4 Bold Predictions for Salesforce Professionals in 2026

The Salesforce ecosystem is in a delicate place as we kick off 2026. As narratives around the importance of AI seep into the mainstream, there seems to be a growing theory within the tech world that automation is no longer optional. As AI adoption ramps up, with quick-fix solutions becoming more readily available, the issue of technical debt becomes even more important. 

Agentforce adoption was steady throughout 2025, so what would this mean for 2026, if current trends continue? What happens to the role of Salesforce Administrator when, increasingly, Salesforce professionals are having to branch out into other technologies and become more ‘agnostic’? And, it seems an ancient question for tech sector professionals at this point, but yet it remains: is AI really going to “take my job”? Let’s take a look at SF Ben’s 2026 predictions. 

1. ‘Mediocre’ Agentforce Adoption Would Do Wonders for Salesforce

Our first prediction was that Salesforce’s growth would be tied to, but not entirely dependent upon, Agentforce. We foresee a steady rate of adoption throughout 2026, likely with conservative increases from quarter to quarter. But, despite the seemingly mundane growth rate, mediocre adoption would not result in mediocre growth.

Salesforce’s Q3 results from December hailed Agentforce and Data 360 as momentum drivers, with the two products reaching nearly $1.4B in annual recurring revenue (ARR), marking a 114% year-over-year increase. 

The cloud giant isn’t going to stop its Agentforce push any time soon. Bearing this in mind, a doubling of ARR to $2.8B seems a conservative, reasonable estimate. In other words, if current rates of adoption continue, and even if we don’t see a hockey stick-style explosion, Salesforce will benefit hugely from this ‘mediocre’ adoption. 

While a lot of enterprises remain cautious around the AI elephant in the room, they understand that it’s likely here to stay. Still, they’re figuring out how to apply it in a way that actually delivers ROI. Uncertainty has weighed on the sentiment of investors, with market confidence fading over time. But progress – even incremental progress – with Agentforce could have a snowball effect, signifying a major shift in perception. 

2. Salesforce Admins Become ‘Low Code’ Agnostics

The job market has been a bit tough for the last few years. 

We believe people who have, up until now, been calling themselves ‘Salesforce Admins’ will branch out a little more, opting instead for phrases like ‘Low Code Admins’, no longer pigeonholing themselves to just one system. 

We will also likely see an increase in AI-related job titles. 

Businesses aren’t wall-to-wall Salesforce anymore. Tools like HubSpot and ServiceNow might seem more appealing to learn for Salesforce professionals – even those who have been in the ecosystem for many years. 

It’s perhaps a sharp jolt of reality for Salesforce professionals, who were hotly in demand during the days of the coronavirus pandemic – and now face much fiercer competition to land those coveted Salesforce roles. 

3. The Year of Technical Debt (Thanks to Vibe-Coding)

Salesforce has been around for nearly three decades, which is an impressive achievement, but has also, inevitably, meant nearly three decades of technical debt. The cloud giant has been moving fast, and new tools like Agentforce Vibes – along with other ‘vibe-coding’ solutions – have made the development and review processes easier and more accessible. But, while automation can show what needs improving, it can also encourage taking shortcuts, leading to more issues further down the line. 

With Agentforce and LLMs growing more capable, technical debt within Salesforce orgs will also pile up. Building faster does not necessarily mean building better. Businesses cannot gain real value from AI without properly connected data. As more and more enterprises want to “implement AI” in a vague sort of way, tools like Agentforce Vibes can be brought in with simple use cases like reviewing existing implementations – but structural problems remain unaddressed. Over-reliance on agents could worsen any currently existing tech debt.

Businesses that move slowly, cleaning up their data and keeping knowledgeable humans in the loop will likely benefit most from AI, while those who rush risk serious failures.

4. AI Won’t Replace Roles, But Every Role Will Change 

Leading voices in the Salesforce ecosystem have argued that, rather than simply wiping out jobs, AI could more accurately be described as augmenting – or at least redesigning – existing roles. Artificial intelligence is not simply a plug-and-play substitute for human beings, which is fortunate for us. It’s important to bear in mind that claims about AI being able to “take your job” do, in a strange way, benefit the creators and sellers of these AI tools. 

On the one hand, it would be undeniably bad PR for a company to say “our technology will take thousands of jobs away from humans”. On the other hand, having that idea – that “this technology is so good that it could replace my employees” – out in the cultural zeitgeist does serve the AI sellers. We should always bear that in mind when thinking about the “AI taking our jobs” narrative. 

In any case, as companies become more realistic about what AI can and cannot do, what seems undeniable at this point is that the nature of currently existing job roles is changing. Salesforce Administrators and Developers are having the more tedious and repetitive parts of their roles delegated to AI tools. In the Salesforce ecosystem more broadly, and taking into account Architects, Business Analysts, and Consultants, roles are becoming broader, with ever-blurring boundaries between them. 

AI is changing how people work. Productivity can be boosted, enabling companies to hire fewer people overall – so there is still some truth to the “AI taking our jobs” argument. But core skills remain essential. Humans remain very much in the loop, for now, but Salesforce roles are being rewritten.

Final Thoughts

Agentforce doesn’t need explosive adoption to bring about significant success for Salesforce, and AI doesn’t need to be as good as human labor to fundamentally change the nature of work. 

As we start the second month of 2026, we seem to be entering an era of pragmatism, with a cautious but realistic approach to artificial intelligence, and the early days of AI hype evolving into a much more sober understanding of what these new technologies – like vibe-coding tools – will actually mean for us.