86% of CHROs say integrating AI agents into the workplace is a key part of their roles, finds Salesforce

The future of work will see humans work alongside AI agents.

That's the perspective of Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff.

During a recent press conference, Benioff shared: “All of a sudden, as a CEO, I’m not just managing human beings, but I’m also managing agents”.During a recent press conference, Benioff shared: “All of a sudden, as a CEO, I’m not just managing human beings, but I’m also managing agents”.

It’s not a fantasy of the future, “it is what is happening right now”.

The good news is that organizations, and specifically CHROs, are very aware of this fact.

According to a recent Salesforce survey of 200 global HR leaders, by 2030, 80% of them believe that the workforce will have humans and AI agents working together.

Plus, 86% CHROs said that integrating digital labor into the existing workforce will be a critical part of their role.

HR chiefs believe that AI agent adoption will jump by 327% in the next two years (from 15% now to 64% in 2027), and that once agentic AI is fully implemented into their workforce, they will see a 30% gain in productivity and 19% reduction in labor costs.

This trend towards digital labor is “something that can’t be ignored”, Salesforce President and Chief People Officer, Nathalie Scardino, exclusively tells UNLEASH.

Digital Labor is opening up an abundance of opportunity – economic, careers, skills. The future will belong to those who embrace the change – and transform fast,” Scardino continues.Digital Labor is opening up an abundance of opportunity – economic, careers, skills. The future will belong to those who embrace the change – and transform fast,” Scardino continues.

The question is where should CHROs and HR teams start to move the needle on agentic AI and reap the rewards?

Currently, 85% are yet to implement agentic AI, and 73% of employees remain unaware of how AI agents will impact their work, so there’s lots of work to do.

CHROs, you need to reskill and redeploy amid digital labor

Salesforce’s research found that four in five HR chiefs plan to reskill to be more competitive in a market shaped by AI agents.

20% are already reskilling, and 67% plan to do so, in order to create better future opportunities for workers.

While AI literacy will the number one skills workers need as businesses move into the agentic AI economy, soft skills will also come to the fore.

75% of HR leaders said AI agents will put the need for soft skills like collaboration, accountability, adaptability and emotional intelligence.

This reskilling also plays into organization and job redesign (77%) and redeployment and reassignment of employees to more relevant roles (89%).

88% HR leaders also said that redeployment was more cost effective than hiring from outside the business for new roles.

Scardino concludes: “Every organization will be called on to redesign their people strategies, reskill employees to support a workforce with agents, and redeploy talent to fuel growth and innovation.Scardino concludes: “Every organization will be called on to redesign their people strategies, reskill employees to support a workforce with agents, and redeploy talent to fuel growth and innovation.

“We need to act now in order to future proof our companies for the digital labor revolution.”