AI Magazine September 2024 | Page 28

MARC BENIOFF

LIFETIME OF ACHIEVEMENT IN AI ‘

Mad genius ’ is not necessarily a title to relish when it applies to yourself .

However , when it was applied by Forbes to Marc Benioff , CEO and Co-Founder of Salesforce , it was definitely meant as a compliment .
Forbes gave Marc the label in 2016 – 17 years after he began his work on the cloud-based software company , one which has gone on to push past its initial offering to now be at the forefront of the AI revolution .
Benioff ’ s beginnings Marc ’ s ascent from a young software enthusiast to a visionary tech leader is a compelling narrative of innovation and business acumen . Over four decades , his career has been defined by groundbreaking achievements and transformative contributions to enterprise software and AI .
His journey began with a meteoric rise at Oracle . At 23 , he was named Rookie of the Year and , within short years , became the company ’ s youngest-ever Vice President . His 13-year tenure at Oracle , spanning roles in sales , marketing and product development , laid a robust foundation for his future endeavours .
It was in 1999 when Marc took a leap that would reshape the software industry . From a modest San Francisco apartment , he founded Salesforce with the audacious mission to bring about

MARC BENIOFF

TITLE : CEO COMPANY : SALESFORCE INDUSTRY : SOFTWARE LOCATION : US
Marc Benioff is the Chair , CEO , and Co-Founder of Salesforce , a pioneering cloud computing company he established in 1999 . Under his leadership , Salesforce has become the world ’ s largest enterprise applications company and third largest enterprise software company .
‘ The End of Software ’. This was testament to his tenacity and how he thought his software vision of the cloud-based revolution would transform business operations .
Within two years , Salesforce announced its expansion into the worldwide marketplace with headquarters in Dublin and Tokyo and surpassed 3,000 customers , making it the fastest-growing CRM company .
The burgeoning company went from success to success . Under his guidance , Salesforce evolved rapidly . What began as a cloud-based CRM platform soon blossomed into a comprehensive suite of enterprise solutions . The company ’ s growth trajectory , steered by Marc ’ s vision , has been remarkable .
28 September 2024