At this week’s Dreamforce 2022, Salesforce made a series of announcements aimed at enhancing the cloud software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider’s platform.
Among the biggest announcements at the conference was the launch of Genie, a data platform that will underpin all of Salesforce’s data-driven efforts, including its CRM (customer relationship management) platform.
Easy what Salesforce acquired for $28 billion 2021 also made headlines at Dreamforce with its digital HQ initiative and previews of new features.
Rounding out the big news at Dreamforce is Salesforce’s sustainability effort called the Net Zero Marketplace, where companies can buy carbon credits to help fight climate change.
For Salesforce founder and CEO Marc Benioff (pictured), Dreamforce and company’s announcements are about rethinking the way people work, with a focus on the Japanese concept of shoshin, meaning “beginner’s mind.”
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“We must have a beginner’s mind, especially when it’s a new day like this. A beginner’s mind has all possibilities, but an expert’s mind has very few,” said Benioff. “So how do we cultivate our beginner’s mind when it’s a new day for business? We have to start thinking about what we really want.”
Salesforce releases Genie at Dreamforce 2022
Underlying all Salesforce SaaS applications is some form of data access as a fundamental component. The new Genie platform is an attempt to provide real-time data infrastructure for Salesforce.
“Genie is a high-speed, hyperscaled data lake infrastructure that powers all of Salesforce’s applications,” said David Schmaier, Salesforce’s president and chief product officer, in a press conference. “Genius makes all Salesforce apps better.”
Genie benefits from several features already present in the Salesforce platform to enable real-time data delivery. It can use the Salesforce Flow automation platform to enable faster workflows. It also leverages Salesforce’s Einstein AI technology to make better decisions and predictions.
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Genie is needed because most organizations have data in many different places. At a fundamental level, Genie provides a high-speed data lake that enables businesses to ingest data from all of their disparate systems to provide a unified customer experience.
“Genie is the platform that enables companies to deliver magical customer experiences,” said Schmaier. “They’re not actually magic – we use science to deliver that magic, and we use our Flow technology to provide better, faster and easier automation.”
Slack gets a new canvas for collaboration
Tamar Yehoshua, Chief Product Officer at Slack, explained during the press conference how her company’s technology has enabled many organizations to have digital headquarters.
At Dreamforce, Slack introduced Canvas, a new feature that allows businesses to share more information across conversations and channels. Canvas can be created and attached to a specific channel to collect and share information. It also integrates with other business tools such as Tableau analytics software, Atlassian Jira, and Google Workplace to pull additional information.
“Canvas is a persistent layer of information that captures responses, and it complements the real-time nature of Slack channels,” Yehoshua said.
About the author
Sean Michael Kerner is an IT consultant, technology enthusiast and inventor. He advises industry and media organizations on technology issues.