For a Salesforce Consultant, ensuring you have momentum is a big part of the role. Working on an implementation project is great – especially if it’s a multi-year one – but when the project finally wraps up, making sure there is another one to jump into will be a significant consideration for many.
It’s never a great scenario when a consultant gets benched, especially if they didn’t expect it. But this scenario could be on the rise, especially as we move further into the jaws of the AI era. Artificial intelligence skills are what nearly every tech business is after, so if you don’t have them, does this mean your chances of sitting on that bench go up? Let’s find out.
The AI Replacement Theory
Ever since AI became powerful enough to disrupt the workplace, fears have mounted over which roles would be replaced first. AI is largely seen as a productivity booster designed to help human employees with menial tasks so they can spend more time on the work that matters. At least that’s what Salesforce says. But the allure – or fear – surrounding the potential of AI being powerful enough to replace human employees altogether, has never really gone away.
Last year, the messaging surrounding work and AI in the Salesforce ecosystem was pretty clear-cut: get with the program or be replaced. In 2023, when ChatGPT was all the AI world ever talked about, we even deliberated over whether the technology was enough to replace key Salesforce roles, including the admin and the developer. The answer has always been a resounding no. However, we also know that AI has been advancing remarkably fast, so who knows if the answer will still be the same in two to three years time?
The tech industry as a whole has already gone through bouts of trial and error as they try to make the right decisions when it comes to this matter. Klarna, the US financing company, notoriously learned the hard way that it had jumped the gun when it “shut down Salesforce” as one of its SaaS providers in 2024 in order to fully utilize AI.
Arthur Mensch, CEO of Mistral AI – one of Europe’s most valuable AI companies – told CNBC in February that “more than half of what’s currently being bought by IT in terms of SaaS is going to shift to AI”. Curiously, Anthropic was actively hiring for a Salesforce Admin at that same time. Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff admitted last month that AI can’t currently replace software engineers – the very role he said he had stopped hiring in 2025.
It seems that, at least at the moment, a lot of tech leaders are likely hoping that the market will get to a stage where they can rely on AI more, but we’re not at that stage just yet. For the tech employee, this presents both a key opportunity and a rapidly shrinking window to embrace said opportunity – and it might be what makes or breaks even the very best Salesforce Consultants.
What’s Happening to Salesforce Consultants?
Being benched is largely just a part of the consultant role. It would be somewhat unrealistic to assume that jumping from project to project with no gaps in between would be the norm, especially as the consulting sector becomes more saturated. However, if you’re at a more vulnerable stage in your career – like a junior or a career switcher – then this period of being benched can have lasting effects on your work.
Timo Kovala, a Lead Salesforce Architect at Capgemini, understands the impacts of benching and how they can be developed.
“Being on the bench can be very stressful for the individual, and from a manager’s perspective, it’s a challenge for the business as well,” he told SF Ben. “The longer you’re benched, the more you feel that you somehow get rusty or out of touch, especially with the acceleration of new developments in the Salesforce ecosystem.”
Bench time (unassigned status) can be caused by a number of factors, including slowed project demand, clients failing to renew contracts, projects lost in competitive RFP stages, and over-hiring by consultancies. This has been the case for many years, but now a few others have been added to the mix: offshoring, specialization, and AI.
Offshoring as a Western Disruptor
Offshoring has been a growing trend in both the Salesforce and wider tech ecosystem for a number of years, especially as businesses look to find labor options that are both viable and cost-effective. It’s an industry that is valued at $85B annually, with the IT Services outsourcing market expected to be valued at $1.6T by 2031.
Nearshoring – the closer-to-home version of outsourcing – is also a predominant trend in the market, with 80% of COOs planning to increase nearshoring over the next three years, up from 63% in 2022.
A consultant at a large Salesforce consultancy who asked to remain anonymous told SF Ben that the impact of offshoring on consulting has been undeniable in her experience.
“We see it a lot in Europe – the giant competition from offshore companies,” she said. “With offshoring consultancies in India, for example, it is impossible to compete with the prices they offer.
“We had some projects that were very close to being won – big projects with really big companies who normally have the budgets – still decided to go with an Indian company who was their trusted partner and five times cheaper than what we offered.”
She also provided insight into the fact that, in her experience, American consultancy projects often try to reduce costs by combining a large developer team from India with one European project manager, a cost-saving measure compared to hiring US-based colleagues.
Specialization Sells, But Don’t Dismiss Core
Although demand for Salesforce Consultants grew by 10% globally last year and 72% in the US, it is a role that rewards professionals who are able to specialize. As Salesforce Architect and Administrator, Elvaldas Zaranka, put it: “You need to work harder to stand out now.”
This is what we’ve been saying for every role in the Salesforce ecosystem, but it appears that the demand for core skills and projects is also still very much there.
“I’ve been talking to colleagues who have years of in-depth experience in marketing and data, but now they’re working on Salesforce core [projects],” the Salesforce Consultant said. “We haven’t seen any projects come to us with the newer technology – they’re not being bought.”
AI Skills Are No Longer Negotiable
Then we come to AI – perhaps the biggest disruptor of all when it comes to all Salesforce roles, not just consultants.
There is no denying that learning AI is no longer negotiable. It is a must, especially if you’re a Salesforce professional looking to advance your career, start your career, or prove your value. It’s why Salesforce overhauled its partner program in March, incentivising consultancies that focused on AI offerings, with an emphasis on specialization in the agentic era.
The pressure is already being felt, as Joey Monroe, an AI Strategy Advisor and Salesforce Consultant, told Business Insider last September.
“About a year ago, I felt like my job was at risk,” he said. “AI systems started to pick up steam and be more widely implemented. It became glaringly obvious to me that tech would be the canary in the coal mine for what would happen in the broader markets, and I needed to adapt.
“Everything’s moving at lightning speed, but one thing is certain: being able to communicate the concepts and terminology of AI is going to be critical in just about every role.”
The anonymous Salesforce Consultant also highlighted that she felt CEOs are really beginning to consider whether or not AI can implement products and solutions for them, rather than hiring a consultant to do it.
“In the consulting world, we typically work with big organizations, so budgets are a significant factor,” she explained. “When they hear that AI will replace various tasks, they naturally prefer to start those initiatives instead of hiring consultants. Consultants are an expensive investment, and Salesforce itself is a costly product. Once they realize they also need consultants to make it work, the costs add up quickly.”
If You’re On the Bench, Don’t Get Comfortable
If you’re a consultant and you find yourself on the bench for whatever reason, it doesn’t have to negatively impact your career. Many consultants use their downtime like a standard holiday, but there is still an opportunity to use that time to hone in on further training.
A good place to start would be with AI, but perhaps not in the way you expect. “Learn AI skills” or “master Agentforce!” are only a small part of the advice to succeed. Whilst you’re building your AI skills, specifically consider what you need to succeed as a consultant, including how you can become someone who translates business problems into AI-enabled solutions, understands when not to use AI, and can design Agentforce, Data 360, and automation strategies.
Using your bench time to upskill in AI is definitely a good idea, but it doesn’t have to be limited to that either. The best consultants will use this time to earn new certifications, build their portfolios, and engage in a visibility push where they get out on LinkedIn, engage with the community, or speak at events.
This is also a chance to get commercially aware, not just technically capable. At the moment, clients are questioning when they need consulting services and when they don’t, even with an increase in demand. Consultants are wanted, but it’s not as clear when or where, so if you can become a consultant who can justify ROI clearly and understand budget pressure, you will be at an advantage.
Making sure you’re up to date with your core knowledge is also a big part of that. Specialization definitely has its benefits, but in the same breath, do not underestimate core knowledge. As I covered a couple of years back, there will likely always be a market for fixing problems other consultants made across the board, and that includes core implementations. Plus, not every client has a massive need for Data 360 or Agentforce, especially at the moment!
Final Thoughts
AI isn’t putting Salesforce Consultants out of work, but it is phasing out generalists with no edge, task-focused roles, and consultants who don’t evolve.
However, this isn’t a scary time. Consultants can still advance and improve – both on the bench and off it – to give themselves the best chances of success in this market. The key is to embrace the shifting environment rather than to be fearful of it; the market rewards those who are able to adapt.
