Salesforce is asking its customers to decide what AI features the company should build next. The business software giant is crowdsourcing its entire AI roadmap by letting users vote on and request new tools.
This approach makes sense when you think about it. If one big company needs a specific AI feature to manage their sales team, chances are thousands of other businesses have the same problem. Instead of guessing what customers want, Salesforce is just asking them directly.
Customers Become Product Managers
The strategy flips traditional product development on its head. Most tech companies have internal teams that decide what features to build based on market research and competitor analysis. Salesforce is basically turning its customers into unpaid product managers who know exactly what they need.
This crowdsourcing approach started because Salesforce noticed a pattern. Enterprise customers kept requesting similar AI tools for automating sales tasks, predicting customer behavior, and writing better emails. Rather than playing guessing games, the company decided to formalize the process.
Customers can now submit feature requests, vote on ideas from other users, and see real-time updates on what’s being developed. The most popular requests get priority in Salesforce’s development queue.
What This Means for Business Software
Expect other business software companies to copy this model. When customers directly tell you what to build, you’re much more likely to create something people actually want to pay for. It’s also cheaper than hiring expensive consultants to figure out market demand.
Salesforce’s customer-driven AI features should start rolling out over the next few months.
