Salesforce Expands Zero-Copy AI Agent Ecosystem with Google and Databricks

Salesforce is expanding its AI agent ecosystem by linking its Agentforce platform to external data and cloud platforms, including Databricks and Google Cloud. This zero-copy method allows agents to access corporate data without physically replicating or moving it, while companies maintain control over their existing data storage environments.

The company has also acquired Informatica for about $8 billion, which is being combined with Agentforce to improve the reliability of corporate data used by AI. Salesforce says that its AI agent business is growing rapidly, with annual recurring revenue (ARR) rising to $1.2 billion in the first quarter, more than tripling from a year earlier.

The expansion of Salesforce's data ecosystem is tied to the growth of its AI agent business, and the company plans to continue expanding its partner ecosystem so that AI agents can use data across multiple corporate systems without being tied to a specific data repository. Integration with external data platforms is also widening, with Salesforce agreeing to support a 'federated search' with Databricks and linking Agentforce with Gemini Enterprise on Google Cloud.