Bold Names: Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and the AI ‘Fantasy Land’

Bold Names

The Wall Street Journal

Technology

4.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 23 November 2024

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Future of Everything listeners, here's a special presentation of Bold Names, our interview series where you'll hear from the leaders of the bold-named companies featured in the pages of the Wall Street Journal. Marc Benioff is one of the most outspoken names in tech. The billionaire co-founder of customer relationship software company Salesforce has been pivoting the company’s focus to artificial intelligence agents to help its clients manage customer service and other needs. But he has some strong opinions about how others are promoting AI, from how Microsoft is marketing its Copilot feature to companies like Amazon buying up nuclear power contracts for their data centers. And yet he says he’s as excited about AI as he was the day that Apple’s Steve Jobs sent him one of the first iPhones. So what can AI actually do, and what’s a ‘fantasy’? Benioff speaks to WSJ’s Christopher Mims and Tim Higgins in episode two of our interview series Bold Names. Check out Episode 1 in the Tech News Briefing Feed: Bold Names: Why This Tesla Pioneer Says the Cheap EV Market 'Sucks' Further Reading A Powerful AI Breakthrough Is About to Transform the World With ‘Founder Mode,’ Silicon Valley Makes Micromanaging Cool AI Agents Can Do More Than Answer Queries. That Raises a Few Questions. At Marc Benioff’s Salesforce, It’s One Big Family—Until Trouble Hits Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	exchanges the goldman sacks podcast featuring exchanges on the forces driving the markets and the economy
0:07.4	exchanges between the leading minds at goldman sacks new episodes every week listen now
0:14.2	hey future of everything listeners danny here today we're bringing you something a little different in our feed from some familiar voices.
0:26.2	WSJ columnists Tim Higgins and Christopher Mims are hosting a new interview series called Bold Names,
0:32.2	where they talk to the leaders of the bold-named companies you read about in the journal every day.
0:38.9	This time, it's a conversation with the CEO of Salesforce, Mark Benioff. He's a tech leader, a billionaire,
0:44.9	and pretty outspoken about what AI could mean for the future of business. Give it a listen.
0:50.2	We think you'll like it. And if you want more from this series, head over to the Tech News Briefing feed.
0:55.5	There's a link in our show notes.
0:57.3	Okay, on to the episode.
1:02.8	If you've heard of Mark Benioff, it might be because he spent more than a billion dollars
1:06.9	building the tallest skyscraper in San Francisco.
1:09.9	Now the world headquarters for Salesforce,
1:12.4	the 25-year-old enterprise software company he leads.
1:15.8	Or maybe it's because he spent $190 million of his own money
1:19.3	to buy Time magazine.
1:21.5	But if his latest big bet pays off,
1:24.0	someday he might be known for something totally different,
1:26.8	namely replacing thousands and
1:28.5	eventually millions of white-collar workers with AI agents.
1:32.9	Beniof is one of the most outspoken voices in tech.
1:36.0	He doesn't keep his opinions to himself.
	...

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