service queries will likely provide inaccurate or outdated outputs if the training is grounded in data that is old, incomplete, or inaccurate. This can lead to something referred to as “hallucinations”, where an AI tool asserts that a misrepresentation is the truth. Likewise, if training data contains bias, the AI tool will only propagate that bias. Organizations must thoroughly review all their training data that will be used to train models and eliminate any bias, toxicity, and inaccuracy. This is the key to ensuring safety and accuracy. Ensuring Human-in-the-Loop Oversight Just because a process can be automated doesn’t mean that’s the best way to go about it. Generative AI isn’t yet capable of empathy, understanding context or emotion, or knowing when they’re wrong or hurtful. Human involvement is necessary to review outputs for accuracy, remove bias, to ensure that their AI is working as intended. At a broader level, generative AI should be seen as a means to supplement human capabilities, not replace them. Businesses have a crucial role to play in the responsible adoption of generative AI, and integrating these tools into their everyday operations in ways that enhance the experience of their employees and customers. And this goes all the way back to ensuring the responsible use of AI – maintaining accuracy, safety, transparency, sustainability, and mitigating bias, toxicity, and harmful outcomes. And the commitment to responsible and trusted AI should extend beyond business objectives and include social responsibilities and ethical AI practices. Testing, Validation, and Continuous Monitoring Generative AI tools need constant supervision. Businesses can begin by automating the review process (partially) by collecting AI metadata and defining standard mitigation methods for specific risks. Eventually, humans must be at the helm of affairs to validate generative AI output for accuracy, bias, toxicity, and hallucinations. Organizations can look at ethical AI training for engineers and managers to assess AI tools. Feedback Loops and Ethics Review Councils Listening to all stakeholders in AI – employees, advisors, customers, and impacted communities is vital to identify risks and refine your models. Organizations must create new communication channels for employees to report concerns. In fact, incentivizing issue reporting can be effective as well. Some companies have created ethics advisory councils comprising of employees and external experts to assess AI development. Having open channels of communication with the larger community is key to preventing unintended consequences. The Future of Trusted and Responsible Generative AI As generative AI becomes part of the mainstream, businesses have the responsibility to ensure that this emerging technology is being used ethically. By committing themselves to ethical practices and having adequate safeguards in place, they can ensure that the AI systems they deploy are accurate, safe, and reliable and that they help everyone connected flourish. As a Salesforce Consulting Partner, we are part of an ecosystem that is leading this transformation for businesses. Generative AI is evolving at breakneck speed, so the steps you take today need to evolve over time. But adopting and committing to a strong ethical framework can help you navigate this period of rapid change.

Most business leaders across the world recognize the value of Salesforce. They are aware of how the world's leading cloud-based CRM platform can help them cultivate rewarding customer relationships, address gaps in customer service, and enable them to adopt a more holistic approach to managing day-to-day operations. What many of them are not aware of, however, is the role of a Salesforce consultant to help them navigate the challenges involved in transitioning to Salesforce. And that's not the full picture. Salesforce consultants can also help to optimize and automate business processes to enable a seamless transition. What is a Salesforce Consultant? Salesforce consultants help customers achieve their long-term business goals by ensuring the smooth implementation of Salesforce tailored to their unique business needs.  They also assess the dynamic market landscape and adapt the customer's operations to be future-ready. Salesforce consultants also manage customer relationships, and project plans, do market research, understand user needs and sentiment, gather requirements, research organizational data, and train employees to get the most out of Salesforce. The best Salesforce consultants have deep knowledge of Salesforce technology, rich experience in similar prior implementations, and awareness of the best business practices. Challenges that Salesforce Consultants face and how they can solve them As a business leader, if you really want to unlock the true power of Salesforce, we recommend that you choose the best Salesforce Implementation Partner. Apart from implementing the CRM, they can also help you solve various key business challenges. Here’s a look at some of them. 1)   Handling sensitive information One of the key challenges organizations must deal with while transitioning to Salesforce is ensuring their customer data is safe. Any data breach can result in drastic consequences for the business. A Salesforce consultant will follow industry best practices to ensure that there are adequate safeguards in place to secure the data exchange between your existing systems and Salesforce. Additionally, they also ensure that once your data is in Salesforce, it can be accessed easily by users. This allows them to get a comprehensive view of their customers including contact details and interaction history in the least number of clicks. This helps them to make data-driven decisions leading to greater customer satisfaction. 2)   Providing personalized assistance All businesses are unique. This is true even for businesses offering similar products or services with a similar customer base. Each business has its unique vision, goals, and strategies that set them apart from each other. Consequently, they may have completely different reasons to implement Salesforce and completely different expectations from the implementation based on their unique business objectives.  A vastly experienced Salesforce is well aware of the nuances of customer goals and expectations and works closely with customer and implementation teams to ensure the CRM implementation is fully tailored to the customer’s unique needs. 3)   Offering valuable insights Salesforce has been purpose-built to provide a 360-degree view of your customers. It includes everything from your contact information, purchase history, service interactions, interests and preferences, and social media interactions. As a business owner, you want to have deeper insights into customer behavior along with intelligent recommendations in a single place. A good Salesforce consultant makes that possible. They can help aggregate siloed data and give you a unified, single-window view to help you better understand customer preferences and behavior patterns, regardless of which channel they interact with you on.  This enables you to provide seamless interaction experiences to your customers across sales, marketing, and customer service across multiple channels. 4)   Providing instant support When customers interact with a business's customer support, they want instant resolution to their problem. And businesses are no different. When you invest in a platform like Salesforce, which includes licensing and implementation costs, you want your users to be up and running quickly so that they can close deals faster and resolve customers' concerns quickly. While a library of documents, manuals, and videos may be helpful for your users, they may not be able to help in resolving a critical issue that may be disrupting operations. What businesses need is the support of an expert who has been there and done that.  That expert is your Salesforce consultant. A Salesforce consultant understands the nuances of the platform and knows where to make tweaks to resolve common issues. 5)   Configuring user permissions Would you allow complete access to your financial data to all your employees? Would you allow access to customer information to your HR department? Sounds absurd, right? Assigning the right access privileges to users is a critical part of any Salesforce implementation. Creating the right user-profiles and customizing permissions in Salesforce requires a certain level of expertise that your existing IT team may not be equipped to handle.  This is where the roles of Salesforce consultants become important.  They can ensure that your users have access to only that functionality of Salesforce that allows them to do their job effectively.  Not less and certainly not more. A Salesforce consultant can help you navigate the complex domain of user management to get the most out of your users. 6)   Discovering business-specific solutions The goals and needs of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are different from their larger counterparts. Consequently, their CRM platform needs are also different. How do you go about designing a solution that is tailored to your unique requirements? Purchasing a Salesforce license is just the starting step. Salesforce has virtually limitless capabilities and you may not have the requisite expertise in-house to choose the best-fit features of the platform to achieve your vision. A good Salesforce consultant leverages their prior experience and deep knowledge of the domain to establish clear goals and business requirements. They then use this information to recommend solutions that are aligned with your goals and needs. 7)   Boosting user adoption Poor user adoption is one of the primary reasons why many Salesforce implementations fail to achieve their true potential. In fact, industry research indicates that the problem is so acute that in the absence of adequate guidance and training, teams are likely to stop using the platform altogether. And this should be a matter of concern for you. When users don't use the platform, each of them relies on personal, non-standardized methods to manage customers and their data. Without a unified view of customers based on gold-standard industry practices, your executives are unable to make critical strategic decisions. Which is why you need a Salesforce consultant. With adequate guidance and training programs tailored to each user group based on their job functions, they can ensure that your employees feel empowered when they look at customer data, giving their productivity a shot in the arm. 8)   Other challenges Quick setup Setting up and managing Salesforce can be complex unless done by an expert. A Salesforce consultant knows the nitty-gritty of configuration, where to tweak the platform and configure the right security settings to ensure a robust and secure CRM that works for your business. Enhance customer experience Organizations that have achieved success with Salesforce will be able to tell you the value a Salesforce consultant brings to the table to improve productivity and provide enhanced customer experiences. With deep insights on customer behavior, and automation of customer service, they can help you close service cases faster translating to greater customer satisfaction. Easier and faster Salesforce adoption A good Salesforce consultant can help you go live quickly with minimal disruption in your day-to-day operations. They draw upon their extensive experience and deep business domain knowledge to come up with a comprehensive roadmap that includes implementation, training, and strategy to drive user adoption. Risk reduction A certified Salesforce consultant has the right experience and technical know-how to help organizations manage uncertainties associated with Salesforce implementation such as data migration and security, process automation, and migration to ensure a seamless holistic transition. Salesforce Consulting Services from Girikon, a Gold Salesforce Partner, can help you unlock the true power of Salesforce. With customized solutions aligned with your unique business needs, we have helped many businesses improve productivity, boost efficiency, and increase revenues. Get in touch with an expert to learn more.

Salesforce, the world’s leading CRM platform empowers businesses with tools and services to manage customer data, automate processes, streamline operations, and drive customer satisfaction. Salesforce consultants aren’t just experts at handling the software; they recognize that Salesforce is a great tool to improve business productivity and align themselves with customer goals, wants, and needs to unlock the true power of the platform.  In short, they empower teams to do what was earlier not thought to be possible. As a Salesforce Consulting Partner for over a decade, our experts have compiled a list of tips to guide the next crop of Salesforce consultants on their path to success. These tips are a result of over a 100-man years of Salesforce experience, countless hours spent with customer teams, and millions of lines of coding. Let’s dive right in. 1. Understand the ‘Why’ While there are certain skills that can be acquired such as data management, data analytics, and process automation, critical thinking is one area that can only be awakened from within. Critical thinking entails having a larger-than-life view of the business while having an in-depth view of the everyday activities of the organization. Many Salesforce consultants have a great technical background and are adept at turning requirements into recommendations and ideas. But what is truly required to be understood is the "Why". Why do they need it? What are their business goals and what is stopping them from achieving them? What are their people like? What are their pain points? What do they want in terms of work satisfaction? Finding answers to these fundamental questions will go a long way to advance your career in Salesforce consulting. You need to evolve from being a manager or business analyst to being a problem solver, and for that, you need to identify and understand the problem and all its constituents and dependencies to the last detail. 2. Adapt your communication strategy Salesforce consultants have to work closely with engineering teams, customer user groups, and senior leadership which may sometimes be spread across the globe. For you to be successful as a global Salesforce consultant, you need to adapt your communication depending on who you are interacting with. Understanding the audience, their vision, and the way they see the business and its horizon (both short-term and long-term) plays a vital role in the success of the projects you are working on. As an example, if you are interacting with engineering teams, you may want to interact in a way that they understand via a common language. As a representative of your organization (like a front office), you need to be aware of your unique communication style and how your interactions are received by others. As a thumb rule, communication strategy varies from who you are interacting with to the size of the group you are addressing. 3. Know Your Audience Whether you are presenting to a CXO at a Fortune 500 company or interacting with individual project members, knowing your audience is one of the key skills all Salesforce consultants need to have. When you are involved in multiple projects and have to interact with different audiences, whether it is for project updates or course corrections, an instinct is to use the same template for interaction. This approach rarely works as each individual user group has its own perspective and level of understanding. Recognize the value each stakeholder is seeking and develop a mindset to tailor your presentations to align with the audience. 4. Develop a self-help attitude One of the job responsibilities of a successful Salesforce consultant is to hire new consultants. And you can only attract talent as good as yourself. When recruiting new consultants, veterans of the game often look for leadership traits such as taking self-motivated initiatives. What homework did they do before they sought help from seniors? Demonstrating a self-help attitude would go a long way in cultivating strong leadership and problem-solving skills. 5. Always be willing to learn   Salesforce consultants, especially ones who are still young in their consulting journey, need to constantly upgrade themselves on products, processes, and frameworks, but more often than not they get no guidance or direction. Well, if you want to grow, you are on your own. It’s your mindset to self-direct your learning and find solutions to challenges that will take you on the path to growth. Having a keen learner’s mindset goes a long way in building a keenness to take on new challenges and learn to grow. 6. Pick an Area of Expertise While it’s great to be a jack of multiple trades (skills), it’s important to be very good at something. Whether it’s a certification in Sales Cloud or your early experience as a Salesforce administrator, it's important that you pick one area in which you are an expert. Expertise in a certain area builds client trust and establishes credibility. And once you pick an area you want to build further on, make sure you are up to date with the latest product innovations in that area and establish how you can help businesses leverage your expertise in these new innovations. 7. Know When to Say No Customers want the moon. Literally. If it was left to them, they would want to implement their entire roadmap for the next 10 years as of yesterday. Many times, consultants agree to customer requests while working on a project even when they know it is not in their best long-term interest, or it just cannot be done at this stage. While customer satisfaction is extremely important in your line of work, you also need aware of what is in the best interest of the customer and the project. Make your point politely yet firmly, with an irrefutable basis. You were hired because you are an expert in your field, and this is time to say it emphatically. While it's always tempting to say yes to every customer request, learn to say no when you have a reasonable basis for it. Draw on your past experience working with multiple customers on a variety of Salesforce projects. Offer alternative suggestions and help the customer see the larger picture. Your job as a Salesforce consultant is to be a partner with your customer, working towards a common goal and that job includes knowing when to say no. Conclusion Hiring a Salesforce consultant is an investment you make to achieve the heights that you envision for your business. Ready to unlock the true power of Salesforce? Team up with a Salesforce Implementation Partner who can guide you on the right path. 

Some Salesforce Consultants are successful in building a stable client base that they nurture and grow over time while others find it a rocky road and eventually hit a wall. Have you ever wondered what the difference is? Client relationships. Strong client relationships are the foundation for a successful Salesforce Consulting practice. Loyal customers are not only a joy to work with, but they also stay longer with you and are happy to refer new clients. How to build lasting client relationships? Below we have compiled a list of actionable ways to nurture and grow client relationships that will not only improve client satisfaction but also grow your business. Pay attention to detail and gather all information The foundation of a strong consultant-client relationship is laid before the client even signs up. Good consultants are aware they need as much information as possible about the prospect to come up with a proposal that stands out from the competition. And the key component of that proposal is how it aligns with the business’s goals and values and the personalities of the people you’ll be working with. This means collecting “objective” information like: Their products and services. The end-users and their profile. Top 3-4 competitors. Prioritized goals and associated challenges. Strategies that have not yielded desired results in the past. Tools, apps, and systems currently being used. Budget – long term and short term. Expectations from a new consultant It also includes “subjective” information such as: What is their definition of success? Future business plans such as new products or services. Mission and values they stand for. What is unique about them and how are they different from their competitors? Skills, experience, interests, and preferences of the team you’ll be working with. What are their pain points and wants from a new consultant? Absorb the information The intel you collected will be utilized not only in your bid document but will also be leveraged throughout the entire project execution lifecycle. Take the time to absorb and understand every point in depth so that it is made evident in everything you do. Go above and beyond with your proposal From the point of view of a project, your bid illustrates how you will go about achieving your client’s goals. From the point of view of a relationship, it’s an opportunity for you to demonstrate that you have a deep understanding of your client’s business and its people. To be successful, you need to seamlessly link what and why. What refers to activities included as a part of the project and why should link one of the "whats" to one of the business goals? Once you identify the why, establish the expected measurable outcome once the why is addressed. Include in your proposal how you will measure this outcome. This approach demonstrates your commitment to the client’s business and its people and shows that you care about the people impacted by your proposed offering. Have an onboarding process Once the client has signed up with you, there are bound to be regular interactions across the user group. A smooth onboarding process sets the benchmark for free and open communication and ensures smooth execution which is necessary for a long-term client relationship. Start with a kick-off meeting to ensure everyone is on the same page and well-versed with the goals and expectations of the project. Treat clients as partners Treating your clients as partners in success lays the foundation for a purposeful and fruitful engagement, where both your and your client’s points of view are respected, and each does their best to ensure success. At the end of the day, it’s a transactional relationship and a well-defined partnership ensures that each party delivers its end of the bargain. ​Be proactive Share fresh ideas and propose new strategies. Inform the concerned teams in advance about any disruptions that may be caused due to system changes or changes in requirements. Educate the teams and empower them to be proactive. A proactive approach based on transparent communication lays the foundation for a seamless execution and ensures success for all concerned. Be a good listener Clients can at times get reactive about results. While you may be doing a great job with your project, the results are not going through the roof. Instead of stone-walling the client’s perspective, use a more empathetic approach such as: “I see what you’re talking about. It’s a valid point. “ “We’re glad you brought this up.  Let us review this and allow us a week to report back to you.” Position yourself as a partner in the journey. Value everyone's point of view, evaluate objectively, and present your findings to build a long, trusting relationship. Establish a framework for communication Conduct scheduled meetings with relevant stakeholders and end them with clearly defined action items Set up weekly or fortnightly meetings to review progress and answer questions. Make the meetings more about listening than talking. This illustrates your intent to be accountable and helps build trust with the client. Leverage text messaging to build rapport and personal connections with team members and foster a more informal way of working. Share your concerns early This is particularly relevant when the business landscape is changing rapidly. Avoid saying yes to everything they want. Clients may have big plans and as a consultant, it's your job to double-check on everything they want for its viability, its efficacy, and impact on the overall project. Understand the challenges – both short-term and long-term, and communicate your concerns clearly. Establish quarterly business reviews Quarterly reviews with the senior leadership are a great way to build on relationships. Make these reviews focussed on high-level strategy, allowing the client to reflect on long-term goals. Review past strategies, what's worked and what hasn't, and pivot if need be. Quarterly reviews are also the apt time for a client to provide insight into the changing business landscape, and the shift in goals (if any), and to establish how these changes impact the scope and budget of the ongoing project. Strong client relationships are the backbone of a successful Salesforce Consulting practice. It lays the foundation for increased loyalty and referrals and makes the journey a joyful one.