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MIT Sloan Management Review India will host the Strategy Shift Forum, a gathering of MIT professors, global AI experts, and business leaders in New Delhi on August 19 to equip Indian leaders with critical insights into navigating the next wave of AI transformation. For more details, speaker announcements, and to request an invitation, visit here.

 

In the lead-up to the Strategy Shift Forum, MIT Sloan Management Review India spoke to Arundhati Bhattacharya, someone who has had a front-row seat to transformation, first as the chairperson of State Bank of India, the country’s largest bank, and now as CEO and Chairperson of Salesforce India and South Asia.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Bhattacharya spoke about what it’s been like to move from the world of banking into the fast-paced world of tech, why truly responsible innovation takes more than just policy or good intent, and why lasting transformation, at its heart, begins with people, not platforms or systems.

Edited excerpt:

You made a bold move from banking to technology. What inspired the switch, and what have been your biggest takeaways?

I have witnessed up close how technology is not just supporting industries, it is reshaping them. The move to Salesforce wasn’t so much a pivot as it was a progression. I’ve always believed that leadership is about anticipating change, not just responding to it. And stepping into the world of technology felt like the natural next chapter in continuing to make meaningful impact at scale.

What drew me in was the potential of technology, particularly AI, to solve complex problems, improve lives, and drive inclusive growth. But technology on its own is not a silver bullet. It must be rooted in trust, guided by purpose, and shaped with empathy.

My biggest learning is this: transformation isn’t just about systems, it’s about people. And true leadership lies in ensuring that innovation doesn’t just move fast – but moves forward, lifting everyone with it.

You reshaped Salesforce’s structure to focus on industries rather than geographies. What challenges came with that, and how has it improved engagement with enterprise clients?

When I joined Salesforce, one of the first things that stood out was the need to deepen our relevance, to move from being a technology provider to a true strategic partner. While our geography-based structure served us well operationally, it didn’t always allow us to grasp the nuanced, sector-specific challenges our clients were facing.

So, we made a deliberate shift to an industry-first model. This wasn’t a cosmetic change, it was a structural and cultural transformation. Each industry has its own rhythm, its own regulatory environment, and a unique innovation curve. By aligning our teams around industries, we began to speak the language of our clients more fluently, engage in more meaningful dialogue, and co-create solutions that are tailored and transformative.

Of course, this came with its set of challenges, realigning teams, reshaping incentives, and revisiting how we measured success. But the results have been well worth it. We’re now building deeper trust, forging longer-term partnerships, and driving outcomes that matter, not just for business, but for the ecosystems our clients operate in.

At its core, this change has allowed us to lead with empathy and precision, two qualities I believe are essential to creating lasting impact.

Why should enterprises choose Salesforce? What truly sets it apart?

Salesforce is more than just a CRM platform. It is a trusted partner that helps businesses grow, stay agile and serve their customers better. What makes it stand out is the way it combines powerful technology with a strong focus on trust, innovation and customer success. Whether it is using AI to improve decision-making, scaling quickly, or giving teams easy-to-use tools, Salesforce supports businesses at every stage.

In India, I have seen companies across finance, retail and manufacturing use Salesforce not just to manage operations but to create real impact for their customers. What also makes a difference is the growing ecosystem of talent, learning and local partnerships that continues to strengthen every day.

What standout AI‑driven projects from Salesforce are Indian enterprises experiencing today?

One of the most encouraging shifts we’re seeing is how Indian enterprises are no longer approaching AI as a future concept. They’re applying it at scale to solve real problems across customer service, operations, and decision-making. At Salesforce, platforms like Agentforce, Einstein, and Data Cloud are enabling this transformation in very tangible ways.

Customers are using AI agents to handle routine workflows and free up teams for more meaningful work. With pre-built Agentforce templates, deployment is faster and more accessible, especially for growing businesses. Predictive AI is also making a real difference by helping teams anticipate customer needs rather than simply reacting to them.

What I find particularly energizing is how quickly small and medium businesses are embracing these tools. This speaks to India’s readiness. We have the digital infrastructure, the talent, and a startup mindset that encourages adoption and experimentation. With India leading globally in AI skill penetration, I truly believe we are not just participating in the AI movement, we are helping shape where it goes next.

You’ve spoken about AI agents transforming customer experience and easing team workloads. What early lessons have emerged from deploying Agentforce in sectors like aviation and banking?

Salesforce is observing real impact when AI agents are thoughtfully integrated into day-to-day operations, especially in sectors like aviation and banking where speed and scale are critical.

Specifically in the banking sector, Bandhan Bank is using Salesforce to create a unified customer view across its branches and digital platforms. This helps them serve more customers efficiently and with greater personalization. These early examples show that when AI supports people in their work, it leads to faster service, better decisions, and stronger customer relationships.

How is Agentforce 3 different from its competition?

We are seeing AI adoption grow rapidly across industries. But what we’ve observed is that teams often lack visibility into what their agents are doing, and more importantly, how to evolve them quickly. Until now, most agent platforms have not offered the right tools, governance, or observability to scale effectively across the enterprise. Agentforce 3 addresses this gap head-on. It provides complete visibility, secure tool integration, and enterprise-grade controls that help organizations turn agent velocity into a true competitive advantage. It enables leaders to monitor, improve, and scale their AI workforce with confidence.

With a new Command Center for end-to-end observability, built-in support for the Model Context Protocol (MCP) for seamless interoperability, and over 100 new prebuilt industry actions to accelerate time to value, Agentforce 3 helps businesses scale what works, fix what doesn’t, and unlock the full potential of agentic AI — with clarity, control, and speed. Agentforce 3 also introduces simplified, flexible pricing with new Agentforce for Sales, Service, and Industry Cloud SKUs with per-user pricing and unlimited usage of actions for employee-facing agents to help teams get started fast and scale boldly.

How does the Informatica acquisition strengthen Agentforce’s capabilities?

Enterprise grade AI demands more than just access to data. It requires transparency, context, and strong governance. The acquisition of Informatica is a strategic step towards strengthening Salesforce’s trusted data foundation, which is essential for deploying safe, responsible, and truly effective agentic AI. By combining Informatica’s strengths in data cataloging, integration, governance, quality, privacy, metadata management, and master data management with the Salesforce platform, we are creating a unified architecture that enables AI agents to operate safely, responsibly, and at scale across the modern enterprise. For Agentforce, this means a deeper, more accurate understanding of data, powered by Informatica’s advanced metadata and cataloging capabilities, so our AI agents can act with greater intelligence and reliability across the enterprise.

You’ve spoken about easing fears around AI and making upskilling more inclusive. How is Salesforce tackling these cultural and talent challenges, both within the company and for its customers?

At Salesforce, we believe people are at the center of any successful AI transformation. I’ve often said that AI will not take away jobs, it will transform them. When employees understand the benefits of AI, they actively engage with AI tools, provide valuable feedback, and collaborate effectively to optimize AI solutions for specific business needs. The real shift is in the mindset. Employees need to move away from fear and focus on AI’s potential to augment human capabilities, drive innovation, and solve complex challenges. That’s why we are focused on helping our teams and our customers reskill and upskill effectively. Within the company, we are investing in training and making tools like Agentforce easy to use. You don’t need to know how to code to use it, which makes it more inclusive and accessible for everyone. For our customers, we work closely to help them understand how AI can support their teams.

India’s global capability centers (GCCs) are moving beyond back-office functions to drive innovation and business outcomes. How is Salesforce supporting GCCs in this journey, and what trends are you seeing in their use of AI and automation?

In the coming years, driving sustained growth and generating employment will be key priorities for the country, and technology can be the biggest enabler. India has already proven itself as a global hub for technology talent and a preferred destination for global capability centers. The number of global capability centers (GCC) with revenue of more than $1 billion is expected to hit about 30 this year, up from 24 a year earlier. At Salesforce, we are working closely with GCCs as they adopt AI and automation to solve complex problems, improve customer service, and build new capabilities. Taking steps to smoothen the path and also ensure ease of doing business will drive innovation from India. Simplifying onerous compliance requirements can go a long way in accelerating the growth of India. GCCs for instance generate employment and set off a multiplier effect, driving consumption and secondary employment in their ecosystem.

Salesforce often refers to its ‘Ohana’‑inspired ‘One India’ vision. Could you elaborate on what that means in practice and how it translates into action?

At Salesforce, our ‘One India’ vision draws deeply from the spirit of Ohana-the idea that we’re all family. In practice, this means breaking silos across teams, functions, and cities to operate as one unified force with a common purpose: driving meaningful impact for our customers, our communities, and our employees.

We don’t just talk about collaboration, we embed it in how we work, whether it’s co-creating solutions across functions, enabling cross-skilling through our learning platforms, or coming together for volunteering and social impact initiatives. This unity has allowed us to move faster, be more responsive to customer needs, and create a more inclusive, empowering culture for our people.

And now, as we scale, our vision is a broader South Asia ambition. We see tremendous opportunity to bring the same sense of purpose and cohesion to our work across the region, helping us better serve customers and deepen our impact in markets beyond India.