Show Notes
In this episode, recorded at Dreamforce 2026, Nia Samady, VP of Global Partner Success at Salesforce, joins Kyle to discuss what it takes for AI agent projects to succeed with customers. Nia has spent 22 years at Salesforce, starting as a college graduate on a developer support team, and now leads a technical team that works alongside consulting partners like Accenture and Deloitte across the full customer lifecycle.
Nia explains how AIforce and Claudeforce are bringing Salesforce into the interfaces customers already use, and how Salesforce's network of 84 forward deployed engineering partner firms is tackling data readiness and customer readiness from the earliest stages of a deal.
They also get into where AI is delivering real ROI today, from service use cases seeing 70%+ case deflection to regulated industries like health and financial services, the rise of AI native partners, and how hiring is changing as companies look for new grads who blend technical skills with business acumen.
Key Topics Covered
How Dreamforce 2026 announcements translate into partner success
What Claudeforce and the Anthropic partnership mean for customers
How Salesforce's FDE Partner Network supports Agentforce delivery
Why data readiness is the foundation for AI agents
Where AI agents are delivering ROI, including 70%+ case deflection in service
Why regulated industries are a litmus test for AI
The rise of AI native partners in the Salesforce ecosystem
How AI is changing hiring for new grads and builders
Mentorship, sponsorship and career growth in the AI era
Episode Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction and Nia's 22 years at Salesforce
00:26 - What Nia didn't see coming in the agentic era
01:21 - From the Dreamforce keynote to partner success
02:52 - Claudeforce and the Anthropic partnership
04:15 - Early signals from customers using Salesforce in Claude
05:05 - How forward deployed engineers support Agentforce delivery
07:36 - What forward deployed engineers look at first
09:08 - Why partners value early engagement
09:53 - Where AI is delivering ROI today
11:32 - The rise of AI native partners
12:32 - Marc Benioff, the beginner's mind and a chance elevator ride
14:58 - How hiring has changed for new grads and builders
16:59 - How technical grads can build business skills
18:35 - How Salesforce keeps employees ahead of AI
20:09 - Mentorship, sponsorship and career growth
21:20 - What will be obvious to partners by Dreamforce 2027
Where to find Nia:
LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nia-samady-48b99a46/
Salesforce - https://www.salesforce.com/
Partner Links
Join The AI Report Pro: https://community.theaireport.ai/checkout/the-ai-report-pro
Join our free live Claude session, every Tuesday: https://community.theaireport.ai/forms/497be10c
Subscribe to our free newsletter: https://newsletter.theaireport.ai/subscribe
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from The AI Report
In this episode, recorded at Dreamforce 2026, Denis Machuel, CEO of The Adecco Group, joins Kyle to discuss how AI agents are changing recruitment, workforce strategy, and the day-to-day work of recruiters. Denis explains how Adecco is moving from isolated AI pilots to scaled deployment across its business, with a focus on keeping people at the center of the transformation.
In this episode, Ian Kahn, PwC partner and global leader for its Customer and Commercial Excellence platform, joins Liam to discuss what AI adoption actually looks like inside large organizations. Ian has spent 27 years at PwC and leads a global team of almost 10,000 practitioners focused on helping clients build stronger customer relationships and drive growth.
In this episode, Mike Flynn joins Liam to break down how companies are moving from AI experimentation to measurable business value. Mike has spent more than 20 years in consulting, including nearly a decade at EY, nine years at PwC, and now leads the technology sector for EY's consulting business.
In this episode, Cillian Kieran, CEO and founder of Ethyca, joins Liam to talk about why data privacy and AI governance need to be treated as engineering problems, not just legal and compliance challenges.
Brad Axen, Block's Head of AI Capabilities and the original author of Goose, joins Liam to talk about what actually makes AI useful at work. They cover how Block went from building an early open-source AI agent to MoneyBot, ManagerBot, BuilderBot and Buzz, and why Brad thinks the hardest problems now are memory, access and interface, not just model intelligence.