Salesforce to Invest $4B in Its UK Business Over 5 Years

June 29, 2023 at 03:05 AM EDT

Salesforce pledges to invest in AI innovation, customer success and growth in the UK

Company welcomes 14,000 registered attendees to World Tour London: AI Day to hear from customers including Aston Martin Lagonda, Heathrow Airport, Marks & Spencer and Santander UK

Salesforce UK employees pledge to volunteer 100,000 hours in their communities in 2023

Salesforce, the global leader in CRM, today announced the company will invest $4 billion in its UK business in the next five years. The announcement comes as Salesforce kicks off its World Tour London: AI Day, the company’s largest-ever UK event with more than 14,000 customers, partners, employees and stakeholders registered to attend.

At the event, Salesforce will also unveil its latest AI product innovations, as attendees gather to hear how companies of all sizes and industries are leveraging the power of AI, data and CRM to connect with their customers in a whole new way.

Salesforce is experiencing rapid growth in the UK as companies invest in their digital transformations and leverage the incredible innovation cycle around artificial intelligence. The company has been investing in the UK over many years and today’s investment builds on a previous five-year investment of $2.5 billion announced in 2018. This continued investment in the UK will drive innovation and support its growing customer base.

“Salesforce’s major investment in its UK business over the next five years is a ringing endorsement of our economy,” said UK Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. “It will strengthen the company’s UK presence, increasing capacity, as well as creating vital jobs, reinforcing our position as one of their largest markets outside of the U.S. This investment sits alongside my key priority to grow the economy and pledge to make the UK the best place in the world to start, grow and invest in tech businesses.”

"This significant investment builds on our long-standing commitment to the UK," said Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO, Salesforce. "The UK is home to some of the world's most incredible, innovative companies, and we're thrilled to work together with them to drive the next wave of digital transformation in this new AI era."

“As an important global tech hub entering a new, fast-moving innovation cycle led by generative AI, the UK has a golden opportunity to unlock long-lasting value for the economy and grow its status as a technology leader," said Zahra Bahrololoumi, CEO, Salesforce UKI. “A clear pro-innovation regulatory framework that compels safe and responsible use of AI is vital, and Salesforce is fully focused on bringing secure, trusted, enterprise ready generative AI to UK businesses.”

#1 CRM, trusted AI

Salesforce is the #1 CRM provider in the UK according to the latest IDC Software Tracker¹.

Generative AI is transforming the way we work, and Salesforce is at the forefront of helping customers harness the technology safely and responsibly, with trust at the center. Earlier this year, Salesforce launched Einstein GPT, the world's first generative AI for CRM. This month, Salesforce announced AI Cloud, which brings together AI, data, analytics and automation to provide trusted, open, real-time generative AI that is enterprise ready.

It also launched Salesforce Accelerator – AI for Impact, a philanthropic initiative to help purpose-driven organizations gain equitable access to trusted generative AI technologies.

Continuing this momentum at World Tour London: AI Day, Salesforce will introduce its latest generative AI capabilities for Sales Cloud and Service Cloud, transforming how sellers and service teams work and interact with customers.

Leading UK businesses including Aston Martin Lagonda, Heathrow Airport and Santander UK will be at the event to share how they use Salesforce to power their digital transformations and connect with their customers.

UK retailer Marks & Spencer is using Salesforce’s AI technology to personalize its billions of customer interactions. The brand is increasing the value of its service to millions of customers up and down the country through their daily interactions with the business – from website and stores to contact centres and CRM.

Salesforce ecosystem fueling growth across the UK

Salesforce and its ecosystem of customers and partners in the UK is expected to create 271,700 new jobs and £52 billion ($66 billion) in new business revenues by 2026, according to research by IDC. Yet the emergence of generative AI serves as a powerful reminder of the digital skills crisis facing UK businesses.

Salesforce has committed to investing in digital skills training. Last year the company announced a grant of over £1.1 million to support education programs in the UK, and is urging business and government to work together to establish a national online digital skills platform to show people where to access the training they need.

The company is also providing upskilling opportunities through Trailhead, Salesforce’s free online learning platform. To date, Trailhead has helped more than 5 million people build their skills and prepare for the future of work with AI. Trailblazers in the UK have earned 2.3M badges on Trailhead.

Salesforce Ventures also continues to fuel innovation within the UK startup community through its Generative AI Fund, part of its commitment to bolster the AI startup ecosystem and spark the development of responsible generative AI. Other investments in the UK include Genesis Global, Onfido, Sequence and Sylvera.

Salesforce’s commitment to giving back in the UK

Salesforce’s efforts to build a workplace that reflects UK society and champions equality for all have been recognised consistently by the UK’s Great Place to Work list. The list named Salesforce the UK’s #3 Best Workplace in 2023 and #2 Workplace for Women, representing its commitment to its employees, values and culture.

An important part of Salesforce’s culture is its 1-1-1 model of corporate philanthropy, which dedicates 1% of the company’s equity, 1% of its employees’ time and 1% of its products to giving back. Over the last two decades, Salesforce UK and its employees have spent over 440,000 hours volunteering in their communities. Partners include Business in the Community, Positive Youth Foundation and Movement to Work. The company is committing to volunteering an additional 100,000 employee volunteer hours in 2023.

In addition to giving $12.9 million in strategic grants, employees have raised $4.8 million to benefit local nonprofits and provided technology to 4,000 nonprofits for free or at a significant discount.

More information:

Watch World Tour London: AI Day
For more World Tour London news, visit this page
Learn more about Salesforce Philanthropy

About Salesforce

Salesforce empowers companies of every size and industry to connect with their customers in a whole new way through the power of AI + data + CRM. For more information about Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), visit: www.salesforce.com.

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¹		Source: IDC, Worldwide Semiannual Software Tracker, April 2023. CRM market includes the following IDC-defined functional markets: Sales Force Productivity and Management, Marketing Campaign Management, Customer Service, Contact Center, Advertising, and Digital Commerce Applications.