Salesforce to invest $4bn in its UK business over five years

Zahra Bahrololoumi, CEO of Salesforce for UK and Ireland, announced at the supplier’s World Tour London conference that it would invest $4bn in its own UK business over the next five years.

At the event, the company also unveiled some artificial intelligence (AI) enhancements to its various software-as-a-service products.

In a statement, Bahrololoumi said: “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.

“A clear pro-innovation regulatory framework that compels safe and responsible use of AI is vital,” she said.

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak lent his weight to the company’s investment. “Salesforce’s major investment in its UK business over the next five years is a ringing endorsement of our economy,” he said.

“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 US.”

The CRM supplier said it was showing rapid growth in the UK. It claimed the $4bn will build on a five-year investment of $2.5bn announced in 2018.

Marc Benioff, chair and CEO of Salesforce, added: “This significant investment builds on our long-standing commitment to the UK. 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.” 

Earlier this year, Salesforce launched Einstein GPT, described as the world’s first generative AI for CRM. This month, it announced an “AI Cloud”, which is said to bring together AI, data, analytics and automation to provide trusted, open, real-time generative AI. TechTarget’s Customer Experience website cited Gartner analyst Kyle Davis at the time of the announcement, saying AI Cloud is similar to Salesforce’s existing Data Cloud. Both support AI models and are built on top of Hyperforce, Salesforce’s infrastructure for the public cloud.

Aston Martin Lagonda, Heathrow Airport and Santander UK were at the event to describe how they use Salesforce for digital transformation and customer experience projects. And Marks & Spencer said it’s using Salesforce’s AI technology to personalise billions of customer interactions.

Salesforce has also launched Salesforce Accelerator – AI for Impact, an initiative said to help charitable organisations gain equitable access to generative AI technologies. 

It cited research by IDC that said the supplier, its customers and partners are expected to create 271,700 new jobs and £52bn ($66bn) in new business revenues by 2026.

It cited the same research in 2021, on the eve of its Dreamforce conference that year.