Just 20 months after taking on the role, Clara Shih has stepped down as CEO of Salesforce AI – this is according to a report sent to investors from JMP Securities analyst Patrick Walravens.
The report includes comments from a Salesforce Investor Relations representative, specifying that “Clara has left Salesforce to pursue an external opportunity”, and that Adam Evans – previously senior vice president of Salesforce AI – will reprise the role.
Why Has Shih Left Salesforce?
This news may come as a shock to many as it was only a couple of months ago that Shih was speaking about Agentforce during this year’s Dreamforce. She was also in Sydney to answer questions about Salesforce’s new AI tool at the end of October.
At the helm of Salesforce’s AI efforts, Shih has led the development of Agentforce, the platform for building autonomous AI bots, which was introduced in September.
Evans, her successor, has enjoyed a recurring connection with Salesforce over the years. In 2011, he co-founded RelateIQ, which Salesforce acquired in 2015 before changing it to SalesforceIQ and later retiring it in 2020. His next venture was Airkit, a low-code platform provider which was also brought into the Salesforce fold back in October 2023. Airkit is considered the basis of Agentforce, which puts Evans in good stead when it comes to his knowledge of the product and what it can do.
Although the report claims that Shih left her role to pursue other endeavors, Salesforce have yet to release an official statement, and analysts believe that her departure could be more to do with an AI strategy makeover at Salesforce.
As is often the case with leadership transitions, questions will arise around what’s happening behind the scenes, which we will most likely never know the answer to. What is clear, however, is that Salesforce are dead set on establishing themselves as an AI frontrunner, and Shih is no longer spearheading it.
Marc Benioff has been vocal about Salesforce’s commitment to agents and making sure that everyone he works with is invested in the product. In our recent interview with Marc Benioff, the Salesforce CEO had this to say: “We’re trying to get every employee at Salesforce to work on [Agentforce] and do nothing else”. It’s also evident that Benioff believes Agentforce is driving more job opportunities in the ecosystem, with Salesforce looking to hire around a thousand people across the globe to focus on new Agentforce initiatives.
While we don’t want to drift too far into speculation, it’s clear that there is pressure on Salesforce employees to align with Agentforce and AI agents. Could there have been a clash in perspectives and visions that led to Shih’s departure? A case of pivoting away from copilots towards autonomous agents and the resulting collateral damage? It’s too early to tell. But this happening at such a pivotal time in Salesforce’s AI journey leaves us with more questions than answers.
Final Thoughts
Salesforce have yet to make an official statement, but it will be worth monitoring future updates to see if any new information as to why Shih left the role is released.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
The post Salesforce AI CEO Clara Shih Replaced by Airkit Founder Adam Evans appeared first on Salesforce Ben.