Salesforce: Undervalued AI Play, Overlooked Heading Into Dreamforce

The enterprise software landscape is undergoing a seismic shift as artificial intelligence transitions from a buzzword to a business imperative. Salesforce, long the dominant force in customer relationship management (CRM), has positioned itself at the forefront of this transformation with a bold AI strategy centered on Agentforce, AI Cloud 2.0, and industry-specific models. Yet, despite these innovations—and a recent surge in profitability—investors appear to be underestimating the company's potential, particularly as it heads into Dreamforce 2025.

Strategic AI Integration: A Platform for the Future

Salesforce's AI ambitions crystallized in 2025 with the launch of AI Cloud 2.0, a platform that introduces industry-specific AI models and deeper integration with Einstein Copilot across its core clouds. These models enable CRM users to receive real-time, context-aware suggestions for next-best actions, auto-summarize customer interactions, and predict deal outcomes with unprecedented accuracy Salesforce (CRM): AI Agents & Financial Pivot Drive Profitability^[1]. For example, a pharmaceutical sales team can now leverage AI-driven insights tailored to regulatory compliance and product pipelines, while a retail chain can optimize inventory forecasts using AI models trained on historical sales data What’s Next in Salesforce AI: 5 Innovations to Watch at Dreamforce 2025^[4].

The company's Agentforce platform further cements its AI leadership. By deploying autonomous AI agents capable of executing multi-step workflows across Sales, Service, and Marketing Clouds, Salesforce is automating tasks that previously required human intervention. These agents can update records, draft meeting summaries, and even negotiate with external systems to fulfill complex requests. For instance, an AI agent might autonomously adjust a customer's service tier based on real-time feedback from a Slack channel, all while updating the CRM and triggering a follow-up email What’s Next in Salesforce AI: 5 Innovations to Watch at Dreamforce 2025^[4].

Integration with Slack has also been a game-changer. By pushing Salesforce data directly into Slack workspaces, teams can access customer insights without leaving their primary collaboration tool. This reduces context-switching and accelerates decision-making, particularly for high-priority deals. According to a report by AllCloud, this integration has already improved knowledge retention and handoffs between sales and service teams, driving operational efficiency What is Salesforce? | Salesforce US^[5].

Financials: Profitability Meets Innovation

Salesforce's financials tell a story of disciplined growth and strategic reinvestment. In fiscal year 2024, the company reported $34.9 billion in revenue, a 11% year-over-year increase, while its non-GAAP operating margin expanded by 800 basis points to 30.5% Salesforce com : 2024 Annual Report 2023 Annual Report^[3]. By 2025, this momentum accelerated: net income surged 49.83% to $6.2 billion, and the company initiated a quarterly dividend—a shift toward shareholder returns that underscores its profitability Salesforce (CRM): AI Agents & Financial Pivot Drive Profitability^[1]. However, historical data on dividend announcements suggests mixed results, with a 30-day average cumulative return of -4.4% compared to the S&P 500's +1.0% during the same period. The win rate of 33% indicates no consistent positive drift following these events, though the limited sample size (three observations) reduces statistical power.

The company's commitment to AI innovation is evident in its R&D spending, which reached $5.49 billion in 2025 Salesforce (CRM): AI Agents & Financial Pivot Drive Profitability^[1]. This investment is paying off: Agentforce alone generated $100 million in annualized revenue by May 2025, demonstrating the platform's commercial viability Salesforce investors hope for faster growth, AI progress in …^[2]. Meanwhile, Data Cloud's expansion into small and medium businesses (SMBs) has democratized access to customer data unification, opening a new revenue stream as smaller enterprises adopt AI-driven personalization What’s Next in Salesforce AI: 5 Innovations to Watch at Dreamforce 2025^[4].

Undervaluation in a Competitive Landscape

Despite these strengths, Salesforce's valuation appears to lag behind its peers. Microsoft, for instance, trades at a P/E ratio of 37.38 for FY2025, with revenue of $281.72 billion driven by Azure's 34% growth Microsoft (MSFT) FY2025: Revenue Growth, AI Pricing Reset^[6]. Google, though less transparent in its enterprise AI metrics, benefits from a broader cloud ecosystem that includes AI tools like Vertex AI. In contrast, Salesforce's P/E ratio remains lower, even as it holds the top CRM market share according to IDC 2024H1 data What is Salesforce? | Salesforce US^[5].

This undervaluation may stem from short-term concerns. A recent Reuters report noted that Salesforce's Q2 2025 revenue forecast fell below Wall Street estimates, signaling challenges in monetizing its AI initiatives What’s Next in Salesforce AI: 5 Innovations to Watch at Dreamforce 2025^[4]. However, this dip is likely a temporary hurdle. The company's AI Safety & Trust Controls—introduced at Dreamforce 2025—address regulatory and ethical concerns, ensuring responsible AI deployment in a market increasingly wary of algorithmic bias What’s Next in Salesforce AI: 5 Innovations to Watch at Dreamforce 2025^[4]. Moreover, strategic partnerships with enterprises like PepsiCo and UChicago Medicine validate the real-world applicability of Salesforce's AI solutions, creating a flywheel effect for adoption Salesforce (CRM): AI Agents & Financial Pivot Drive Profitability^[1].

The Road Ahead

Salesforce's AI strategy is not just about automation—it's about redefining CRM as a platform for intelligent, adaptive customer relationships. By combining Agentforce's workflow automation, AI Cloud 2.0's predictive capabilities, and Data Cloud's unification of customer profiles, the company is building a moat that competitors like Microsoft and Google struggle to replicate.

The recent revenue forecast may have rattled investors, but it overlooks the long-term value of AI-driven CRM. As enterprises increasingly prioritize customer-centric AI, Salesforce's industry-specific models and cross-cloud activation capabilities position it to capture a disproportionate share of growth.