AI in action: How startups are innovating on the Salesforce platform

While advancements in AI are remarkable, its true value lies in leveraging them to develop practical solutions that drive organizational efficiency. This is precisely what Salesforce has accomplished. By acting as a catalyst for AI adoption, Salesforce is empowering startups to innovate and build cutting-edge AI solutions, driving business growth and innovation.

The third episode of Mint’s series ‘All about AI’, hosted by Mint Deputy Editor Abhishek Singh, featured founders of leading startups that are adopting AI in their businesses. Vishesh Singhal, Founder and CEO of Mint,Files in the cloudand Rajat Shukla, co-founder ofEQ.a applicationi, shared his experiences of using Salesforce solutions for his organization. Meanwhile, Sanket Atal, Managing Director – Technology & Operations at Salesforce India, offered deep insights during the panel, offering a unique and invaluable perspective that elevated the depth and impact of the discussion. His contributions were instrumental in shaping the narrative with his experience and forward-thinking vision.

Watch the full episode here,

How to balance AI with the human touch

Rajat Shukla, co-founder of AppEQ.ai, a product that focuses on revenue retention and expansion, works closely with Salesforce to integrate customer data and deliver insights that enable front-end teams to respond more effectively and efficiently. The key to their success lies in leveraging AI to handle large amounts of data, making it more consumable and actionable for teams managing customer relationships.

Rajat highlighted how AI has revolutionized their approach to customer interactions. By using AI, App EQ can consolidate large data sets into manageable chunks of information, allowing teams to address customer needs in real-time. This level of responsiveness ensures that customer interactions are personalized and timely, improving overall satisfaction and loyalty.

He also talked about how the company’s unique name came about.“We started with the emotional factor, thinking about how to incorporate artificial intelligence, but with the right human and customer touch, as we are very customer-centric. There is also a part where every employee plays a key role in our organization and the name is a play on words with that.”

Automation with AI

Vishesh Singhal, co-founder of Cloud File, specializes in automation and AI tools for enterprise documents. Vishesh explained the challenges businesses face with document management and how Cloud File addresses these issues by automating document processing. This automation removes manual friction points, allowing businesses to process documents efficiently and with greater accuracy.

He went on to explain further through an interesting example of KYC automation,“Let’s say you’re a bank and you’re collecting customer information, such as their Aadhaar card and driving license. Until now, you had to have a person go through this data and check if it was correct and then add it to the system. But now we can remove that manual friction point and you can simply hand the documents over to the computer so it can view, verify and classify them just like a human would.”

A force to be reckoned with

Sanket Atal, Executive Director, Technology and Operations, Salesforce India, explained in detail how the Salesforce platform powers startups like App EQ and Cloud File. He talked about how Salesforce offers world-class enterprise solutions but at the same time leverages inputs from startups that help increase the power of innovative technologies. This symbiotic relationship enables startups to leverage Salesforce’s robust platform while adding their unique value propositions and achieving customer success.

Salesforce’s AI capabilities, combined with innovations from startups, create a comprehensive solution that addresses diverse business needs. For example, Cloud File’s document automation technology extends Salesforce’s existing offerings, making the overall solution more powerful for customers.

Sanket is proud of how Salesforce is democratising access to AI, saying:“In the past, there was a huge gap between enterprise software usage and startup software usage. This was because to use enterprise-grade software, you needed a data center and staff to take care of all of that. But as SaaS pioneers, we can democratize access to all of this cutting-edge technology. As a result, startups are now using the same technology that Fortune 500 companies are using.”

Both Rajat and Vishesh highlighted the invaluable support they receive from the Salesforce community. The Salesforce startup program and broader ecosystem provide startups with access to resources, mentorship, and a network of potential customers. This support accelerates their growth and helps them meet the challenges of scaling their businesses.

Walking the tightrope between data access and data privacy

Addressing the critical issue of data privacy with AI, Rajat said:“When building any enterprise software, data privacy is something you have to consider from the start. A lot of the current R&D budget goes into AI security. It’s not just about not having bias in AI products, but about ensuring the privacy of customer data. Models need to be trained in a very anonymous way. Models should not know whose data they are being trained on.”

Praising the privacy features built by Salesforce, Rajat added:“What Salesforce has done is add a layer of trust. Thanks to this, even Cloud Files can implement its layer of trust that ensures that when the data goes out and communicates with the AI ​​model, it is completely decoupled from customer information and personal data.”

Sanket highlights the role that stimuli play in our interaction with AI tools.“Indication engineering has become a great science. What we enable through our solutions is the substantiation of indications, that is, putting a context around them so that the right information is entered and the right results can be obtained.

The three T’s of success

The enriching discussion concluded with Sanket talking about the three key factors he called the “three Ts” that are critical to the success of a startup.

• Talent: Attracting the right talent has become easier as there are adventurous people in India willing to join startups. Access to information, courses, and technologies is easy. Salesforce’s Trailhead Academy offers free courses that enable companies to train talented people quickly.
• Technology: Modern platforms enable startups to build robust products faster by leveraging pre-existing, well-proven technologies, reducing development time and improving product reliability.
• Time to market: Using these advanced platforms accelerates time to market, giving startups a competitive advantage by enabling faster product launches.

As AI continues to evolve, collaboration between Salesforce and startups will undoubtedly lead to even more innovative solutions, transforming industries and shaping the future of business.