CRM platform giant Salesforce has pledged to invest $4 billion in its UK business in the next five years.
The announcement comes as Salesforce kicks off its World Tour London: AI Day, the company’s largest-ever UK event with more than 14,000 customers, partners, employees and stakeholders registered to attend.
Salesforce is experiencing rapid growth in the UK having invested $2.5 billion in the last five years.
The company’s ecosystem of customers and partners in the UK is expected to create 271,700 new jobs and £52 billion in new business revenues by 2026, according to research by IDC.
“This significant investment builds on our long-standing commitment to the UK,” said Marc Benioff, chair and CEO, Salesforce. “The UK is home to some of the world’s most incredible, innovative companies, and we’re thrilled to work together with them to drive the next wave of digital transformation in this new AI era.”
Earlier this year, Salesforce launched Einstein GPT, the world’s first generative AI for customer relationship management. It recently also announced AI Cloud, a real-time generative AI for enterprise, and Salesforce Accelerator, a philanthropic AI initiative to help purpose-driven organisations gain equitable access to trusted generative AI technologies.
Zahra Bahrololoumi, CEO of Salesforce UKI, described the nation as “an important global tech hub entering a new, fast-moving innovation cycle led by generative AI”.
She added: “The UK has a golden opportunity to unlock long-lasting value for the economy and grow its status as a technology leader.
“A clear pro-innovation regulatory framework that compels safe and responsible use of AI is vital, and Salesforce is fully focused on bringing secure, trusted, enterprise ready generative AI to UK businesses.”
Retailer Marks & Spencer, for example, is using Salesforce’s AI technology to personalise its billions of customer interactions. The brand is increasing the value of its service to millions of customers up and down the country through their daily interactions with the business – from website and stores to contact centres and CRM.
“Salesforce’s major investment in its UK business over the next five years is a ringing endorsement of our economy,” said UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. “It will strengthen the company’s UK presence, increasing capacity, as well as creating vital jobs, reinforcing our position as one of their largest markets outside of the US.
“This investment sits alongside my key priority to grow the economy and pledge to make the UK the best place in the world to start, grow and invest in tech businesses.”