AI is here: Salesforce’s Martin Kihn says marketers must act now or risk falling behind

Salesforce’s Martin Kihn doesn’t mince words when describing the stakes of today’s AI moment.

“We need to say: change is good. The one option we don’t have is to do nothing,” said Kihn, senior vice president of product strategy for Marketing Cloud. “A year from now, you’re going to wish you had started.”

On his first visit to Australia, Kihn offered a sweeping yet grounded perspective on the rise of agentic AI, not just as a surging new technology, but as a reshaping force for how brands engage, operate and grow. His message for marketers: the future isn’t just about content generation or automation. It’s about bots talking to bots, workflows rebuilding themselves, and a fundamental shift in how customer experiences are designed.

Salesforce has gone all-in on agentic AI with its Agentforce platform, introduced in late 2024 and underpinned by its Data Cloud. Where traditional AI might generate content or provide insight, agentic systems are designed to take multi-step actions, solve problems, and continuously learn from context - acting almost like digital employees.

SEE MORE: Salesforce commits $2.5bn to AI development in Australia

Kihn calls it “digital labour.” And while most of the market is still exploring content generation tools like ChatGPT or Gemini, he said the next six months will push deeper into autonomous, behind-the-scenes agent activity.

“The future is bot-to-bot,” he explains. “You’ll have your shopping agent interacting directly with a brand’s inventory agent. They’ll negotiate. They’ll get better over time. And humans won’t be in the loop.”

While that may sound speculative, Salesforce is already deploying agentic tools across its own internal operations - including HR approvals, training simulations and sales coaching. These use cases then become products for customers.

Start with imperfect data - but start

One of the biggest hurdles, especially in Australia, is the belief that companies must have perfect data before deploying AI tools. Kihn pushes back on that idea.

“You don’t need everything lined up. You just need a dataset you trust,” he said. “Most companies are already doing better than they think.”

Pilot projects using partial data, especially for internal use cases, are a low-risk way to build confidence. Kihn cites call centres and employee-facing tools as fertile ground. For example, wealth advisers at major banks now use agentic assistants that listen to client calls and recommend products or pull relevant customer information from internal systems.

“It’s not just about automating customer interactions. It’s about helping your people do a better job,” he said. “That’s what technology is for.”

A shift for CMOs, not a replacement

As AI responsibilities spread across the enterprise, some companies - including major Australian banks - are appointing chief AI officers who report directly to the CEO. So what does that mean for marketing?

Kihn is pragmatic. “AI is broader than marketing. Governance, policy, risk - those decisions need to happen at the top,” he said. “But this doesn’t weaken the CMO. It just changes the role.”

Routine tasks like campaign set-up or performance reporting will increasingly be handled by machines. But the strategic work of brand building, customer insight and experience design remains squarely human - for now.

“We’re nowhere near replacing a CMO,” Kihn said. “But the entry-level roles under them? Those are evolving fast.”

Kihn’s visit comes as Salesforce ramps up investment in the region, with a AU$2.5 billion commitment over the next five years. The goal: accelerate AI readiness, support local workforce development and expand its sustainability agenda.

“There’s this perception that Australian companies are behind,” he said. “But honestly, no one’s ahead. Everyone’s still figuring this out.”

The difference often comes down to mindset. Some of the most advanced implementations Kihn has seen, such as virtual agents managing support queues or AI-generated product catalogues, come from startups and mid-sized firms, not necessarily tech giants.

“It’s usually one champion inside the company,” he said. “If they get it and they’re empowered, the whole business moves.”

Don’t wait for perfect, just begin

For brand marketers wondering where to start, Kihn recommends experimenting with generative content, even if the results aren’t yet perfect.

“There will come a point where you’re generating product descriptions, emails, even creative variations at scale,” he said. “And the companies that started early will be ahead.”

As for fears about AI replacing humans or making marketing less creative? Kihn is refreshingly optimistic. “AI should be supervised. Ask it why. Make sure it can explain its reasoning,” he said. “We work with the software. It doesn’t work us.”

With Agentforce gaining traction and enterprise interest in agentic AI accelerating, the CMO's role may be changing, but it's also expanding. Strategy, creativity and customer intimacy will be more valuable than ever.

And as Kihn puts it: “The danger isn’t in embracing change. It’s in sitting still while your competitors move.”