Salesforce CEO: AI Must Enhance Humans, Not Replace Them

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff says AI is bringing sweeping changes to his own company—even as hiring for engineering roles remains largely on pause. Still, he insists that AI must be used to enhance humans, not replace them, Jason Ma reported for Fortune.

Benioff emphasized that humans have a “superpower” that AI lacks: the ability to express compassion and form deep personal connections. I Photo: Salesforce Facebook

“As the CEO of a technology company that helps customers deploy AI, I believe this revolution can usher in an era of unprecedented growth and impact,” Benioff wrote in a Financial Times op-ed.

“At the same time, I believe humans must remain at the center of the story.”

Benioff emphasized that humans have a “superpower” that AI lacks: the ability to express compassion and form deep personal connections. These qualities, he said, are behind the world’s greatest inventions and the most meaningful businesses.

Even as Salesforce integrates AI across its operations, Benioff maintained that the technology will support—not supplant—humans.

For instance, AI agents managed by people now resolve 85% of customer service queries, and 25% of net new R&D code in Q1 was AI-generated.

“Jobs will change, and as with every major technological shift, some will go away—and new ones will emerge,” Benioff noted. At Salesforce, the company has been “radically reshaped,” with thousands of employees redeployed and more than half of first-quarter hires coming from within.