Blazing Trails

Today we're talking about the launch of Einstein GPT, which is being announced today at TrailblazerDX 2023. We are going to learn how Einstein GPT will open the door to the AI future for our customers. Here to show us the way is Jayesh Govindarajan, SVP of AI and Machine Learning at Salesforce.

Today we're talking all about the state of sales. In fact, it's the name of our latest sales research, the fifth edition of our State of Sales Report. Here to give us a breakdown is Tiffani Bova, Global Growth Evangelist at Salesforce, and author of the new book, The Experience Mindset: Changing the Way You Think About Growth.

In celebration of Black History Month, we're going to learn about The Hidden Genius Project, a nonprofit focused on training and mentoring Black male youth in technology creation, entrepreneurship, and leadership. We'll also learn about the Salesforce Catalyst Fund, which provides unrestricted capital to nonprofits led by underrepresented leaders. Join us for this conversation with Dr. Brandon Nicholson, Chief Executive Officer of The Hidden Genius Project, and Dr. Ron C. Smith, Vice President of Philanthropy at Salesforce.

Did you know that Salesforce AI Research built an AI language model, Salesforce ProGen, that created the first known 3D structure of an artificial protein designed fully by AI? Learn more about this transformative research and the potential impact it may have on the medical world, as well as how AI research is being applied across industries with ProGen's lead researcher, Nikhil Naik.

Art is a force for change, as actor and storyteller Laverne Cox has demonstrated throughout her career. Join us for an insightful discussion on how to build a more inclusive world, on-screen and off, from our TIME 100 Equality session at Dreamforce 2022.

Do women bring unique skills as leaders? That's the question Julia Boorstin, CNBC's Senior Media & Tech Correspondent, set out to answer in her new book When Women Lead: What They Achieve, Why They Succeed, and How We Can Learn From Them. On today's episode, Julia talks about the odds-defying leadership approaches of women running the world's most innovative and successful companies - and what we can learn from them. Tune in!

Do women bring unique skills as leaders? That's the question Julia Boorstin, CNBC's Senior Media & Tech Correspondent, set out to answer in her new book When Women Lead: What They Achieve, Why They Succeed, and How We Can Learn From Them. On today's episode, Julia talks about the odds-defying leadership approaches of women running the world's most innovative and successful companies - and what we can learn from them. Tune in!

Could bringing back the woolly mammoth be a key to saving the planet? Tech entrepreneur Ben Lamm and Harvard geneticist George Church are betting on it. Together they launched Colossal Bioscience, a genetic engineering company focused on using gene editing technology to advance de-extinction. But the company has a much larger goal, re-introducing native populations to help restore natural ecosystems. Join us to hear Ben and George talk about their pioneering work. For more information on Colossal go to www.colossal.com.

Venture capitalist Beth Ferrreira, general partner at firstmark capital has spent her career on both the operating and the investment side. Today, she shares what makes successful entrepreneurs tick and how we can take those lessons and apply them to our own careers.

Many of us are feeling the need to be entrepreneurial either at work, finding a new job or even starting a new company. Today we are joined by an incredible entrepreneur Iman Abuzeid, M.D., co-founder and CEO of Incredible Health. Her company is valued at $1.65 billion dollars. Iman shares with us how she led her health tech start-up to unicorn status and what it takes to build a successful business.

Jennifer Hudson is shattering glass ceilings and shifting conversations. Listen to her inspiring talk and career advice from her appearance at Dreamforce 2022.

Get tips on keeping the brain young, healthy, and sharp, so you can protect your mind at any age with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Neurosurgeon, Author & Award-Winning Chief Medical Correspondent, CNN, and Dr. Geeta Nayyar, SVP, Chief Medical Officer, Salesforce.

AI is shaping our future-which is why it's so crucial that companies have diverse, inclusive communities of people creating that technology. Lila Ibrahim, COO of DeepMind joins us to discuss the benefits, the risks and questions associated with AI. She shares her tips on how businesses can build interdisciplinary teams to ensure that the people building these tools actually represent the world they're shaping.

Don't wait to book that holiday travel! Because Stephanie Linnartz, president of Marriott International, says travel is back and busier than ever. Tune in to hear her discuss how the hospitality giant is reimagining what service means to help revive the travel industry and keep customers at the center of everything they do.

The numbers don't lie! Today we're talking about the holiday shopping season and how retailers are doing. We'll discuss what's happening in stores, what's happening online and what are the trends. To help us make sense we're joined by Rob Garf, VP and GM of retail at Salesforce, Scot Wingo, CEO of Spiffy and Co-founder of ChannelAdvisor and Jason 'Retailgeek' Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis. Tune in to find out how you retailers can better connect with customers.

What's the secret to ending unproductive meetings forever? Jen Wong, COO of Reddit has cracked the code! On this week's episode she shares her tips on how she runs incredibly effective meetings and empowers her teams. She also talks about how to lead as an introvert, the best ways businesses can be authentic on Reddit and how to grow killer vegetables– with help from her friends on Reddit. Tune in!

How can companies better know and connect to their customers and build more trust? That's a question Seth Godin, marketing guru and founding editor of The Carbon Almanac and Brian Solis, VP and Global Innovation Evangelist at Salesforce and best-selling author, try to answer in this week's episode. They discuss some fascinating findings from our just released State of the Connected Customer report. It's our 5th edition and features insights from nearly 17,000 consumers and business buyers worldwide. Tune in to find out what's at the heart of it.

Today's service leaders are struggling to meet growing customer expectations amid a 19% average annual turnover rate and tightening operational budgets. But Salesforce Service Cloud CEO Clara Shih and Global Innovation Evangelist Brian Solis see automation and AI as a solution. On this episode they explain how you can drive growth by empowering agents to do more with less, increase efficiencies by streamlining time-intensive processes, and deliver immediate cost savings to organizations across every industry. Tune in to find out more!

The metaverse promises to be a virtual world of innovation, experimentation and opportunity. It has the potential to change the way brands and creators engage with their customers in this new virtual space. Today we are sharing a special session recorded at Dreamforce where we'll dive into the impact of Web 3 innovation on commerce with Erika Wykes-Sneyd, Vice President of Adidas Web3 Studio, Marc Mathieu, SVP of Web3 Studio at Salesforce, and Devin Wenig, former President & CEO of eBay.

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've heard of Levi's denim. And they've heard of you, too. We talk to their staff historian (yes, that's a job) Tracy Panek about how much customer wants and needs (and sometimes complaints!) have always been the driving force behind what they make, how they make it and what's coming next for this 150 year old brand.

One of the most important, significant, but also complicated customer service relationships we have… is with our significant other. They are significant to us; naturally we want to make sure their needs are met. This universal experience is so similar to providing good customer service in the marketplace. We first talk to Francesca Beauman who traces the history of personal ads: what we've wanted and not wanted and wanted again from our clients (aka partners) over hundreds of years. Then we turn to Dr. Jess Carbino, who has a PhD from UCLA in 21st century dating, a ton of dating experience herself, and thoughts about how the transaction of love works these days. Also Adam asks his wife if he's providing good customer service. You'll want to stick around for her answer.

Tighter margins mean retailers need to innovate to stay competitive during the 2022 holiday shopping season. From dialing up the volume on digital to transforming the role of the physical store, future-looking retailers are putting customers at the heart of every decision they make.Today, we are joined by Rob Garf, VP and GM of Retail at Salesforce who shares his thoughts on what you can do now to optimize your holiday retail strategy and start building lifelong customer relationships.

This thousand-year-old protein continues to delight the palettes of artisanal cheese-loving patrons. But how do cheese makers Mateo and Andy Kehler, owners of Jasper Hill since 2003, keep up with so many mass-produced options on the shelves? Though it's a slow, difficult process to arrive at an award-winning cheese – you might even need a cheesemonger like Rich Murrillo to guide you – Mateo shares why a taste is all it takes to birth fine cheese-lovers for years to come.

The Kanesh Archive, a 4,000 year old collection of tablets discovered in Northern Iraq, reveals that customer service is nothing new. Over 4 millenniums ago, textile merchants would keep records of their sales transactions and customer details! In this eye-opening conversation, we welcome Harvard professor, Gojko Barjamovic, and his partner, Agnete, who reveal that these ancient clay records include orders, detailed feedback and requests, and even expense reports for the traveling salesmen! Who knew Quickbooks (or other software) had a great-great-great grandparent?

We went into today's episode with a big question: when a truly novel product comes to mind for an existing company or just some individual who might end up on Shark Tank, how difficult is it to find out if anyone wants to buy it? So, our correspondent Jane Marie came up with a new product and spoke to the founders of Kirrin Finch, a women's clothing line that is designed to look like menswear. With their guidance, we take our new idea and go on the hunt for our customer, if there even is one.

How do you create novelty around one of the oldest businesses on the planet? Well, King Arthur Flour is focusing on customers and their wants and needs. Whether it's with recipes or the kind of flour home chefs want, their north star is always, “how do we best serve the baker?” With the help of King Arthur and home pizza oven designers from Breville and Ooni, we talk about how technology in baking is changing the game for pizza lovers.

LAUNCHING OCT 26: Meet The Customer is a six-part series on Blazing Trails taking you through the history of the relationships between businesses and customers.

The automotive industry is in the midst of a historical digital transformation. Today's vehicles are computers on wheels and customers who used to shop exclusively in the showroom can complete transactions online. Tune in to hear Harald Krüger, the former chairman and CEO of BMW and Jessica Geutner, Vice President of Strategic Customers at Salesforce discuss what companies need to do to navigate this uncertain terrain while balancing profitability with research and development as well as environmental initiatives.

We're concluding our Dreamforce 2022 coverage with Bono, an original Trailblazer. The lead singer of U2, cofounder of (RED) and ONE talks talks about his upcoming new memoir ‘Surrender,' what fuels his passion for music, art, justice and life.

Our Dreamforce coverage continues. Today we'll hear Pivot, the award-winning podcast by Vox Media come to life with co-host Kara Swisher and Stewart Butterfield, President & CEO of Slack. Stewart shares his thoughts on the future of work, the metaverse and what's next for Slack.

We're kicking off our special coverage of Dreamforce 2022 with a great conversation between former Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers and Salesforce Co-Ceo Bret Taylor. Inflation and economic pressures are hitting every industry. Summers shares his perspectives on how the economy got here and what to expect moving forward.

Brevity is confidence. Length is fear. That is the manifesto of Smart Brevity, the latest book co-authored by Jim VandeHei, founder of Axios and Politico. It aims to teach everyone how to communicate effectively and be heard. Whether you work at a Fortune 500, a small business or an organization, you'll want to tune in this week to hear VandeHei share his tips on how to say more with less.

Can the largest Black-owned bank in America undo years of economic inequality? Tune in this week to hear CEO Kevin Cohee and President Teri Williams of OneUnited Bank discuss how they are using data and technology to help close the racial wealth gap.And you can learn more about their journey by tuning into ‘The Shift', a new docuseries from Salesforce Studios premiering on CNBC, on Sept 17. Every Saturday at 2:30pm EST through November 12, you'll learn how high-growth organizations are taking on digital transformations during heavy market headwinds and coming through better than ever. You can also catch the series on demand on CNBC.com, Peacock, and of course on Salesforce+.

Remember all those great conversations in the office? Well, consider this the world's biggest water cooler, our 20th Dreamforce onsite in San Francisco AND on Salesforce+ is less than a month away. Dreamforce is where innovation meets inspiration. This week on Blazing Trials we'll give you a preview of the world's largest software conference. You'll hear about our new product launches, the list of luminaries including keynotes from our CEO's Marc Benioff, Bret Taylor, Jennifer Hudson, Bono, Jane Goodall, Laurence Summers and many more. Our in-person and online event from Sept 20-22 has something for everyone, at every level and from every industry. So tune in this week to find out more and don't forget to sign up at https://www.salesforce.com/plus/experience/Dreamforce_2022/ Learn more about Dreamforce: https://www.salesforce.com/dreamforce/

We're less than a month away from Dreamforce— As many of you know–our 4 core values here at Salesforce are trust, innovation, equality and customer success. And this year we added sustainability.Today we want to share a very important conversation we recorded last year with Denise Naguib, vice- president for sustainability and supplier diversity at Marriott International and Patrick Flynn, Senior Vice President of Sustainability here at Salesforce.In this episode, they share what they are doing to make it easier to understand our impact - one data point at a time. They discuss sustainability as a competitive advantage, carbon accounting, the power of partnerships, and how they are using technology to understand the climate crisis - and cure - better than ever before.

Today's episode is part of our ongoing series ‘Wow But How' where we showcase how companies are using Customer 360 to unite teams and create wow moments for their customers. In this episode we'll learnhow RBC Wealth Management consolidated 26 systems into one to exceed client and advisor expectations.

Today we are featuring a heartening conversation with Holocaust survivor, psychologist and New York Times best-selling author Dr. Edith Eva Eger about choosing to embrace what's possible, overcoming trauma, and inspiring others through story.This conversation originally aired on our sister podcast B-Well Together- A weekly series that highlights luminary speakers and wellbeing experts to provide insights and tips related to all aspects of mental, physical, and social wellbeing. You won't want to miss it!

What should you look for when you want to build your next generation marketing team? What are the skills that are needed? Who are the key players? What should you be thinking about to future proof your team? In this episiode you'll get some expert advice on how to answer all of those questions from Sabrina Heise,Vice President, Consumer Engagement at NBC Sports Group and Jessica Cobarras, SVP, Cloud Marketing at Salesforce. This is the first episode in our three part series on marketing which we recorded at our annual Connections conference that took place in Chicago in July . Tune in to find out more!

Are you grappling with how to balance consumer personalization demand with consumer privacy expectations? On this episode you'll hear Dea Lawrence, Chief Operating and Marketing Officer for Variety share her guidance for using data ethically and employing trust-building personalization.This conversation was recorded at our annual Connections conference that took place in Chicago in July.

As our societies become more diverse and interconnected, it's more important than ever that companies are thoughtful about the messages, images, voices, and values that represent their brands — as well as their greater social impact. In our second episode of our marketing series. we'll hear Lauren Carnell, Vice President of Marketing for The Memphis Grizzlies and Molly Ford, Vice President, Global Talent Brand Marketing at Salesforce discuss the power of inclusive marketing. This conversation was recorded at our annual Connections conference that took place in Chicago in July. Tune in!

What should you look for when you want to build your next generation marketing team? What are the skills that are needed? Who are the key players? In this episode you'll get some expert advice on how to answer all of those questions from Sabrina Heise, Vice President, Consumer Engagement at NBC Sports Group and Jessica Cobarras, Senior Vice President, Cloud Marketing at Salesforce. This is the first episode in our three part series on marketing which we recorded at our annual Connections conference that took place in Chicago in July. Tune in to find out more!

It's summertime and there is no BETTER time to do a bit of reflection, turn off the zoom meetings and dig into some good books. In this episode, Nick Lichtenberg, executive editor of news at Fortune Magazine talks about his favorite titles on topics ranging from reinventing work to the history of venture capitalists. Stories that both teach you something useful and keep you occupied on the beach. Tune in! Titles include The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future by Sebastian Mallaby, The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy by Christopher Leonard, The Nowhere Office: Reinventing Work and the Workplace of the Future by Julia Hobsbawm, Blood in the Garden: The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks by Brian Hutchison and The Candy House by Jennifer Egan.

The latest business maxim tells us that trust is the new currency. But currency itself—from cold hard cash to cutting-edge crypto—requires trust in those who trade in it and the systems that oversee it. IIn today's episode we bring together two executives who have tried to foster that trust in divergent arenas: the physical world of gold-based lending and the digital investing world of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.Marc Mathieu, EVP, Digital Transformation & Innovation here at Salesforce, sat down with Sumit Maniyar, founder and CEO of Rupeek and Matthew Liu, co-founder of Origin Protocol, to discuss how to get buy-in from the customer and trust in the financial process. Tune in!

“Have at least three mentors in your career. One you work with, one who loves you and a third one who scares the living daylights out of you.” That's career advice Sarah Friar lives by and credits for her incredible journey from Wall Street to executive roles at Salesforce, Square and most recently Nextdoor. Sarah delves into the role of mentorship in a successful career, including how she became a mentee of Marc Benioff, and discusses why she believes slower growth is benefitting her company. Plus, she and host Michael Rivo touch on the ways that Nextdoor continues to serve communities and address shifting needs to enhance connection, respect, and trust. All this up next on Blazing Trails.