It’s been just under a month since Salesforce renamed its AIforce to SIforce through a lone post on X by CEO Marc Benioff. “The era of Super Intelligence is here,” he wrote. “AIForce is officially SIForce.”
Like many of its tech giant competitors, Salesforce made the switch to the “super intelligence” language as per the orders of the Trump administration. No further information on why the change was made, nor any comment from the company, has been made. But there is a group of people who have been vocal about their thoughts on the matter – here’s what they had to say.
What Is SIforce?
In case you missed the announcement, in early October, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff announced that the company would be changing the name of its new agentic integration layer, AIforce, to SIforce. Benioff’s X post would be the only “comment” on this.
This came after Salesforce formally unveiled AIforce at its annual Dreamforce conference in September, meaning the name didn’t even stick around for a month. Before this, AIforce was known as Headless 360, only confusing matters further and solidifying the company’s rampant renaming problem.
This particular name change gives a nod to the rising topic of super intelligence, the next, more advanced stage of artificial intelligence. It is AI that exceeds human cognition in nearly all fields, something the industry generally agrees no system has achieved.
It is also a decision made under an executive order from US President Donald Trump known as “Inaugurating The Era of Super Intelligence,” establishing a policy across the executive branch to replace artificial intelligence and AI with “Super Intelligence” and “SI.” The administration argued that “artificial” implies something fake.
Other companies pressured by the administration have followed suit, including competitor ServiceNow.
What Does the Community Have to Say?
If there’s one group of people you can count on to speak freely about Salesforce’s decisions, it’s the company’s own community. Salesforce has found itself in hot water on many occasions this year, and the ecosystem has not been quiet about them – this particular situation included.
When the news broke, I (Sasha) took to LinkedIn to capture what the community was thinking.
“None of the reactions available on LI cover what I’m thinking right now…” wrote Louise Lockie, Salesforce MVP and user group leader. This was true for many; for others like Matt Pieper, the Principal and Founder of Right Sized Tech, the only appropriate reaction was the laughing emoji.
“I give it a month or two at most before they rebrand it again,” Matt Meyers, Salesforce CTA and Founder of EzProtect wrote. Tim Herchenroeder, a Senior Salesforce Developer, shared similar thoughts, writing: “AIForce was announced less than a month ago, right?”
Perhaps most pertinently, it was clear that many, if not all, reactions were not positive. Many spoke of their disappointment at the company “bending the knee” to President Trump, some calling the change “an embarrassment” or something they were no longer surprised by.
Salesforce has become more synonymous with the administration and govtech over the last couple of years, with noticeable differences in the way Marc Benioff holds himself and the company markets itself apparent at this year’s Dreamforce.
It also raises questions about the company’s AI strategy and direction going forward. Its stock might be experiencing a gradual bounceback, but community and customer sentiments have not been entirely positive. Is “bending the knee”, accepting that it needs the administration on its side, and renaming to seem ahead of the game really the right way forward for Salesforce?
Sasha’s Thoughts
Salesforce isn’t the only company at the mercy of powers like the Trump administration, and it certainly won’t be the last. Something as trivial as a name change to reflect “super intelligence” has me rolling my eyes too, and it’s clear to see why the community has been reacting the way it has.
I’ve openly called the company’s renaming problem confusing and a hindrance to itself in the AI era, and it has and will continue to cause problems for Salesforce and its customers. If I find it confusing to write about Headless 360, then AIforce, and now SIforce, trying to work out if they’re the same thing or not – I can’t imagine how the community feels!
That said, whenever something like this happens, it’s also necessary to remember that Salesforce is a for-profit organization and always will be. Its government contracts are significant this year, and it is not shy about its pivot into govtech. There is a boot on a neck somewhere, and that has become more apparent as time goes on.
However, I also think Salesforce has an obligation to its community that represents them as much as it does its stakeholders and shareholders. What that means in terms of actions going forward is unclear, but if it does still believe in its “Ohana” ethos, then it will need to consider what that looks like in a “super intelligent” world.
Henry’s Thoughts
Someone might argue that it could be called ‘AIforce’, ‘SIforce’, ‘Headless 360’, or anything else. Does it really even matter? Surely an agentic integration layer is no more or less useful by dint of whatever its maker chooses to call it.
But the ‘SIforce’ shift is not like other Salesforce name changes. People outside the ecosystem might not know or care about this, any more than they care about Data Cloud becoming Data 360, but to people who spend their lives interfacing with Salesforce, learning its tools, going to community meet-ups, and evangelizing all the benefits of a Salesforce career, “bending the knee” to the Trump administration this way might feel like a betrayal of the company’s values.
“Doing well and doing good” is a familiar phrase to anyone who has been to enough Salesforce events, along with the company’s 1-1-1 model of philanthropy, and their five core values of Trust, Customer Success, Innovation, Equality, and Sustainability.
CEO Marc Benioff has, historically, been quite vocal about philanthropic and progressive causes like tackling homelessness, environmentalism, and equal pay for women. He has repeatedly offered to relocate LGBT employees who felt unsafe or uncomfortable in their political environments, in response to discriminatory political measures.
In short: Salesforce has positioned itself as the pinnacle of responsible capitalism, the liberal ideal of a business that can make money and make the world a better place. Business needs are met, and social causes are advanced. “Doing well and doing good.”
But in the AI era, every major Silicon Valley company is competing to win very lucrative govtech deals. That means winning the favor of the Trump administration. Why would a for-profit business choose to alienate an institution which holds an incredibly large carrot in one hand, and quite a nasty-looking stick in the other?
Salesforce is not unique in this. Several other tech giants are ditching “AI” for “SI”. You can say these companies are “bending the knee” – sure, but they are also forming a muddled queue to win the next billion-dollar deal. It makes sense, from a business perspective, to do this. It’s a sound AI strategy to keep the U.S. Government on-side.
Final Thoughts
Salesforce has a reputation for renaming its products, and has done so for years. It’s a fairly easy way to present an updated product as a shiny new thing, which you need to check out. It’s not just “Agentforce” anymore – it’s “Agentforce 2.0”, then “Agentforce 3”, etc.
“AIforce” being renamed “SIforce” is different. It’s a symptom of a much broader trend affecting the tech industry. Businesses are incentivized to stay on the right side of the government. For the moment, that means saying “SI” instead of “AI”.
