Salesforce’s New Leaders Pass Baton In AI Relay Race Nobody Trained For
KEY POINTS
- •Since December, Salesforce replaced five high-profile executives with six new or promoted leaders to helm key businesses.
- •CEO Marc Benioff hinted at possibly renaming Salesforce after Agentforce, underscoring the AI service's growing importance.
- •Departures include Agentforce’s former head Adam Evans and Slack CEO Denise Dresser, among others heading to AMD and OpenAI.
Salesforce’s executive musical chairs continued as six fresh faces—and a couple of promoted veterans—jump boarded to replace five departing hotshots since December. There’s Iain Mulholland, ex-Google deputy CISO, bravely stepping into Brad Arkin’s shoes just after those two years ran up in January. Loyal veteran Patrick Stokes slides into chief marketing replacing Ariel Kelman, who sprinted to AMD, the fancy chipmaker. Dave Ward was poached from Lumen Technologies to be new chief architect. Joe Inzerillo leveled up to run both Slack and Agentforce—Salesforce’s pride AI project that’s so special CEO Benioff dreams about renaming the whole company, yikes. Meanwhile, Agentforce’s previous head Adam Evans hit the startup exit door recently, adding to a parade of execs including Slack CEO Denise Dresser moving on to OpenAI. Investors aren’t exactly cozy either; Salesforce stock has wrestled hard with AI competition jitters as FY27 kicked off February 1.
Share the Story
Salesforce replaces five execs with six new ones and maybe a rename for Agentforce, because when your AI is so important your CEO wants to rebrand the whole company, you know it’s complicated. Also: everyone’s leaving but don’t worry, new high performers are standing by.
Nothing screams corporate confidence like firing five leaders and hiring six others to figure out the Agentforce AI puzzle while the CEO dreams of changing the company name. Crisis or brand refresh? Same thing, right?
If you thought running a tech giant was calm, Salesforce is playing executive musical chairs with a side of CEO nickname obsession for AI services. Leadership churn has never looked this dancey.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 2/10/2026 | Author: Ashley Stewart
More Articles in Business
Justice Dept. Wants to Un-Convict Bannon, Because Plot Twists Are Free
Tesla’s VP of Sales Hands Off Steering Wheel as Deliveries Take a Nose Dive
MrBeast Buys Teen Bank, Because Why Just Give Money When You Can Control It?
Indian Street Food Launch Day Powered by Paint, Prayer, and Pandora Fails
Business Insider Seeks Marketing Wizards Who Can Sell Sand in Sahara
US Carmakers Dump Plug-In Hybrids Like Last Season’s TikTok Dance Move
