Oct 03, 2017 By Conor Donegan

Get a Data-Driven Deep Dive on the Intersection of Customers, Business, and Technology at Dreamforce

in Dreamforce, Events

Ask any business leader of their biggest challenges and, chances are, they’ll cite an increasingly empowered and discerning customer base. Regardless of industry, or whether you cater to consumers or business buyers, your company has the monumental task of not just providing amazing customer experiences, but also ensuring that the sum of these experiences is truly differentiated in a crowded marketplace. What’s more, your mandate includes constant innovation to satisfy digitally-savvy customers that expect these experiences to be more convenient, seamless, and intelligent than ever.

Salesforce has not one, not two, but four research teams committed to helping our customers understand the forces that are forever changing the nature of business, and how to make strategic decisions in a rapidly evolving technological landscape. This year, we’re bringing our most exciting insights and discoveries to Dreamforce with insightful breakout sessions that showcase cutting-edge research to help you differentiate your customer experience.

Meet the teams and find out which Dreamforce sessions to attend for a firsthand look at their insights:

Role and Industry Research

The role and industry research group is a team of market researchers and writers dedicated to uncovering market trends that are fundamentally changing business. Each year, it surveys thousands of sales, service, marketing, and IT leaders across the globe to understand their priorities and challenges, as well as the strategies that put high-performing organizations ahead of the competition. The team also surveys thousands of global consumers to understand their expectations of retailers, banks, healthcare providers, and other industries.

Check out these Dreamforce sessions for a closer look at the trends influencing your role:

Artificial Intelligence Research

Artificial intelligence (AI) is driving a new level of business transformation not seen since the Industrial Revolution. We’ve assembled a team, led by Salesforce’s Chief Scientist Dr. Richard Socher, of some of the best and brightest minds with deep expertise in AI in order to bring new levels of knowledge and productivity to everyone through Einstein. We deliver peer-reviewed academic research that is applied through collaboration with engineering and product teams to bring the latest intelligent capabilities to our customers.

Hear about our latest breakthroughs in AI during “AI Day” on Tuesday, November 7th! Join us for a luminary panel featuring real-life AI trailblazers and attend our various AI-themed Dreamtalks throughout the day.

Retail and Ecommerce Research

Retail is undergoing a transformation that eclipses that of perhaps any other industry. To help retailers understand shoppers’ evolving needs and behaviors, the Commerce Cloud Industry Strategy & Insights team publishes industry-leading research, including a quarterly Shopping Index.

This index analyzes the activity of more than 500 million worldwide shoppers on our ecommerce platform. You can explore shopping data through lenses such as average order values, device usage, visit duration, conversion rate, and region. In addition, the team publishes research on holiday trends, key niches within ecommerce (like apparel), and the future of shopping.

At Dreamforce, get the latest data on shopping behavior and ecommerce insight in the following sessions:

Voice of the Customer Research

All that we do - research and otherwise - is for the most important part of the Salesforce Ohana: our customers. The Customer & Market Insights team is a group of passionate individuals focused on representing our most important stakeholder — the customer — in realizing the Salesforce vision. The team conducts various qualitative and quantitative research studies with our customers (and non-customers) to collect feedback about our products and experiences. Through our work, we ensure that customers have a say in the development of our products, services, events, and more!

At Dreamforce, we’re partnering with our Customer Success Group to better understand your future technology needs. You’ll find us with iPads in hand throughout the campground, including the Trailhead zone, ready to capture all your great feedback for how to improve our products!