Salesforce Unveils Game-Changing AI Features: What It Means for CRM, Stock & Your Business

Salesforce is poised for a pivotal week as the customer-relationship-management giant prepares to report first-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings after the bell on Wednesday, May 28, 2025. Wall Street will parse the numbers for evidence that Marc Benioff’s aggressive artificial-intelligence strategy is translating into top-line acceleration after a lukewarm finish to fiscal 2025, when revenue grew just 8 % year over year. AI agents move to center stage Salesforce ended fiscal 2025 with $900 million in annual recurring revenue tied to its Data Cloud and AI offerings, a 120 % jump from the prior year. Much of that momentum came from Agentforce, the company’s portfolio of generative-AI “digital workers” that automate sales, service and marketing tasks. Earlier this month Salesforce unveiled a flexible “Flex Credits” pricing model that lets enterprises deploy AI agents à la carte across departments, lowering the barrier to entry for smaller teams. Analysts will look for early adoption metrics and attach particular weight to any commentary on gross-margin trends as AI compute costs scale. Informatica takeover chatter heats up Another wild card is M&A. Industry sources say Salesforce has rekindled negotiations to buy data-management leader Informatica in a transaction that could top $8 billion. A deal would deepen Salesforce’s data-integration capabilities and feed the hungry AI models that power Agentforce. Investors, however, remain divided: some fear dilution and execution risk, while bulls argue the move could unlock cross-sell synergies and position Salesforce as the default “system of record” for enterprise AI workloads. What to watch in the numbers • Revenue guidance: Consensus calls for roughly 10 % growth in Q1, an inflection that would confirm management’s view that AI demand is reaccelerating post-pandemic. • Data Cloud ARR trajectory: The $900 million base gives Salesforce a head-start in the emerging “AI operating system” land grab; any sequential step-up could catalyze a sentiment shift. • Hyperforce migration pace: The company’s global, hyperscale-cloud architecture underpins faster product releases and regional data compliance; progress updates are key as competitors tout sovereign-cloud options. • Share-repurchase capacity: With $14 billion in cash and equivalents as of January 31, Salesforce has room to offset stock-based compensation even if an Informatica bid materializes. Competitive landscape tightens Microsoft’s Copilot for Dynamics, HubSpot’s AI-powered Smart CRM, and ServiceNow’s Now Assist all target the same spend categories. Salesforce is betting that integrating AI agents natively into its existing Sales, Service and Marketing Clouds—rather than offering bolt-on pilots—will create switching costs competitors can’t easily match. The forthcoming earnings call will be the market’s first large-scale read on whether customers are indeed consolidating around a single AI-first platform. Bottom line With a potential blockbuster acquisition in play, a fresh consumption-based pricing model and investor scrutiny around margins, Salesforce’s Q1 print could set the tone for enterprise-software stocks through the summer. A beat-and-raise scenario may validate the company’s AI bet and reignite the stock’s growth narrative; any stumble could amplify calls for cost discipline and resurrect activist pressure. All eyes turn to San Francisco this Wednesday for answers.