Salesforce used Connections 2025 to draw a clear line in the sand: the future of customer engagement runs on AI, real-time data, and intelligent automation. But for all the headline-making announcements, there’s a bigger takeaway here: brands have work to do before they can unlock the promise of this evolved Salesforce ecosystem.
Here’s what was released, what’s worth paying attention to, and how to assess if your team is ready for what’s next.
Key Announcements from Salesforce Connections 2025
Marketing Cloud Next
Salesforce’s flagship marketing platform has undergone a comprehensive transformation, now built natively on the Salesforce core. This evolution introduces:
- AI-assisted campaign creation via Agentforce
- Flow-based orchestration, signaling a shift from Journey Builder
- Deeper integration with Data Cloud for real-time segmentation and activation
- Shared workflows to support cross-functional teams, not just marketing users
Salesforce is positioning this as its most scalable, intelligent marketing engine to date. For brands, it’s signaling a future of streamlined marketing operations and truly scaled personalization. Learn more about Marketing Cloud Next.
Agentforce Was the Hero
Think of Agentforce as your brand’s best strategist, campaign manager, and analyst — rolled into an always-on, AI-powered assistant. It can:
- Build and optimize campaigns
- Pull customer insights in real time
- Interact across channels (email, web, even sales and service flows)
- Automate routine workflows with the ability to escalate when needed
In Salesforce’s words, it’s the beginning of “agentic marketing” — where AI doesn’t just analyze performance, it participates in creating and delivering the experience. If implemented well, it will reduce manual lift and tighten market teams time to impact. Explore Agentforce’s capabilities.
Data Cloud Evolves (Again)
Behind every AI feature and real-time trigger is Data Cloud. It’s the system that connects your customer data across platforms and makes it usable in the moment. Updates include:
- Support for structured and unstructured data (think PDFs, chat logs, knowledge bases)
- Real-time ingestion and segmentation
- Better activation into Salesforce and third-party tools
The takeaway: without Data Cloud, you don’t get the benefit of Agentforce or Marketing Cloud Next. Discover the latest Data Cloud updates from Matthew Wash, Data Cloud Partner Enablement at Salesforce.
Journey Builder’s Gradual Goodbye
While Journey Builder remains operational, Salesforce’s strategic direction points towards Flow as the future of orchestration. Brands should anticipate:
- Developing new campaigns within Flow.
- Utilizing migration tools to transition existing workflows.
- A steeper learning curve for teams used to the drag-and-drop interface of Journey Builder
This will be a shift, but it’s also an opportunity to streamline how you orchestrate across sales, service, and marketing. Prepare for the migration to Flow.
Is Your Team Ready for Marketing Cloud Next?
The tools Salesforce is evolving and launching in 2025 assume you already have unified data, solid internal processes, and a marketing team that’s comfortable with automation and AI. While positioned as easy, it’s far from plug-and-play.
Before diving into implementation, we recommend using the following checklist to spot gaps and help you build your roadmap.
Bold Orange’s “Marketing Cloud Next” Readiness Checklist
Use this list to spot gaps and decide where to focus first:
✓ Unified Customer Data: Is there a governed, centralized customer data foundation?
✓ Comprehensive Data Cloud Strategy: Does your Data Cloud approach include a clear plan for how structured and unstructured data will be unified within the Salesforce ecosystem?
✓ Flow Proficiency: Is your team trained in Flow, or do you have an enablement plan in place for transitioning from Journey Builder?
✓ AI Governance: Have you established clear parameters for AI agent operations and human oversight?
✓ Performance Metrics: Are there defined KPIs to measure AI effectiveness?
✓ Pilot Programs: Have you identified low-risk scenarios to test Agentforce and Marketing Cloud Next capabilities?
✓ Compliance and Governance: Are data privacy and compliance considerations addressed in your AI-driven marketing strategies?
If you’re checking fewer than half of these, it’s not a blocker, but it is your signal that you need a plan.
What We Recommend Brands Do Next
Centralize Your Customer Data
If your customer data lives in the silos or exists only in exports, you’re not ready for Marketing Cloud Next. Start by unifying your data across platforms and channels. That central data foundation — clean, connected, and governed — is what powers real-time activation and personalized experiences. It’s also what fuels Agentforce and the orchestration capabilities coming in future releases.
Get Serious About Your CDP Strategy
Salesforce is doubling down on Data Cloud — and for good reason. It’s the infrastructure for real-time, personalized, AI-supported experiences. If your CDP strategy today is just segmentation and suppression lists, you’ll need to level up. Focus on building an identity resolution framework, activating behavior-based data, and defining what data drives what outcomes. Tighten governance. Assign ownership. Think beyond marketing.
Treat Agentforce Like a New Hire
You wouldn’t put a new team member in front of your best customers without onboarding them. Same goes for AI. Define clear use cases, rules of engagement, and training prompts. Start small, monitor closely, and scale with confidence.
Make Flow Enablement a Priority
Flow will be the orchestration engine behind Marketing Cloud Next. As Salesforce begins to phase out Journey Builder, Flow is where future automation and campaign logic will live. The migration starts with the Summer ’25 release, and Journey Builder’s eventual deprecation is already on the roadmap. If your team hasn’t started working in Flow, now’s the time. Early enablement will make the transition to MC Next smoother — and prevent disruption as Salesforce shifts support away from legacy tools.
Pilot, Then Prioritize
Don’t wait for the perfect conditions. Whether it’s a re-engagement campaign built in MCN or a lead qualification agent using Data Cloud segments — test, learn, refine. Real insight comes from experience.
Final Thought
The opportunity here isn’t to be first. It’s to be ready.
Salesforce painted a compelling picture of the future: AI-augmented teams, intelligent automation, connected data, and marketing that feels more like a conversation with your customers. And while that’s a pretty high bar, Salesforce showed us it’s not theoretical anymore.
At Bold Orange, we specialize in guiding brands through this transformation, ensuring that technology serves your unique objectives and operational realities. If you’re evaluating your next steps, let’s start with a conversation about building the right foundation. Connect with us.
For a deeper dive into the announcements from Salesforce Connections 2025, watch the event highlights.
