Salesforce CEO says no plans to hire more engineers, as AI is doing a great job

(Image credit: Future / Mike Moore)

Salesforce CEO says it isn’t hiring any more engineers, sales staff recruitment may be ongoing
Human workers might have to share their jobs with AI agents
Quarterly revenue is up 8% YoY, annual revenue up 9%

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has confirmed the firm would not be hiring any more engineers in 2025 because of the effects of artificial intelligence.

“We're not going to hire any new engineers this year," Benioff said in a recent earnings call, "We're seeing 30% productivity increase on engineering, and we're going to really continue to ride that up. And we're going to grow sales pretty dramatically this year.”

Salesforce’s agentic AI has become so widespread that Benioff counters many studies suggesting AI will not replace human workers. Instead, he envisions a world where the two work hand in hand: “We're the last generation of CEOs to only manage humans… You know, I think every CEO going forward is going to manage, you know, humans and agents together.”

Salesforce doesn’t need any more engineers

The move comes from a company which has invested heavily in AI, not only to improve the efficiency of its customers with the likes of agentic AI, but also to improve the productivity of its own workers.

For the quarter ending January 31, 2025, Salesforce reported a healthy 8% year-over-year rise in total revenue, up to $10.0 billion. Full-year revenue stood at $37.9 billion, up 9% year-over-year.

Benioff commented: “No company is better positioned than Salesforce to lead customers through the digital labor revolution.”

The CEO added that delivering the “digital labor revolution” is Salesforce’s ambition: “Our goal is to be the No. 1 provider of digital labor in the world.”

Indicative of the proliferation of agentic AI, Benioff provided further context when probed on the analyst call: "I don't know of any company that doesn't need automation for its humans… And I don't know any company that's not going to need an agentic layer.”

Already this calendar year, Salesforce has notified its workforce of around 1,000 layoffs, however simultaneous hiring efforts have reportedly been ongoing to recruit more sales staff.

Elon Musk and DOGE are using Slack, Salesforce CEO Benioff says
Check out the best job sites and the best recruitment platforms
Make yourself indispensable with the best online learning platforms

TOPICS

With several years’ experience freelancing in tech and automotive circles, Craig’s specific interests lie in technology that is designed to better our lives, including AI and ML, productivity aids, and smart fitness. He is also passionate about cars and the decarbonisation of personal transportation. As an avid bargain-hunter, you can be sure that any deal Craig finds is top value!