For many years, the Salesforce MVP title has been one of the ecosystem’s most recognized forms of community recognition. Whether through answering questions online, leading user groups, organizing events, speaking at conferences, creating content, or mentoring others, MVPs have often been among the community’s most visible contributors.
As the Salesforce ecosystem has evolved, so too have conversations about the role and significance of the MVP program. For some, the title represents a meaningful acknowledgment of sustained contribution and community leadership. For others, its value lies less in the designation itself and more in the work individuals do to support the ecosystem. As with many forms of recognition, perceptions can vary depending on experience and perspective.
At SF Ben, we believe there is no single “correct” interpretation of what the MVP title means. Rather than taking a position on the debate, we wanted to better understand how people across the ecosystem view the program today, particularly those who have interacted with it closely over the years.
For those unfamiliar, the Salesforce MVP program is a recognition initiative designed to celebrate individuals who make exceptional contributions to the Salesforce ecosystem and wider community. Unlike certifications, the title is not earned through examinations or technical assessments. Instead, recipients are typically recognized for their community impact, leadership, knowledge sharing, mentorship, advocacy, and ongoing engagement within the ecosystem.
To explore how perceptions may have changed over time, we spoke with architects, developers, community leaders, former MVPs, and long-time ecosystem contributors. Their perspectives offer insight into how the MVP title is viewed today, what value it continues to hold, and how its role within the Salesforce community may be evolving.
What the Salesforce MVP Title Really Represents
I decided to launch this conversation earlier this month, prompting those in the Salesforce ecosystem to tell me what the Salesforce MVP title truly represented. And one of the most consistent themes that emerged from this was that the title was never really intended to represent technical superiority.
While many MVPs are highly experienced architects, developers, consultants, and community leaders, the role itself is really centered around contribution to the ecosystem rather than product expertise alone.
This is quite important to note, as it puts to rest any assumption that “MVP” in this context automatically means “top technical expert”. In reality, many long-time community members describe the program very differently.
Eric Dreshfield, Founder of Midwest Dreamin’ and Salesforce MVP Hall of Fame member, explained that community involvement has always been at the heart of the program, saying: “Community involvement, a genuine desire to help others grow and learn… while expecting nothing in return. Those people are real MVPs.”
Similarly, former Salesforce MVP Nik Panter said he never really viewed the title as a measure of technical authority or status. “To me, it was always an honor tied to community contribution,” he said.
He added that much of his own involvement came through simply helping people navigate the ecosystem online and the wider community.
“What I always hoped it represented was approachability,” he said. “That people felt comfortable reaching out for help, advice, guidance, or even just reassurance when they were stuck in the Salesforce ecosystem.”
This sentiment was echoed repeatedly. Rebecca Aichholzer believes the title is ultimately about the impact someone has on other people.
“An MVP is someone who has shared their knowledge and helped people navigate their career, improve their skills, provide them with confidence, and connect them with the right people,” she said.
Rebecca went on to tell SF Ben that the strongest MVPs are not necessarily the loudest voices online, but those who consistently help others grow in the ecosystem.
Importantly, many of those we spoke to stressed that being an excellent Salesforce pro does not automatically translate into being an MVP. Deep technical knowledge may help someone become influential in the community, but the title has historically been tied more closely to generosity and sustained participation.
As the ecosystem grows, however, exactly what “community contribution” looks like has grown a bit more complicated.
The Salesforce Community Has Changed, and So Has MVP Influence
While many clearly still view the Salesforce MVP program positively, several pointed out that the ecosystem surrounding it has changed massively since it was first launched in 2010.
Back then, the Salesforce community was significantly smaller and more centralized. Forums, Twitter conversations, user groups, and events made it relatively easy for active contributors to become visible in the ecosystem. Today, however, the scale of the community is almost unrecognizable compared to those earlier years.
Senior Technical Architect at Certinia Robbie Duncan highlighted just how much that growth matters when discussing the modern perception of MVPs.
“In 2010, there were an estimated 100K-250K members in the wider Salesforce community,” he said. “Today, that estimate is 20 million.”
Despite that massive growth over the last 16 years, the MVP program itself has remained relatively small and selective, according to Robbie.
He said: “The chances are that many members of the community are somewhat on the fringes, don’t really keep track of community happenings, and have never interacted with an MVP.”
In essence, while the MVP title still may carry credibility and recognition among engaged community members, those outside that circle may not fully understand what the role represents – or may not even be aware that the program exists.
Robbie argued that while the influence of MVPs may have weakened across the ecosystem as a whole, the “core” meaning behind the title remains intact: “Those more engaged community members still know what MVP means and, I think, respect it.”
At the same time, what it actually means to contribute to the community is evolving alongside the ecosystem as well. Early Salesforce MVPs were often recognized for answering technical questions on forums or Stack Overflow, leading local user groups, and helping build the foundations of the early community experience.
Principal of Purple Insights, Becka Dente, told SF Ben that recognition was never truly the goal for most in those early years.
“None of us were contributing in hopes of getting rewarded or recognized,” she said. “We needed to collaborate to share our tribal knowledge.”
Becka added that today’s MVP title feels more closely tied to creating and sharing knowledge at scale, requiring “a lot more effort to stand out in the crowd.”
According to our insights, however, that looks very different today. The modern Salesforce ecosystem now spans official communities such as the Trailblazer Community, Agentblazer, Salesblazer, and Partnerblazer, alongside independent spaces like OhanaSlack, LinkedIn, YouTube, podcasts, newsletters, community conferences, and niche AI-focused groups.
As Robbie put it: “We’ve got a very complex grid of what could be considered community impact.”
For some, this represents a positive evolution. Different types of contributors are now able to create value in a number of different ways, whether that’s through technical education, mentorship, content creation, event organization, or simply helping people navigate the ecosystem publicly.
Others, however, feel the growing commercialization of the ecosystem may have slightly blurred the lines around what the title represents today.
Solutions Architect Sara Hernández Muñoz believes visibility and impact are increasingly being confused.
“The genuinely impactful person measures their success by the people they help grow in the ecosystem,” she said. “The visible one measures success by audience metrics – likes, followers, reach. The impactful one keeps doing the same thing, with or without recognition.”
She also argued that the definition of contribution has broadened significantly over time.
“A few years ago, MVP was almost synonymous with technical authority,” she said. “Today, the definition has broadened. An MVP can be a content creator, a community builder, a mentor, a speaker, someone moving the needle on inclusion.”
According to Sara, that evolution reflects the reality of a much larger ecosystem where people contribute in many different ways beyond answering technical questions or sharing product expertise.
Still, even critics of the modern program rarely dismissed the value of community contribution itself. Instead, the debate appears to center more on visibility, expectations, and how community leadership should be seen and recognised in an ecosystem that looks very different from the one that emerged in 2010.
Final Thoughts: Does the Salesforce MVP Title Still Matter in 2026?
After speaking with Salesforce professionals from all walks of life, it’s clear that the Salesforce MVP title still very much matters, just perhaps not in the way outsiders often assume.
As mentioned, for those deeply engaged in the community, the title continues to represent trust, consistency, and long-term willingness to help others succeed. That recognition still carries a lot of weight in the “inner circle” of the ecosystem, if you will, even if its visibility has become less universal over time.
As a first-year Salesforce MVP, Mehmet Orun said the recognition brought meaningful benefits almost immediately, particularly through increased collaboration and access within the ecosystem.
He said: “I have enjoyed two specific benefits – easier access to product owners, pilots and betas, and meeting other MVPs who are good at specific technologies or industries.”
However, he was also quick to emphasize that the real value of the program is rooted in people rather than status.
“True impact doesn’t happen in code and config,” he explained. “It happens when people give their time over and over, even and especially when they didn’t have to.”
Rebecca shared a similar view, explaining that the real reward comes from seeing others succeed.
“If I wasn’t an MVP, if I didn’t have a Golden Hoodie, but someone came up and said I’d helped change the trajectory of their career, it would have just as much impact,” she said.
As our insights have repeatedly implied, MVPs are not selected for technical excellence alone. Cyril pushed back against the idea that the title should be viewed as a career accelerator or proof of elite technical authority.
“Being great at your job doesn’t make you a great MVP.”
What emerged from these conversations was not a simple debate over whether the Salesforce MVP title is “worth it” in 2026. Instead, it revealed a broader discussion about what the ecosystem chooses to value: technical expertise, visibility, mentorship, education, generosity, or some combination of all four.
The answer, unsurprisingly, depends largely on who you ask.
