Salesforce Rides AI Wave to Record Revenue

Salesforce's stock price has surged by 75% since June 2026, and the company has fully recovered from its year-to-date losses. CEO Marc Benioff attributes this success to Salesforce's ability to adapt to the changing landscape of software as a service (SaaS). He dismissed concerns about the 'SaaSpocalypse' narrative, which suggests that SaaS companies are being disrupted by artificial intelligence (AI).

Benioff pointed out that Salesforce has partnered with Anthropic, a company at the forefront of AI development, to create Claudeforce. This partnership allows Salesforce to leverage AI and provide more value to its customers. Benioff also emphasized the importance of embracing AI and using it to build agentic layers that can utilize customer data in a trusted environment.

Salesforce's adoption of AI has been reflected in its financial performance, with record revenue and earnings in the latest quarter. The company's free cash flow increased by 81% during this period. Benioff also highlighted the success of Slackbot, Salesforce's conversational AI product, which has gained 1 million active users just five months after launch.

While Salesforce is thriving, other SaaS companies such as Adobe and Intuit are struggling. Adobe's share price has fallen by nearly 17% year-to-date, while Intuit's stock price is down 43%. Benioff believes that Salesforce is an exception to the rule and that its success can be attributed to its ability to adapt and innovate.