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Trailblazer
November 2019
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Chapter 5 - Marc Benioff's Trailblazer
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Who's enjoying Trailblazer so far? Don't forget to post your questions to Marc Benioff in the comments for the video Q&A!
This chapter opens in the summer of 2015, when our author Marc Benioff convened with his top engineers to discuss AI. They wanted to launch a companywide project to infuse AI into every project at Salesforce. This wasn't a small task. They knew a revolution was brewing, and they had to be ahead of the curve.
"The great promise of AI was that for the first time companies could turn the troves of data they'd acquired on consumer behaviour, industry trends, demographic shifts, and more to start uncovering patterns that human brains couldn't detect."
It could take info from the past, and help predict the future. And they knew Salesforce's livelihood depended on it. Innovation needs to be a core value for any company. Marc Benioff then talks to us about his two other important mentors: Albert Einstein and Steve Jobs. Einstein famously said that "Imagination is the highest form of research." Steve Jobs he met when interning at Apple in 1984. He felt extremely unqualified for the job but Steve Jobs was open to talking whenever - and they both shared a love for technology.
"If you want to be a great CEO, be mindful and project the future." Steve Jobs to Marc Benioff
When our author had Salesforce for a few years, he discussed ideas on how to innovate with Jobs. Funnily enough, Marc Benioff had an idea to create a platform where people could create their own application and host it. He called it App Store and trademarked the name. Unfortunately his colleagues did not like it, so they went with something else. When in 2008, Steve Jobs announced App Store - Benioff gave him the name for free. "Steve helped me understand that no great innovation in business ever happens in a vacuum."
Any questions for Marc Benioff? On his company, Salesforce, on this chapter? Let us know, we don't have enough questions for him! Comment comment comment!