hat does it take for companies to use agentic AI to transform the enterprise, without losing control of the technology?

In this episode of The Deep View Conversations, we sit down with Shibani Ahuja, SVP of data and AI strategy at Salesforce, to discuss how one of the world's leading software companies is applying AI with practical use cases, matching governance to risk, and building toward larger transformations ahead.

Salesforce has surprisingly embraced a "headless" AI strategy that lets customers use any AI to access their Salesforce data safely and securely. That includes its own Slackbot. which sits inside one of the world's most widely used business messaging systems. In this interview, we learn more about why Salesforce wants to give customers optionality.

Shibani also lays out Salesforce’s four modes of enterprise AI, from everyday assistive tools to agents that can reshape end-to-end operations. We also discuss Koa, Salesforce’s new CRM reasoning model, why the model-plus-harness approach is so critical, and why adaptability may be the defining enterprise skill of the AI era.

Topics covered:

• Why organizations should start with practical, level-one AI use cases
• How Salesforce matches governance and ROI expectations to the risk of an AI deployment
• What Koa, Salesforce's AI model built on NVIDIA Nemotron, changes for enterprise AI
• Why operating models, process expertise, and professional services matter as much as the latest technology
• Shibani's case for AQ: the adaptability quotient for technology stacks and teams

If you’re trying to make AI more efficient, safer, and more ROI-driven, this conversation offers a practical framework for how to build it, how to govern it, and where to start.

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