Salesforce Launches Agentforce Testing Center: A New Era in AI Agent Lifecycle Management

Salesforce launches Agentforce Testing Center to put agents through paces

Join our daily and weekly newsletters for the latest updates and exclusive content on industry-leading AI coverage. Learn More The next phase of agentic AI may just be evaluation and monitoring, as enterprises want to make the agents they're beginning to deploy more observable. While AI agent benchmarks can be misleading, there's a lot of value in seeing if the agent is working the way they want to. To this end, companies are beginning to offer platforms where customers can sandbox AI agents or evaluate their performance. Salesforce released its agent evaluation platform, Agentforce Testing Center, in a limited pilot Wednesday. General availability is expected in December. Testing Center lets enterprises observe and prototype AI agents to ensure they access the workflows and data they need. Testing Center's new capabilities include AI-generated tests for Agentforce, Sandboxes for Agentforce and Data Cloud and monitoring and observability for Agentforce. AI-generated tests allow companies to use AI models to generate "hundreds of synthetic interactions" to test if agents end up in how often they answer the way companies want. As the name suggests, sandboxes offer an isolated environment to test agents while mirroring a company's data to reflect better how the agent will work for them. Monitoring and observability let enterprises bring an audit trail to the sandbox when the agents go into production. Patrick Stokes, executive vice president of product and industries marketing at Salesforce, told VentureBeat that the Testing Center is part of a new class of agents the company calls Agent Lifecycle Management. "We are positioning what we think will be a big new subcategory of agents," Stokes said. "When we say lifecycle, we mean the whole thing from genesis to development all the way through deployment, and then iterations of your deployment as you go forward." Stokes said that right now, the Testing Center doesn't have workflow-specific insights where developers can see the specific choices in API, data or model the agents used. However, Salesforce collects that kind of data on its Einstein Trust Layer. "What we're doing is building developer tools to expose that metadata to our customers so that they can actually use it to better build their agents," Stokes said. Salesforce is hanging its hat on AI agents, focusing a lot of its energy on its agentic offering Agentforce. Salesforce customers can use preset agents or build customized agents on Agentforce to connect to their instances. Evaluating agents AI agents touch many points in an organization, and since good agentic ecosystems aim to automate a big chunk of workflows, making sure they work well becomes essential. If an agent decides to tap the wrong API, it could spell disaster for a business. AI agents are stochastic in nature, like the models that power them, and consider each potential probability before coming up with an outcome. Stokes said Salesforce tests agents by barraging the agent with versions of the same utterances or questions. Its responses are scored as pass or fail, allowing the agent to learn and evolve within a safe environment that human developers can control. Platforms that help enterprises evaluate AI agents are fast becoming a new type of product offering. In June, customer experience AI company Sierra launched an AI agent benchmark called TAU-bench to look at the performance of conversational agents. Automation company UiPath released its Agent Builder platform in October which also offered a means to evaluate agent performance before full deployment. Testing AI applications is nothing new. Other than benchmarking model performances, many AI model repositories like AWS Bedrock and Microsoft Azure already let customers test out foundation models in a controlled environment to see which one works best for their use cases.

Salesforce Introduces Agentforce Testing Center: First-of-Its-Kind AI Agent Lifecycle Management Tooling for Testing Autonomous AI Agents at Scale By Investing.com

Agentforce Testing Center enables teams to test Agentforce using synthetically generated data, ensuring accurate responses and actions " with complete monitoring of usage and feedback New Data Cloud Sandboxes and Digital Wallet enhancements enable teams to test the entire AI and data lifecycle in secure test environments while transparently managing and optimizing costs SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), the world's #1 AI CRM, today announced agentic lifecycle management tools to automate Agentforce testing, prototype agents in secure Sandbox environments, and transparently manage usage at scale. AI agents are a new paradigm in software. They are intelligent systems that can reason and act on behalf of customers and employees. But to realize their full potential, agents need to be tested and configured without disrupting live production environments. This new toolchain " the first of its kind in the industry " will enable teams to test, deploy, and monitor AI agents with Agentforce at scale, with confidence, enabling every enterprise to become agent-first. Agentforce is helping businesses create a limitless workforce. To deliver this value fast, CIOs need new tools for testing and monitoring agentic systems, said Adam Evans, EVP and GM for Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) AI Platform. Salesforce introduced the concept of Application Lifecycle Management back in 2006 with Force.com. This new category of Agentic Lifecycle Management requires unique tools, and Salesforce is meeting the moment again with Agentforce Testing Center, which will help companies roll out trusted AI agents with no-code tools for testing, deploying, and monitoring in a secure, repeatable way. Innovation in action: Other vendors lack the necessary capabilities for customers to run the appropriate tests on their AI before deploying, which can lead to hallucinations, inaccurate results, and substandard customer experiences. Agentforce Testing Center " built on the enterprise-grade Salesforce Platform and integrated with Data Cloud " enables every organization to easily test and monitor AI agents so that they can deploy with confidence. With nearly 3 million members, PenFed is committed to building relationships that go beyond transactions, said Shree Reddy, CIO, PenFed. Through the power of Data Cloud on the Salesforce Platform, we're equipping our member service representatives with a complete, personalized view of each member's journey. With the ability to properly test prior to deployment with Data Cloud Sandboxes, this enables us to provide faster, more accurate support and recommendations that truly reflect our commitment to their financial well-being. At PenFed, we're here to support every member's unique goals with care and understanding, helping them achieve their financial dreams. To help engender trust in AI, every business investing in an agent strategy will need to think through how they pressure test an autonomous AI agent that can reason, retrieve data, and use tools. Salesforce is instilling confidence by using AI to test hundreds of variations of an agent's interaction in parallel. With these enhancements and support for Agentforce and Data Cloud in familiar testing environments, this Testing Center will help Salesforce customers manage the unique needs of testing AI agents, said Keith Kirkpatrick, Research Director, The Futurum Group. Salesforce helps organizations of any size reimagine their business for the world of AI. With Agentforce, Salesforce's trusted platform, organizations can bring humans together with agents to drive customer success"powered by AI, data, and action. Visit www.salesforce.com for more information.

Salesforce Tool Aims To Simplify AI Agent Testing, Deployment - Salesforce (NYSE:CRM)

Sandbox environments allow safe prototyping of AI tools, minimizing operational risks and ensuring smooth transitions to live systems. Salesforce Inc CRM unveiled a groundbreaking tool for managing artificial intelligence (AI) agent lifecycle processes. The system, dubbed Agentforce Testing Center, introduces a new paradigm for businesses adopting autonomous agent technology. The launch comes on the heels of Salesforce's losing its AI lead, Clara Shih, to Meta Platforms Inc META. See Also: Apple To Argue For Dismissal Of DOJ Antitrust Case Over Alleged US Smartphone Market Domination Salesforce aims to address critical challenges in AI deployment, including ensuring reliable performance and reducing operational risks. With Agentforce, the company is leveraging synthetic interactions and secure environments to streamline testing and improve customer experiences. Agentforce Testing Center incorporates features that automate testing scenarios and generate synthetic interactions to simulate real-world use cases. Teams can now assess AI agent performance, refine interactions, and ensure accurate outcomes before live deployment. With natural language processing capabilities, the tool allows parallel testing of hundreds of potential interactions, boosting efficiency and accuracy. Salesforce introduced sandbox environments that replicate production data and configurations. This feature enables teams to prototype Agentforce applications safely without disrupting live operations. By integrating tools like DevOps Center and Salesforce CLI, developers can easily migrate tested solutions into production, ensuring seamless transitions. New monitoring tools, such as Agentforce Analytics and Utterance Analysis, provide granular insights into AI performance. These tools, built on Salesforce's Data Cloud, offer continuous improvement by analyzing user feedback and interaction patterns. Additionally, Digital Wallet integration ensures businesses can monitor their AI usage and manage credits effectively. Agentforce Testing Center will be generally available in December, while sandbox support for Data Cloud and Agentforce is accessible today. Northland Capital Partners highlighted Salesforce's Agentforce platform as "on par" with Microsoft Corp's MSFT AI offerings, underscoring its competitive edge. CNBC's Jim Cramer praised Agentforce as "revolutionary," citing it as one of the most impactful AI use cases, driving Salesforce's stock rally. Salesforce stock gained over 26% year-to-date. Investors can gain exposure to the stock through First Trust DJ Internet Index Fund FDN and REX FANG & Innovation Equity Premium Income ETF FEPI. Price Action: Salesforce stock is up 1.10% at $327 premarket at the last check on Wednesday. Now Read: Microsoft Defies AI Plateau, Pushes Boundaries With New Scaling Laws Image: Shutterstock Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs

Salesforce unveils new AI agent testing tools By Investing.com

SAN FRANCISCO - Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), a leader in AI-powered customer relationship management, has introduced a suite of new tools aimed at enhancing the testing and deployment of AI agents using its Agentforce platform. The announcement made today highlights Salesforce's commitment to providing enterprises with the means to rigorously test and manage AI-driven interactions in a secure and controlled environment. The newly launched Agentforce Testing Center allows teams to generate synthetic interactions and test them at scale to ensure AI agents can accurately understand and respond to customer inquiries. This testing is crucial for refining the AI's performance and improving the overall customer experience. Additionally, Salesforce has made available Sandboxes for both Agentforce and Data Cloud, offering developers a risk-free environment to prototype and test their AI configurations without impacting live production systems. Alongside these testing capabilities, Salesforce has integrated monitoring and observability tools for Agentforce, providing detailed insights into agent adoption and accuracy through analytics and utterance analysis. These tools are designed for continuous improvement of AI agents throughout their lifecycle. The company has also updated its Digital Wallet feature to offer transparent monitoring of usage across the AI development lifecycle. This enhancement allows teams to track their consumption and manage costs effectively. Salesforce's advancements in AI agent testing and deployment are positioned as industry-firsts, aiming to meet the growing demand for reliable and trustworthy AI solutions in enterprise settings. The Agentforce Testing Center is currently in a closed pilot and is expected to be generally available for use in sandboxes in early December. With these new capabilities, Salesforce continues to build on its history of innovation in application lifecycle management, which began in 2006 with Force.com. The latest tools are part of Salesforce's broader strategy to enable businesses to become "agent-first" enterprises, leveraging AI to augment their workforce. The announcement also included perspectives from customers and analysts, emphasizing the importance of robust testing to build trust in AI systems. Salesforce's efforts are seen as a step towards meeting the unique challenges of deploying autonomous AI agents in a business setting. This news is based on a press release statement from Salesforce. In other recent news, Salesforce.com Inc (NYSE:CRM). has been the subject of several analyst adjustments. Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) initiated coverage of Salesforce with a bullish Sector Outperform rating and a price target of $425.00, suggesting a 24% potential rise. The firm highlighted Salesforce's growth drivers, including its multi-cloud strategy and recent innovations. Furthermore, Scotiabank noted the strong performance of Salesforce's Data Cloud and the successful launch of Agentforce. Erste Group upgraded Salesforce from Hold to Buy, citing the company's consistent revenue growth and operating margin expansion. They expect a double-digit percentage increase in Salesforce's earnings per share for fiscal years 2025 and 2026. However, Erste Group and TD Cowen downgraded the stock to Hold due to projected slower growth. BMO Capital Markets, Loop Capital, and Piper Sandler showed confidence in Salesforce's future performance, adjusting their price targets to $385.00, $340.00, and $325.00 respectively. These adjustments reflect the positive reception of Salesforce's new product, Agentforce. Salesforce reported strong second-quarter earnings, with earnings per share of $2.56, an 8% increase in sales, and a 9% rise in subscription and support revenues. The company also acquired Zoomin and Own Company for $1.9 billion in cash and plans to hire 1,000 new employees to support Agentforce sales. In other developments, Salesforce was identified by Starboard Value LP as a potential value creation opportunity at the 2024 Active-Passive Investor Summit. In addition, hedge fund D.E. Shaw backed Mantle Ridge's campaign for changes at Air Products and Chemicals (NYSE:APD), Inc., emphasizing Salesforce's ongoing industry efforts. These are the latest developments in Salesforce's ongoing industry efforts. Salesforce's latest innovations in AI testing and deployment align well with its strong market position and financial performance. According to InvestingPro data, Salesforce boasts impressive gross profit margins, reflecting its ability to maintain pricing power in the competitive software industry. This financial strength supports the company's ongoing investments in cutting-edge technologies like AI-powered customer relationship management tools. InvestingPro Tips highlight that Salesforce is a prominent player in the Software (ETR:SOWGn) industry, which is consistent with its leadership in introducing industry-first AI testing capabilities. The company's perfect Piotroski Score of 9 suggests robust financial health, indicating that Salesforce is well-positioned to continue its innovation trajectory and maintain its competitive edge. It's worth noting that while Salesforce is trading at high EBIT, EBITDA, and revenue valuation multiples, it's also trading at a low P/E ratio relative to near-term earnings growth. This could indicate that the market sees potential for significant growth, possibly driven by the adoption of new AI technologies like those announced today. For investors interested in a deeper analysis, InvestingPro offers 11 additional tips for Salesforce, providing a comprehensive view of the company's financial health and market position.