Last week, Salesforce announced its AI Cloud at Connections in Chicago. AI Cloud includes many features of ChatGPT and is referred to as AI Cloud throughout the entire offering. Einstein GPT or, more formally, Einstein GPT Trust Layer.
The company says that the Trust Layer makes AI Cloud extensible, while also providing data privacy and protection. The company says that the Trust Layer is a good thing, but I’m sceptical.
Trusted? How could they say this? Let’s get wonky.
Editor’s Note — June 13, 2023:
Denis Pombriant’s Follow-up Column Salesforce’s Trusted AI Layer Makes Sense After All.
If the word trusted is used in the present tense, it indicates that interactions (or other things) have built this trust. Salesforce has definitely developed this level of confidence.
Still, the AI product hasn’t been out long enough to be trusted even in a majority-of-those-surveyed way. So what if “trusted” means only a week back? If they mean by trustworthy, I believe they have a good case.
Debunking ‘Trusted’
Salesforce takes great care to explain the models of language learning it uses and how its AI product makes recommendations.
Salesforce’s past interactions with clients and its accumulated data can certainly be used as a basis for determining whether or not the company is a trustworthy one. In general, this is not the same thing as the new product.
Yes, the term “trusted” is plausible. And in time we may come to say that Salesforce’s AI-based products can be trusted. The launch of trusted undermines the whole argument because it attempts to force Salesforce’s view on itself down our throats.
It is possible that all the hype surrounding trust may be unfounded.
The two main reasons businesses spend money haven’t changed since I last recited this aphorism. Spending money on our products helps them save or earn more money. In this context, it is necessary to increase the precision of marketing and sales. The aphorism “right product right customer right time” is another old-fashioned aphorism.
Salesforce’s AI tools enable users to pinpoint all of these good ideas with precision. I’m puzzled as to why Salesforce uses a term that is vague, like “trusted”, when it can sell the thing decision-makers are interested in, precision.
Modern CRM Pursuit of Precision
Precision isn’t something you can just say. It’s not easy to say, but I’m sure it would be with enough repetition. To me, this seems to be where CRM is today.
With each iteration, we have moved closer to perfection.
We consolidated databases, eliminated duplicates, added a ton of functionality — like reporting, analytics, and code generation — and made CRM indispensable for managing the front office. What’s left?
Precision.
Who would pay for a database that isn’t able to accelerate the business? We don’t need a powerful engine to expose our most sensitive data to criminals in a Wild West world. For me, it should be included as standard equipment when purchasing a car.
Precision is different. Precision is different. It’s what we all desire about new technologies, the demonstrable deliverables that prove you got what you bought. You can’t say the same thing about trust.
Say and do what you like; this is still a free nation. As an analyst, your claim of trust is funny, but I will be looking at precision.
