In a few years, there will be more AI agents than humans. Why Salesforce's CEO thinks so.

According to the CEO of the largest cloud platform for business automation and customer relationship management Salesforce, companies are massively transitioning to a model where artificial intelligence becomes a full-fledged participant in work processes, and the number of digital assistants will be counted in the billions.

The Gist

·        Head of Salesforce Marc Benioff predicts a rapid increase in the number of AI agents.

·        According to his estimate, their number will exceed the Earth's population in the coming years.

·        AI agents are already performing some employee functions in business.

·        Companies are gradually moving towards a "hybrid workforce" model, where people work alongside digital assistants.

·        Experts believe the main question is no longer creating AI, but its effective application.

What Are AI Agents

Unlike conventional chatbots, AI agents can independently perform a sequence of actions to achieve a set goal.

They can search for information, analyze documents, interact with corporate databases, place orders, correspond with clients, and coordinate task execution with virtually no human intervention.

It is these systems that are becoming one of the main directions in the development of corporate artificial intelligence today.

Why There Will Be So Many

According to Marc Benioff, virtually every person and every organization will use several specialized digital assistants simultaneously.

One agent might handle sales, another customer service, a third accounting or data analysis. As a result, the number of such systems could exceed the planet's population in the foreseeable future.

Salesforce itself is actively developing the Agentforce platform, which allows companies to create their own autonomous AI agents to perform various business tasks.

AI Is Already Changing How Companies Work

Salesforce calls agentic AI the biggest business opportunity in recent years. The company claims that tens of thousands of clients are already implementing such solutions in customer service, marketing, and internal processes.

At the same time, experts note that AI agents do not yet fully replace humans. Their main task is to automate routine operations and increase employee productivity.

What This Means for Kazakhstan

The development of agentic artificial intelligence could become the next stage of digital business transformation in Kazakhstan. If today companies mainly use generative AI for information retrieval and text preparation, in the coming years digital agents will be able to independently perform a significant portion of administrative, service, and analytical functions.

Earlier, Hunn.kz reported on the application of artificial intelligence in Kazakhstan's agriculture — from animal monitoring systems to digital solutions for agricultural production. As agentic technologies develop, such systems will be able not only to analyze data but also to independently make operational decisions within their designated authority.

Author's Conclusion

A year ago, the main question was how well artificial intelligence could respond to human queries. Today, the focus is gradually shifting: more and more companies want AI not just to give advice, but to do the work itself. If Marc Benioff's forecast comes true, in the coming years business will face a new reality where the number of digital employees will indeed exceed the number of people. And the main competitive advantage will no longer be the presence of AI, but the ability to effectively manage an entire ecosystem of such agents.