Salesforce announces new Einstein features for devs to build custom AI and ML

Today, Salesforce announced new features within their AI-powered Einstein Platform Services. The update will mostly affect admins and developers. And according to Salesforce, it will enable them to “build custom artificial intelligence and leverage machine learning services all with a single line of code or a few clicks.”

New capabilities for Salesforce’s Einstein AI include:

The company announced four main updates. Note that these last two items extend the AI capabilities beyond simple tasks to the point of decision-making — to predict business outcomes.

1. Language translation

   • Ability to set up automatic language translation of any Salesforce object or field with simple drag-and-drop.
   • Could be used to translate inbound customer queries into native language of service agents.

2. Character recognition for automatic file uploading

   • Ability to use computer vision to analyze documents and automatically update the right Salesforce record.
   • Could be use to eliminate repetitive admin tasks such as taking a picture of a business card and inputting that data into a record.

3. Prediction builder

   • Lets admins build AI models to predict the outcome of any Salesforce field or object.
   • These predictions could be embedded into the record to let future users make better decisions.

4. Predictions service

   • Lets admins embed analytics from Einstein Discovery into any third-party system / other apps. (Einstein Discovery is an automated intelligence tool that surfaces potential insights from users’ data, pictured below.)
   • A custom prediction score could help companies identify which employees are most likely to resign. That score could be connected via API to an HR system, in order to perhaps implement a retention plan.

(Screenshot of Einstein Discovery taken from Salesforce’s website.)

What is the broader goal with Salesforce Einstein?

Commenting on the updates, EVP and General Manager of Salesforce Einstein, John Ball, said:

“The promise of AI is no longer reserved for data scientists. With Einstein, we are empowering developers and admins — the lifeblood of every Salesforce deployment — to make customizable AI a reality for their business. But our mission goes beyond just making the technology more accessible, we are committed to democratizing AI that people can trust and use appropriately.”

Salesforce reports that across its products, Einstein generates more than six billion predictions every day. These predictions are used by people in sales, customer service, marketing, and ecommerce, among others.

With Einstein, Salesforce’s goal is to democratize AI development, making it accessible for people without complex coding skills.

Globally, the shortage of data scientists looks a little something like this:

(Snippet taken from this infographic, published in fall 2018)

Salesforce (along with IBM, Adobe, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, etc.) is among those companies trying to help bridge this gap by empowering “code-less coding” or “low-code AI.” In fact, Forrester recently recognized Salesforce (along with Microsoft) as a leader in low-code development platforms.

Besides these new features, Salesforce’s Einstein does things like image recognition, sentiment analysis, intent analysis, and more.