Salesforce layoffs: Marc Benioff cuts 4,000 support roles as AI agents take over customer service

Salesforce.com

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has confirmed a major restructuring of the company’s workforce, cutting 4,000 support staff as artificial intelligence takes on a larger share of customer-facing operations. Speaking on the Logan Bartlett podcast, Benioff revealed that Salesforce reduced its support headcount from 9,000 to 5,000 employees, a nearly 45% cut, citing AI-driven efficiency as the reason.

“I was able to rebalance my head count on my support,” Benioff said, explaining that AI agents now handle 50% of customer conversations, leaving human staff to manage the rest. He described the shift as “eight of the most exciting months of my career,” highlighting how AI has transformed operations at the world’s leading cloud software company.

AI tackles 100M lead backlog

Beyond customer service, Salesforce is deploying AI to resolve a 26-year sales backlog. Benioff revealed that the company had accumulated over 100 million uncalled leads due to staffing shortages, but AI-powered “agentic sales” systems are now reaching out to every potential customer. To ensure balance, Salesforce uses an “omnichannel supervisor” framework that enables AI to pass tasks to human agents when required, similar to how Tesla’s autopilot prompts drivers to take control.

The move contrasts sharply with Benioff’s July 2025 comments, when he dismissed fears of widespread AI-driven unemployment. At the time, he argued AI would augment, not replace workers, noting accuracy limitations meant “humans are not going away.” He even criticized startup leaders predicting mass white-collar displacement.

However, just two months later, the latest restructuring shows a different reality. Salesforce’s cuts represent about 5% of its global workforce of 76,453 employees as of January 2025.

The layoffs underscore the speed at which AI is reshaping corporate operations. While Salesforce continues to invest in AI to streamline support and sales, the reduction highlights growing concerns about the workforce impact of automation. x