Dreamforce 2024: key takeaways for Financial Services firms

As we recover from the Dreamforce fever (the conference, and the concert gets bigger and better every year....I can confirm ‘cos I have been attending since 2008!!), all the financial services leaders that we interact with, are asking the same pressing question: We like what we see, and know that we need to invest in emerging technologies like AI, Agentforce, and conversational UIs, but how do we justify further investment in Salesforce, given the fact that we haven’t drawn the true promised value from the platform yet?

The focus of the conversations has shifted from just implementing the “new” technologies to understanding how they can deliver real business value.

Dreamforce 2024 showcased how AI and automation are reshaping financial services. With Generative AI (GenAI), Salesforce’s Data Cloud, and Agentforce, firms have the opportunity to modernize their operations, improve customer engagement, and drive efficiency at scale. Here's what financial services firms need to know.

 

The Mirage of Unified Client Insights: "Achieving a True 360-Degree View"

Despite the progress, many financial institutions struggle to create a seamless 360-degree client view due to fragmented data. Salesforce's Data Cloud offers a solution, but data quality remains a significant barrier. 90% of executives acknowledge that resolving these data issues is critical to unlocking the full potential of AI (Forbes Australia).

 

User Experience and Adoption: "One Size Doesn’t Fit All—Personalization Is Key"

A common challenge with Salesforce adoption is the one-size-fits-all approach. The future lies in conversational UIs and AI-powered prompts, which streamline how users interact with the platform. These innovations will simplify workflows, helping financial professionals make better, faster decisions by accessing personalized insights (SaaS Weekly) (Salesforce).

 

Data Quality: "Trusted Data Is the Foundation of AI"

AI is only as good as the data it processes. Agentforce and Data Cloud ensure financial institutions have access to real-time, accurate data, enabling AI-driven insights to guide decision-making and improve customer interactions (Forbes Australia).

 

Operational Inefficiency: "Automation Must Be the Default, Not the Exception"

Financial services firms are still hindered by manual processes. Agentforce and GenAI can automate up to 30% of service tasks, including loan processing, customer queries, and portfolio management. Automating these functions frees employees to focus on higher-value tasks, leading to significant improvements in efficiency (HFS Research) (Salesforce).

 

The Path Forward: Specific Use Cases for Financial Services Firms

To leverage the full potential of AI and Salesforce, financial services firms should explore these practical use cases (clearly not an exhaustive list, but some thought-triggers to get us thinking; with #4 being my personal favorite in terms of tangible business & customer impact.….)

  • Personalized Wealth Management

With AI-powered insights and Salesforce’s Data Cloud, wealth managers can access a 360-degree client view and offer real-time, personalized portfolio recommendations. Agentforce can automate portfolio adjustments and alerts, allowing advisors to focus on deepening client relationships (SaaS Weekly) (Forbes Australia).

  • Automated Loan Processing and Underwriting

AI and Agentforce streamline loan processing by automating data verification and underwriting decisions. Data Cloud aggregates client financial histories, enabling AI-driven risk assessments and reducing processing times from weeks to minutes (HFS Research).

  • Proactive Fraud Detection and Risk Management

By leveraging AI and real-time data streams, financial firms can detect fraud patterns early. Agentforce can automatically trigger risk management actions, such as freezing accounts or escalating issues to compliance teams (Salesforce) (HFS Research).

  • Customer Service

AI-driven conversational assistants can handle a significant portion of customer inquiries, enabling faster response times and improved customer satisfaction. With Salesforce’s Service Cloud, integrated with Agentforce, customer service teams can automate responses to common queries, prioritize high-value clients, and resolve cases faster. By using AI-driven chatbots and real-time data analysis, financial services firms can increase operational efficiency while improving the customer experience. For example, AI agents can immediately pull up customer profiles, suggest personalized solutions, and automate routine queries, reducing service backlogs and empowering human agents to focus on complex cases(Salesforce) (Salesforce).


 Why should the Financial Services firms Invest Now

In a constrained economic environment, prioritizing AI and automation can drive measurable outcomes:

  • Revenue Growth: AI-driven insights help deepen client relationships and increase wallet share.
  • Cost Optimization: Automating routine workflows reduces operational costs and enhances efficiency.
  • Risk Management: AI enhances decision-making, enabling proactive risk management and regulatory compliance.
  • Future-Proofing: Investing in AI-first architectures ensures scalability and competitiveness (HFS Research) (Salesforce).

 

Ethical Considerations: Trusting AI

Ethical concerns about AI—like data privacy, transparency, and bias—are top of mind for many financial firms. A strong governance framework is necessary to ensure AI is deployed responsibly and fairly (Salesforce).


The rise of AI-first architectures like Agentforce and Salesforce’s Data Cloud will reshape the consulting and systems integrator (SI) landscape as well. As financial institutions increasingly look to adopt AI-driven automation and cloud technologies, we must pivot toward delivering value-added services around AI enablement, data strategy, and systems integration. By focusing on AI-powered transformation projects, we will not only help clients accelerate their digital journeys but also create new opportunities for data governance, AI ethics consulting, and AI systems management. This will require new skill sets and deeper expertise in managing AI implementations at scale, positioning consulting and SI players as critical enablers of such transformations. 

Dreamforce 2024 made it clear that the future of financial services is AI-driven. Firms that embrace Agentforce, Salesforce’s Data Cloud, and GenAI will lead the industry by driving operational efficiency, enhancing customer engagement, and staying competitive in an evolving market.


Interested in how these innovations can transform your firm? Let’s connect and explore how AI and automation can unlock new opportunities in financial services.


#Dreamforce2024 #FinancialServices #GenerativeAI #Agentforce #SaaS #DataCloud #BusinessTransformation #Automation #RiskManagement #Accenture #AI #CostEfficiency #FutureOfWork

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Preet - super helpful!!

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Akella Surya Kiran

Personalized Experiences and Transformation Strategist | Data Driven Digital Re-Invention Leader | Managing Director at Accenture Salesforce Business Grp

1mo

Very well summarized Preet Takkar!! Great article.

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Insightful. Nicely done Preet!

Randhir Thakur

Strategy Director (Corporate Strategy) at USAA||MBA NYU STERN (Specialization in Finance and Strategy)

1mo

Insightful

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