Salesforce expands Philippine presence with new Makati office

AMERICAN cloud software company Salesforce officially opened its main office in Makati City on Tuesday, aiming to support more Philippine businesses in adopting agentic artificial intelligence (AI).

At a briefing, Salesforce Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer, Solutions for ASEAN Gavin Barfield said agentic technology can help Philippine businesses serve a larger customer base at speed.

“We all know that some companies in the Philippines are struggling with millions of customers. With agent and agentic technology, you can offer that level of customer service to a wide variety,” he said.

The new Philippine office is located at Ayala Triangle Gardens Tower 2 within the Makati central business district.

“With our new office in the Philippines, we are better positioned to empower Filipino businesses to transform into agentic enterprises while also supporting the local ecosystem by equipping Filipino workers with the critical AI skills needed for the future economy,” said Abraham Cuevas, regional vice-president and country manager of Salesforce Philippines.

AI technologies have the potential to boost the Philippine economy by P1.8 trillion, according to a report by Google Philippines and consulting firm Public First. However, many local companies may face challenges in adopting agentic AI amid fragmented data and skills gaps.

“Salesforce is uniquely positioned to lead customers through this transformation by enabling them to become ‘agentic enterprises,’ a new model of work where AI elevates people rather than replacing them,” the company said.

Among Salesforce’s key products is Agentforce 360, which integrates apps, data, metadata, and agents on a unified platform to help clients automate routine tasks. The company also announced that its Agentforce for Service and Employee Agent platforms are now available in Tagalog, enabling more local businesses to serve customers in their native language.

Looking ahead, Salesforce plans to train 12,000 Filipino workers over the next five years in AI and customer relationship management skills.

“We want to invest in the talent that’s here not just to serve the Philippine market, but potentially our Southeast Asian markets as well,” Mr. Cuevas said. — Beatriz Marie D. Cruz