Bernard Slowey: Forget Chatbots! Smart Brands Are Moving to AI Agents!

This is a podcast episode titled, Bernard Slowey: Forget Chatbots! Smart Brands Are Moving to AI Agents!. The summary for this episode is: <p>Imagine onboarding a new employee who never sleeps, speaks every language, knows all your products, and can handle thousands of customers at once.</p><p>That's the reality Salesforce is building with Agentforce — and it’s already transforming customer success, marketing operations, and revenue growth.</p><p>In this episode, Salesforce SVP of Digital Customer Success Bernard Slowey joins us to break down how they became Customer Zero for Agentforce, what went wrong (and right), and why agentic AI is reshaping the future of marketing and operations.<br /><br />If you lead marketing, operations, or customer success — and you’re serious about not falling behind — this episode is your AI playbook.<br /><br /><strong>Key Moments:</strong><br /><br />00:00: What Is Agentforce? Introducing Salesforce’s Digital AI Workforce <br />01:21: Meet Bernard Slowey: VP of Digital Customer Success at Salesforce <br />01:46: From AOL to Salesforce: Bernard’s Career Path Through the Tech Revolution <br />03:57: The Rise of AI Agents: Why Chatbots Are Officially Obsolete <br />06:36: AI Agents vs. Chatbots: What They Are and Why They Matter <br />11:22: Lessons from the Frontlines: What It Takes to Implement AI Agents <br />15:16: Inside Salesforce: How Agentforce Came to Life <br />18:55: How Salesforce Launched Agentforce in Just 4 Weeks (And What They Measured) <br />30:27: Rethinking Success: Metrics That Actually Matter in AI Rollouts <br />38:25: Why Traditional Customer Service Automation Is Failing Us <br />42:36: Real Use Cases: How Salesforce Clients Are Winning with Agentforce <br />44:11: AI Implementation Challenges (And How to Solve Them) <br />50:32: Cross-Functional Teams and the Future of AI Collaboration <br />57:18: Why AI Still Needs a Human Touch in Customer Experience <br />58:33: The New Job Titles and Skills Emerging in an AI-First Era <br />01:04:02 Human Intuition vs. AI Logic: Finding the Right Balance <br />01:09:35 Customer Obsession in the Age of Automation</p><p> </p> <p><p><i>Mission.org is a media studio producing content alongside world-class clients. Learn more at</i><a href="https://mission.org/"><i> mission.org.</i></a></p></p>