News/Agents
Salesforce is doubling its hiring plans to get more AgentForce customers
Salesforce is doubling down on its artificial intelligence strategy with another aggressive sales hiring push. Major announcement: Salesforce has expanded its initial plan to hire 1,000 sales executives to now hiring 2,000 sales professionals specifically focused on selling AI solutions and AgentForce products. CEO Marc Benioff has directed the sales team to integrate AI and AgentForce into every possible customer deal The company is maintaining flat hiring levels in other departments, including engineering This strategic move comes as Salesforce looks to accelerate its AI-driven growth initiatives Market performance and strategy: Salesforce is showing signs of recovery and renewed momentum in...
read Dec 19, 2024How should we price AI agents?
The emergence of agentic AI in enterprise settings has sparked discussions about pricing models as organizations seek to integrate these task-focused AI solutions into their operations. Current state of pricing: Salesforce has taken an early lead in establishing pricing structures for AI agents, offering tiered models including a free tier with basic CRM service and a $2 per conversation option for more advanced usage. Salesforce defines a conversation as customer interaction within a 24-hour period, which can include multiple exchanges The company emphasizes use-based pricing with minimal administrative overhead Their model requires only one customer seat for administration purposes Emerging...
read Dec 19, 2024AI agents are the ‘third wave’ of the AI revolution
The evolution of AI: Agentic AI represents the third major wave of artificial intelligence development, following predictive models and generative AI, with a focus on creating autonomous digital assistants that can handle complex tasks. Unlike broader generative AI systems, agentic AI specializes in specific environments and defined tasks, making it more focused and potentially more reliable for business applications These AI agents function as digital co-workers, using natural language processing to interact with humans and systems The technology integrates with existing business systems and APIs to make informed decisions based on established business logic Practical applications: Agentic AI shows particular...
read Dec 19, 2024Scientific research goes autonomous with MIT’s new SciAgents framework
MIT's new SciAgents framework represents a significant advancement in using artificial intelligence to accelerate scientific discovery by automating the generation and evaluation of research hypotheses. The innovation: MIT researchers have created an AI system that mimics how scientific communities collaborate to develop and assess new research ideas. The framework, detailed in Advanced Materials by researchers Alireza Ghafarollahi and Markus Buehler, employs multiple specialized AI agents working in concert SciAgents utilizes graph reasoning methods and knowledge graphs to establish meaningful connections between scientific concepts The system draws from an ontological knowledge graph constructed from scientific literature to organize and relate concepts...
read Dec 18, 2024Imbue CEO says these are the keys to building smarter AI agents
The rise of AI agents represents a significant shift in how humans interact with artificial intelligence, potentially making advanced AI tools accessible to everyday users in ways similar to how personal computers transformed computing access in the 1970s and 1980s. The vision and approach: Imbue, led by CEO Kanjun Qiu, is developing AI agents that aim to work collaboratively with users rather than simply automating tasks. The company focuses on building reasoning capabilities into their AI products, emphasizing the importance of human-AI collaboration Their approach draws parallels between the current AI transformation and the personal computer revolution that made computing...
read Dec 18, 2024With Agentforce 2.0 here, Benioff says digital labor is a trillion dollar market
Salesforce's latest artificial intelligence platform upgrade marks a significant shift in enterprise AI capabilities, introducing advanced reasoning and autonomous action features that aim to create a new category of digital labor solutions. Major platform advancement: Salesforce's Agentforce 2.0 represents a substantial evolution in enterprise AI assistance, moving beyond basic chatbot functionality to enable more sophisticated task completion and decision-making capabilities. The platform introduces the Atlas Reasoning Engine, which employs "System 2" reasoning inspired by psychologist Daniel Kahneman's research on human thought processes Early testing shows a 33% improvement in answer accuracy compared to DIY AI solutions, while doubling response relevance...
read Dec 18, 2024New research explores cultural evolution and cooperation in AI agent societies
The interactions between AI agents in multi-agent scenarios offer crucial insights into how artificial intelligence systems might cooperate or compete when deployed at scale in real-world applications. Research overview: Scientists from Anthropic conducted pioneering research examining how different large language models (LLMs) develop cooperative behaviors when interacting with each other over multiple generations. The study focused on how "societies" of AI agents learn social norms and reciprocity through repeated interactions Researchers used the Donor Game, a classic framework where agents can observe their peers' past behaviors and choose whether to cooperate or defect Three leading LLMs were tested: Claude 3.5...
read Dec 18, 2024A16Z on how AI agents may finally fix customer support
Core innovation and value proposition: AI-powered customer support agents are enabling a fundamental shift from human-operated to automated support systems, driving new pricing models and market opportunities. Large Language Models (LLMs) are being leveraged to create AI agents that can handle customer interactions with increasing sophistication These AI systems can scale support operations without requiring proportional increases in human staff Companies like Decagon are leading the development of conversational AI solutions for customer support New pricing dynamics: The transition from traditional seat-based pricing to conversation-based models represents a significant disruption in the customer support software market. Rather than charging per...
read Dec 18, 2024The power of AI agents in fighting against fraud
An increase in telecommunications fraud has created an urgent need for more sophisticated defense mechanisms, with artificial intelligence (AI) agents emerging as a powerful solution for telecom providers. The fraud challenge: Telecommunications providers face an expanding gap between traditional fraud management solutions and increasingly sophisticated cyber threats that target their networks and services. Modern fraud schemes have become more complex and destructive, often overwhelming conventional detection methods The growing sophistication of bad actors has created what experts call a "fraud incident chasm" where many incidents go undetected Traditional approaches leave telecom companies constantly struggling to catch up with new fraud...
read Dec 17, 2024Basis secures $34M to advance autonomous accounting agents
Major funding announcement: AI startup Basis has secured $34 million in Series A funding, led by Khosla Ventures, to develop its autonomous accounting automation system. Notable investors include former GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, OpenAI board members Larry Summers and Adam D'Angelo, and Google's chief scientist Jeff Dean The investment reflects growing confidence in AI-powered autonomous agents, which can perform complex tasks independently The funding round was supported by NFDG, an AI-focused fund run by Friedman and former Apple executive Daniel Gross Product capabilities and integration: Basis's AI agent functions as a junior accountant, performing essential accounting tasks while integrating with...
read Dec 17, 2024Key takeaways from Insight Partners’ State of the AI Agents ecosystem report
The emergence of AI Agents represents a significant shift in enterprise software architecture, combining traditional automation with Large Language Models (LLMs) to handle complex tasks through both planning and execution capabilities. Current landscape and architecture: AI Agents are evolving into a sophisticated ecosystem that bridges automated workflows with human oversight and advanced language models. The fundamental architecture incorporates data retrieval systems, including RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation), memory management, and extended context handling Agent interfaces enable function calling, direct computer interaction, and integration with existing systems Four main categories have emerged: vertical task-specific agents, horizontal platforms, multimodal agents, and SaaS-integrated agents...
read Dec 17, 2024New survey suggests humans aren’t ready to support autonomous AI agents
The increasing adoption of autonomous AI agents by enterprises is creating both opportunities and infrastructure challenges as companies race to implement this transformative technology. Investment momentum: Organizations are demonstrating substantial financial commitment to AI agent development and deployment, with market indicators showing aggressive adoption plans. More than 50% of enterprises are allocating annual budgets of $500,000 or higher for AI agent initiatives 42% of surveyed technology professionals anticipate building or prototyping over 100 AI agents within the next year 36% of respondents plan to move more than 100 AI agents into production environments Implementation timeline and scope: Companies are setting...
read Dec 17, 2024Slack to integrate AI agents with contextual smarts and trust layer
Slack's integration of AI agents into its workplace collaboration platform marks a significant shift in how enterprises may soon handle day-to-day operations and team coordination. The core advancement: Slack's integration of Salesforce's Agentforce AI agents aims to leverage contextual intelligence within workplace communications to enhance productivity and streamline operations. The integration will be part of Salesforce's Agentforce 2.0 launch on December 17th AI agents will have access to conversational and organizational data flowing through Slack channels The system emphasizes three key capabilities: contextual knowledge, reasoning ability, and action-taking power Technical implementation: Slack's position as a comprehensive communication platform provides the...
read Dec 16, 2024Vapi nets $20M fundraise to bring AI voice agents to enterprises
The rapidly evolving field of conversational AI has gained a significant new player with Vapi securing substantial funding to expand its voice agent technology for enterprise applications. Funding details and company background: Vapi, a Voice AI agent development platform founded in 2023, has secured $20 million in Series A funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. The funding round included participation from Abstract Ventures, AI Grant, Y Combinator, Saga Ventures, and Michael Ovitz Founded by Jordan Dearsley (CEO) and Nikhil Gupta (CTO), Vapi has scaled to millions in revenue within six months of launch The investment will support engineering team expansion,...
read Dec 16, 2024Beyond RPA: How AI agents are taking automation to new heights
Market momentum and adoption trends: Gartner's latest forecast indicates a dramatic shift in enterprise software, with agentic AI predicted to be present in 33% of applications by 2028, up from less than 1% in 2024. Traditional automation tools like RPA have shown limitations due to their rigid nature and substantial implementation costs The emergence of vertical AI agents is enabling highly specialized automation tailored to specific industries and use cases Early adopters are reporting significant operational efficiency gains and competitive advantages Technical capabilities and innovations: Modern AI agents represent a significant advancement over conventional chatbots and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) systems,...
read Dec 16, 2024Google’s Project Mariner is an AI agent that navigates the web for you
Project overview: Google has introduced Project Mariner, a research prototype powered by Gemini 2.0, designed to automate web browsing tasks through an experimental Chrome extension. The AI agent can understand and interact with various web elements, including images, code, and forms Project Mariner achieved an 83.5% success rate when tested against the WebVoyager benchmark The tool operates exclusively in active browser tabs and requires human supervision Core functionality: Project Mariner serves as a virtual assistant that can navigate websites and perform tasks based on user instructions. Users communicate with Mariner through a chatbot interface in a side window The AI...
read Dec 15, 2024Autonomous agents to dominate corporate AI agendas in 2025, execs predict
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence is poised to bring significant changes to business operations and daily tasks in 2025, with a particular focus on autonomous agents and financial performance. Key developments ahead: Autonomous AI agents capable of independently performing tasks like scheduling meetings and making purchases are expected to become mainstream in 2025, building on recent breakthroughs in step-by-step reasoning capabilities. OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar predicts widespread adoption of AI agents that can assist with everyday tasks The emergence of sophisticated reasoning approaches, as demonstrated in OpenAI's o1 model, is enabling more advanced autonomous capabilities Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)...
read Dec 15, 2024What is agentic AI and where will we see its impact first?
A new wave of artificial intelligence called agentic AI is emerging, promising AI systems that can work independently and make autonomous decisions, representing a significant evolution from traditional AI applications. The core concept: Agentic AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that can operate with greater autonomy and execute complex tasks with minimal human intervention. These AI agents can handle sophisticated tasks like planning travel arrangements and making real-time decisions about supply chain optimization The technology represents a significant advancement beyond current conversational AI and automated systems Virtual caregiving for the elderly is among the potential applications, highlighting the technology's capacity...
read Dec 14, 2024Why Google’s Astra and Mariner projects are big leaps for the AI agent space
The race to develop AI agents that can autonomously perform tasks and understand their environment is intensifying, with Google unveiling new prototypes that demonstrate both the potential and current limitations of this technology. Key developments: Google is expanding testing for Project Astra, a virtual assistant capable of processing multiple types of media in real-time, while also revealing Project Mariner, a browser-based AI agent. Project Astra can process text, images, video, and audio inputs while maintaining context from previous interactions for up to 10 minutes The system is being integrated with Google Search, Lens, and Maps A prototype version using smart...
read Dec 14, 2024What to know about Google’s new AI coding agent Jules
Google's introduction of Jules, a new AI-powered code agent built on Gemini 2.0, marks a significant advancement in automated software development tools, specifically targeting bug fixes and code improvements for developers. Key Features and Capabilities: Jules is designed to create multi-step plans for addressing coding issues, with a current focus on Python and JavaScript development within GitHub workflows. The AI agent can modify multiple files simultaneously and prepare pull requests for code changes Developers maintain full control over the process, with the ability to review and adjust Jules' proposed solutions before implementation The system integrates directly with GitHub, streamlining the...
read Dec 12, 2024Google speeds up Gemini AI to enhance digital assistants
The race to advance AI capabilities has entered a new phase as Google introduces significant upgrades to its flagship artificial intelligence model, promising enhanced speed and versatility across multiple applications. Core Developments: Google has launched Gemini 2.0, a major update to its AI model that doubles the processing speed of its predecessor while expanding functionality. The new model demonstrates multimodal capabilities, handling image generation and audio processing across different languages Integration with Google Search and coding applications enhances the model's practical utility Performance improvements focus on speed optimization, with the new version operating twice as fast as the previous iteration...
read Dec 11, 2024Gemini 2.0 is Google’s advanced AI model for the agentic age
Google has officially unveiled Gemini 2.0, a significant upgrade to their flagship AI model that introduces advanced autonomous capabilities and marks a strategic shift toward more independent AI systems. Core capabilities and improvements: Gemini 2.0 represents a substantial leap forward in AI functionality, introducing several key technological advancements. The model now features native image and audio output capabilities, enabling more natural multimodal interactions Enhanced long context understanding allows the system to process and retain more information New tool usage abilities and compositional function-calling expand the model's practical applications Improved planning and instruction-following capabilities enable more complex task completion Development and...
read Dec 11, 2024Deloitte Tech Trends report uncovers how businesses are really adopting AI and agents
The increasing integration of artificial intelligence into business operations is reshaping workplace technology, with AI becoming an increasingly invisible but fundamental component of daily workflows. Key findings from Deloitte's analysis: The 16th annual Tech Trends Report reveals a significant shift in how businesses are approaching and implementing AI technology. AI is transitioning from standalone applications to becoming an embedded layer within core business operations, operating seamlessly behind the scenes The focus for business leaders has evolved from questioning AI adoption to strategizing its optimal implementation Organizations are increasingly investing in data cycle management, with 75% reporting increased spending due to...
read Dec 11, 2024Google unveils Gemini 2 and AI agents for personal assistance
Google has announced Gemini 2, representing a significant advancement in AI capabilities and human-computer interaction. Core capabilities and improvements: Gemini 2 represents a substantial upgrade to Google's flagship AI model, with enhanced abilities to handle complex tasks across multiple domains. The new model demonstrates advanced "multimodal" capabilities, processing and interpreting video, audio, and speech with greater sophistication Gemini 2 can effectively plan and execute computer-based tasks while engaging in natural conversation The system shows marked improvement in understanding and interacting with the physical world through various sensors and inputs Specialized AI applications: Google is launching purpose-built AI agents to showcase...
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