PHILIPPINE companies should use artificial intelligence (AI) agents to streamline their workload and focus on more complex tasks, according to US-based customer relationship management platform Salesforce.

“This helps businesses in the Philippines scale and alleviate the workload of overwhelmed teams so that they can focus on creative and strategic tasks,” Salesforce said in a statement.

Salesforce last week announced its partnership with tech giant Google to integrate the latter’s Gemini chatbot in building AI agents.

“This expanded partnership will empower Salesforce customers to build Agentforce agents using Gemini and deploy Salesforce on Google Cloud,” Salesforce said in an e-mailed statement on Feb. 25.

The partnership lets customers develop tailored AI solutions that meet their specific needs, rather than being locked into a single model provider, according to Salesforce.

Agentforce, Salesforce’s AI builder, will access Google’s Gemini models, working with images, audio and video, handle more complex tasks and act using real-time insights and answers grounded in Google Search with Vertex AI.

The partnership further integrates the Salesforce Service Cloud into the Google Customer Engagement Suite, bringing AI-enabled contact center capabilities such as real-time voice translation, intelligent agent-to-agent handoffs, personalized agent recommendations, and AI-driven conversational insights across all channels.

Salesforce’s Agentforce, Data Cloud and Customer 360 Apps will run on Google Cloud infrastructure, with access to new regions and simplified procurement through the Google Cloud Marketplace.

“Through our expanded partnership with Google Cloud and deep integrations at the platform, application and infrastructure layer, we’re giving customers choice in the applications and models they want to use,” said Srini Tallapragada, Salesforce president and chief engineering and customer success officer.

About 84% of chief information officers globally think AI would be as significant to their businesses as the rise of the internet, but only 11% have fully implemented the tech, according to a 2024 study by Salesforce.

“Our mutual customers have asked us to be able to work more seamlessly across Salesforce and Google Cloud, and this expanded partnership will help them accelerate their AI transformations with agentic AI, state-of-the-art AI models, data analytics and more,” Google Cloud Chief Executive Officer Thomas Kurian said in the same statement.

About 55% of Filipino consumers see communication service providers using AI agents as “futuristic and innovative,” according to multinational technology company Amdocs. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz