Huge Exec Shakeup at Salesforce as New Head of Agentforce Revealed

A significant shakeup in leadership is taking place at Salesforce, with a new head of Agentforce being appointed. The cloud giant has hired or promoted six new leaders after a wave of high-profile executives said they would be leaving the company in recent months. 

Earlier this week, we reported how Salesforce’s EVP and GM of AI, Adam Evans, had officially announced his departure from the company, after playing a pivotal role in the inception and development of Salesforce’s proprietary AI tool, Agentforce. 

Salesforce Appoints 6 New Leaders

Let’s take a look at who’s who in Salesforce’s new executive lineup. 

• Madhav Thattai is executive vice president and general manager for Agentforce, moving on from his role as COO of Agentforce.
• Iain Mulholland, from Google, is the company’s new chief security officer, replacing Brad Arkin.
• Patrick Stokes is the new Chief Marketing Officer, replacing Ariel Kelman.
• Dave Ward, formerly of Lumen Technologies, is the new Chief Architect.
• Joe Inzerillo is now president of enterprise and AI technology, overseeing Slack and Agentforce. He was formerly chief digital officer at Salesforce.
• Rob Seaman is now executive vice president and general manager for Slack.

A Salesforce spokesperson told Business Insider: “Salesforce has always been a talent engine. Our deep bench and proactive succession planning ensure that our strategy is institutionalized, not individualized. We’re confident in the leaders stepping into these roles and are excited for what’s ahead in FY27.”

The outlet reported that some of the changes are yet to be announced widely internally. 

Patrick Stokes has been a regular at Salesforce events for some time. He joined Salesforce in 2012 through the Buddy Media acquisition and held multiple leadership roles, including General Manager of Platform and, most recently, Executive Vice President of Product and Industries Marketing.

Dave Ward’s tenure at Lumen Technologies included initiatives aimed at modernizing the company’s digital platforms to prepare for the age of AI. 

Joe Inzerillo, the President of Enterprise AI and Technology at Salesforce, will spearhead a wider effort to bring Agentforce and Slack together, helping to scale Slackbot.

The appointments come after we reported how three Salesforce executives – including the Chief Trust Officer, the CEO of Tableau, and the CEO of Slack – had left the company in recent months.

Ryan Aytay, who was CEO of Tableau since 2023, revealed on LinkedIn that he was leaving Salesforce after a 19-year tenure at the company. He wrote: “Salesforce has been far more than a job – it’s been a front-row seat to innovation, a masterclass in leadership, and a community that has shaped who I am professionally and personally.”

That same week, Chief Trust Officer Brad Arkin, who oversaw Salesforce’s security strategy, revealed that he was leaving. Arkin wrote on LinkedIn: “Friday January 30th was my last day at Salesforce. Will share some updates soon on what’s next.” Salesforce’s fiscal year ended that month.

In December, Denise Dresser left Slack, where she had been Chief Executive Officer since 2023, when it was acquired by Salesforce. She moved to become chief revenue officer at OpenAI.

Dresser said at the time: “I’ve spent my career helping scale category-defining platforms. I’m looking forward to bringing that experience to OpenAI as it enters its next phase of enterprise transformation.”

Final Thoughts 

Leadership turnover is not atypical, but it seems to be very much the flavor of the month at Salesforce. The company is taking a mixed approach of hiring internally, while also bringing in seasoned operators from Google and Lumen.

Agentforce remains critical to Salesforce’s plans for success going into the next fiscal year, and closer integration between Agentforce and Slack only highlights Salesforce’s renewed focus on AI going forward.