BCG’s Bryan Gauch and Phillip Andersen look back at the topics, trends, and conversations that generated the most excitement at Dreamforce 2024.
AI and GenAI technologies are playing an increasingly essential role in next-generation marketing, sales, and service. These technologies are transforming the entire marketing and sales landscape, from automating everyday tasks to unlocking seller effectiveness to reinventing business operations.
Through our partnership with Salesforce, BCG’s Salesforce Value Accelerator is uniquely positioned to help companies reap the benefits that come from incorporating groundbreaking AI and data-driven experiences into customer relationship management (CRM) solutions. As an Innovator Sponsor, we will share insights on what’s next for marketing, sales, and customer service innovation, offer guidance for turning AI magic into business impact, and help organizations envision a path to successful digital transformation in the age of AI.
Top Insights from Dreamforce 2024
Video
September 22, 2024
Highlights from Dreamforce
Video
November 6, 2024
In the AI Journey, Don‘t Ignore the Data
Data is a key competitive advantage, says BCG’s Alessandro Spotorno. That means companies must ensure their AI strategy is built on a solid data foundation.
Video
November 5, 2024
Meeting the Challenge of AI Adoption
Workers are already excited about AI, says Polly Sumner of Salesforce. The real key to successful AI adoption is fostering a mindset of change.
Video
September 19, 2024
GenAI and Employee Joy
Yes, GenAI can improve productivity, but to be really effective it must also help employees enjoy their work, argues BCG’s Deborah Lovich.
Video
October 24, 2024
The Formula for Successful Tech Transformations
BCG’s Bryan Gauch joins Salesforce+ at Dreamforce to discuss the essential factors for achieving successful tech-enabled transformations, highlighting the importance of mindset shifts, strong business leadership, and swift decision-making.
Video
September 19, 2024
A Fuel Retailer’s AI-Driven Evolution
István Mag of MOL Group shares how AI—coupled with a solid business strategy and digital foundation—is helping the company transform its operations and expand its offerings.
Video
September 19, 2024
Transforming Customer Service with AI
Pasquale DeMaio of Amazon Connect explores how AI is revolutionizing customer service, enabling faster, proactive solutions that meet rising customer expectations.
Video
October 24, 2024
Unlocking Value in B2B Sales with Generative AI
On Salesforce+ at Dreamforce, BCG’s Phillip Andersen dives into the transformative role of generative AI in B2B sales, offering a framework to drive meaningful change and enhance seller experiences.
Video
September 20, 2024
Personalization That Clicks with Customers
Advisor and C-Suite Executive Aimee Johnson and BCG’s Mark Abraham discuss the importance of simplicity, creativity, and delivering delight in personalized experiences.
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September 20, 2024
It’s the End-to-End Nature of a Sales Transformation That Creates Opportunity
And, warns Red Hat’s Marco Bill-Peter, don’t rely on AI to do everything. Rather, engage with AI in the right way.
Video
September 20, 2024
AI Lets Sellers Focus on Relationships
Sellers are increasingly using AI and other virtual tools to create a more personalized, extraordinary customer experience. BCG’s Japjit Ghai explains how.
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September 21, 2024
In Health Care, Maximizing AI Is About Managing Change
Health care companies can unlock AI's potential and drive sales growth by prioritizing change management—not just technology—says BCG’s Basir Mustaghni.
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September 22, 2024
GenAI is an Exoskeleton that Boosts the Capabilities of Knowledge Workers
Developing an engineering mindset can amplify the power of generative AI for analytics, says BCG’s Daniel Sack.
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September 23, 2024
Reshaping Customer Interaction
Effectively engaging with customers requires more than just GenAI, according to Tom Adams of AWS. It takes a combination of people, processes, and technology.
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September 23, 2024
The Challenges of Integrating AI
Red Hat’s Seherish Mughal sees trust in data as a key challenge. Data needs to be validated, secure, and anonymized for businesses.
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September 23, 2024
Three Ways AI Is Advancing Customer Engagement
BCG’s Karen Lellouche Tordjman explains how AI is helping companies use conversational agents to interact with customers as well as to personalize content and better understand user needs.
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September 23, 2024
Key Strategies for a Successful Tech Transformation
BCG’s Neveen Awad shares tips for success, from clear vision and leadership alignment to leveraging AI and navigating the challenges along the way.
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September 25, 2024
AI in Sales Is Entering a New Era
Outreach’s new CEO, Abhijit Mitra, and BCG’s Japjit Ghai discuss how AI is boosting efficiency in sales while keeping humans at the center.
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September 25, 2024
Using AI to Promote More Joy and Less Toil in the Workplace
BCG’s Julie Bedard and Matt Kropp discuss how companies that broaden the lens on AI beyond productivity can benefit from increased employee creativity and job satisfaction.
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September 25, 2024
Transforming Telcos Through Strategic Partnerships
Lumen Technologies’ Breanna Kuhl and BCG’s Kim Keating discuss how cross-industry partnerships can help companies shift from telcos to techcos, revolutionize industries, and drive the AI economy.
Video
October 11, 2024
How to Start—and Stay—Strong with GenAI
Salesforce’s Susan Emerson and BCG’s Ben Quirt say a focus on business outcomes and process-led strategies is needed to make the most of the latest technology.
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October 11, 2024
The Easy Part of Digital Transformation Is Done. Now What?
Maintaining a sense of urgency, creating a clear roadmap, and fostering a culture of experimentation are key, says Jan Olesen of Indorama Ventures.
LinkedIn Live
The CIO’s Guide to Transforming with AI
Join IBM's Ann Funai, Salesforce's Ashleigh McCord, and BCG's Vladimir Lukic for an exclusive LinkedIn Live event from Dreamforce, where they'll explore the key AI strategies every CIO must embrace—right now.
Bringing Our Expertise to Dreamforce
BCG will share cutting-edge insights on a wide variety of topics, including best practices when driving a Salesforce transformation, delivering a go-to-market strategy, and becoming an AI-ready organization.
Marketing and Sales: Companies that win don’t just talk about customer experience—they sell and market in a way that engages and inspires customers. Our marketing and sales consultants help companies develop the right mix of human and technical capabilities that foster speed, precision, and growth.
Business Transformation: Successful business transformations are marked by three critical outcomes: sustainable value creation, step changes in capabilities, and sustained culture shift. BCG’s Salesforce transformation consultants accelerate performance and drive value creation, using a proven methodology tailored for business transformation.
AI: Fully embedded AI is one of the key attributes shared by future-built companies that excel across financial and nonfinancial measures. To advance sales and marketing maturity with AI, brands must understand best practices for deploying, integrating, and scaling AI solutions.
Digital, Tech, and Data: Our work with clients across the spectrum of digital, tech, and data helps businesses build for the future—not simply to make standalone digital improvements, but to intentionally combine human and technological capabilities.
BCG’s Partnership with Salesforce
BCG’s partnership with Salesforce accelerates clients’ time to value, reimagines CRM, and innovates the future of marketing, sales, pricing, and customer service.
Our Products and Solutions
Alongside an extensive toolkit built upon our deep functional and industry-specific expertise, we integrate BCG X artificial intelligence solutions into Salesforce to accelerate value from CRM and go-to-market transformations and high-value use-case activations.
By integrating AI in customer experience management, companies can increase customer acquisition, upselling & cross-selling and decrease churn.
Fast-track your customized marketing efforts with Fabriq Personalization AI’s personalization engine. Read more to find out how to unleash the power of data driven marketing.
Meet Our 2024 Delegation
More than 25 BCGers were on the ground at Dreamforce 2024. Connect with our experts to keep the conversation going.
Meet Additional Delegates
- Neveen Awad
- Mark Abraham
- Akash Bhatia
- Chris Bowers
- Fran Cazorla
- Chadia de Simone
- Japjit Ghai
- Karl Johnson
- Matt Kalmus
- Karen Lellouche
-
Rohit Nalgirkar
- Justin McBride
- Basir Mustaghni
- Marina Nekrasova
- Nick Schneider
- Rajeev Singh
- Alessandro Spotorno
- Scott Stemberger
- Vikas Taneja
- Matthew Ward
Our Latest Thinking
Article
September 16, 2024
For every minute B2B sales reps spend with customers, they spend nearly three on behind-the-scenes tasks. Generative AI can flip that equation by accelerating sales-related processes.
Article
September 16, 2024
Integration between Amazon Web Services and Salesforce—combined with a BCG framework for scaling generative AI—can transform how sales organizations work and create value.
Article
September 9, 2024
A unified strategy for AI transformation can take an organization from deploying the technology in everyday tasks to reshaping critical functions and inventing new experiences.
Article
September 12, 2024
Firms derive stronger returns from CRM investments when they view the tools as a business transformation, not solely a technology implementation.
Dreamforce FAQs
What is Dreamforce?
Dreamforce is an annual event that brings together the global Salesforce community to offer insights, share successes, and learn about the latest industry innovations. More than 40,000 live attendees and 200,000 virtual attendees from across the globe, including business leaders, sales and marketing professionals, IT administrators, developers, and partners, attend Dreamforce.
Where does Dreamforce take place?
Dreamforce takes place in San Francisco, California at Moscone Center on September 17–19, 2024.
Why attend Dreamforce?
Participants hear from industry leaders, gain insights from real-world applications, and explore the future of marketing, sales, and customer service innovation. Featuring hands-on workshops and never-before-seen technologies, the event helps companies discover how to maximize productivity and build stronger customer relationships.
