Predictions From 11 Salesforce Influencers in 2023
2022 was nothing short of outstanding in the Salesforce ecosystem – with new products and features, new certifications, and a glorious return to in-person conferences. Can 2023 top this? I think so, but don’t just take my word for it.
I’ve enlisted the help of some of the most dialed-in and insightful Salesforce community members to share their Salesforce predictions for 2023, including products, features, acquisitions, working environment, and the Trailblazer community.
1. Keir Bowden
CTO | BrightGen
“2023 will bring some challenges to the Salesforce Ohana, as economic activity slows around the globe. Deals will still be signed, but will take longer, be subject to more oversight, and customers will be looking for the minimal spend that will still bring ROI. Technology in general, and Salesforce in particular, will still be a good industry to work in, but I believe there will (finally) be a slight cooling of the Salesforce job market.
On the Salesforce technology side I see Genie underpinning more of the Salesforce product line, edging ever closer to the true 360 degree view of the customer, while continued investment into the various industry clouds will change the focus of many customer engagements from custom build to configure and extend.”
2. Melissa Hill Dees
Founding Partner | HandsOn Connect Cloud Solutions
“Three years ago this time, no one could have predicted the roller coaster that has prompted so much change. And I predict that we are only seeing the beginning of the innovation that has been prompted by pushing folks completely out of their comfort zone. My top three predictions for Salesforce in 2023 are:
- This will be the year of the end user! Salesforce Design will no longer be an afterthought but a key first step to creating successful apps, features, and tools.
- In 2023, I expect great strides in cross industry collaboration. Specifically, this will be a huge leap for nonprofits and charities to escape the misconception that their tax designation is actually a different business model. Focusing on constituent needs and expectations, delivered as other B2C industries do, will increase impact across the board.
- And, with all the Salesforce training happening and the job market sorting itself out, soft skills will become the differentiator for hiring the best Salesforce administrators, developers, architects, business analysts, designers, and Salesforce adjacent jobs. Personal connections, the willingness to learn, and the spirit of inclusion will outweigh the number of certifications any applicant has.
All in all, the potential for 2023 is incredibly exciting!”
3. Francis Pindar
Salesforce Architect & Coach | AdminToArchitect.com
“I’m seeing a shift in the way that people implement Salesforce. Before they would contact a consultancy to get an implementation project going. But they’ve realized that to get a good outcome, it’s not the consultancy, but the people on the project that make the difference.
Rather than looking for good consultancies, they’re looking for good individuals to be on their project. And so, the shift is happening, where key people of influence and those who perceive themselves as experts within their respective industries and Salesforce technologies, are getting the jobs rather than the key consultancies.
I’m also seeing the messaging from big consultancies shifting; they’re now talking about becoming “trusted consultancies”, when it’s really trusted individuals. People in Salesforce roles need to start shifting their roles from not only functionally implementing Salesforce, but to being a trusted source and finally being seen as vital for the success of a project. With the economic uncertainty on the horizon, everyone should start shifting to becoming trusted and vital.”
4. Jonathan Fox
Salesforce Technical Architect & Associate Manager | Cirrico
“We have already seen the release of MuleSoft Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in August, enabling bots to carry out manual only tasks to ensure data quality and speed but with the advancements in AI, such as the latest craze with ChatGPT could we perhaps see RPA utilizing AI?
Personally, I think we might be a little way off from that, though the concept would be interesting – allowing an AI powered bot carry out tasks, however, I do think we will see enhancements and further features to the MuleSoft RPA and Automation suite such are more connectors, the ability to organize and architect automations with Composer more, and see it getting a tighter alignment with Salesforce Flow.”
5. Adam Olshansky
Salesforce Architect and Salesforce MVP | Google
“Last year I predicted that it would be a big year for Flow and I think that I was spot on! The Flow Trigger Explorer allowed Flow customization to be taken to a whole new level and the builder became much easier to use! For 2023, I’ve been paying a close eye on all the work Cheryl Feldman has been doing and I think it’s going to be a big year for how Salesforce security works!
We’ve already seen some teases such as being able to add FLS directly to Permission Sets rather than Profiles, and as Salesforce moves more toward making profiles a thing of the past, I think features such as User Access Policies will become more prevalent.
I’ll also predict that we’re going to see another integration across products as well, similar to what we saw this year with the Slack + Quip (Canvas) integration. It also wouldn’t shock me to see some sort of cross-product certification, especially now that Slack and MuleSoft certifications are being included on Trailhead.
Lastly, I’m sure we’ll see some new community events popping up as the world continues to try and get back to traveling and meeting in person. I know that I’m going to be traveling to some conferences I haven’t been to before! Not sure we’re going to see another big acquisition in 2023 but I’m definitely excited to see what Salesforce has in store!”
6. Melissa Shepard
Salesforce CTA | ScaleUp Archs
“I don’t think we will see many announcements for new products or acquisitions due to the recent Slack acquisition, the Genie announcement, and the emergence of Hyperforce. I think we will see a quieter year, a Dreamforce that will still be a bit smaller and still a more limited number of events such as world tours. I think Salesforce will continue their efforts on enhancing current features and functionality such as Flow, permissions, Genie, etc.
In addition, I predict we will see more evolution of the Well-Architected Framework and involvement by the Architect Relations Team to educate the community.”
7. Tony Nguyen
Salesforce Consultant | Slalom
“I believe that in 2023, there will be a lot of focus on new Trailblazers and Trailhead. With the increase of entries to the Salesforce ecosystem, it is an important focus, and I feel like Salesforce knows that since the prediction was to create 9+ Million Jobs by 2026. This year, you can see the new “Hire Me” functionality in Trailhead, Ranger Ranking, and tons of new Superbadges. With 2023 coming up, I believe that this will continue to grow!
I’m excited to see the future leaders and talent that are joining our amazing #TrailblazerCommunity.”
8. Eric Dreshfield
Freelance Marketing Consultant, Founder & Event Co-Chair | Midwest Dreamin’, MVP HOF
- The Salesforce Community Continues to Expand: I predict that 2023 will see a resurgence and rebirth of the Community Conference with several of the dormant events coming back to life (in-person) as well as the addition of at least three new community conferences in regions of the world not yet impacted by community conferences or industry-specific events. (I’m hedging my bets on this one a little… I’m involved in one of the new-to-2023 community events: Life Sciences Dreamin’ – a multi-faceted series of events all leading up to a two-day conference in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on August 24 & 25, 2023.)
- Salesforce will try the Co-CEO one more time: This time by elevating one of their best female leaders into the role. Sarah Franklin will be promoted into the role of Co-CEO.
9. Kimberly Barnes
Founder | Lipstick and Tech LLC
“For 2023, I see all organizations making a heavier emphasis than ever on investing in the digitalization of their sales, upgrading their technical infrastructures, and optimizing them for a more flexible working model to attract top talent. This has been hinted at for a while now. Still, as I’ve worked with clients, I see more and more Trailblazers excited about the possibility of not having to work at the office at all times, but at least enough that there is more work balance.
I believe we’ll also see a continued emphasis on optimizing integrations with Salesforce in 2023 – to the point that the most sought-out Salesforce talent are those with experiences not only with Salesforce products but with strong integration backgrounds (everything from email marketing tools like Hubspot, DocuSign, Google Analytics, etc.) have the leg up on their peers.
I’ve also had a particular interest in strengthening my knowledge in Tableau, OmniStudio, and Flows, as they’re not going away, and I observe new applications of them every day!
Fortunately, because of the competition, professionals will need to maintain an online presence through blogs, social media, or networking in community events. Nothing to be scared of, though; I’m confident that the creativity of our peers will make conversations about Salesforce and tech-community-related conduct online more enjoyable. A growing emphasis on bringing your most authentic self to the office invites more welcoming behavior overall.”
10. Tim Combridge
Managing Director | Sensible Giraffe
“My prediction is a simple one. I suspect that Salesforce will shift their focus from replacing Workflow Rules and Processes with Flow, and will turn their focus on enhancing Flow Orchestrator (or a similar tool) to replace Approval Processes. It makes sense, if you ask me, as it’s the last ‘legacy’ declarative process automation tool left.”
11. Ike Wagh
Independent Content Creator | Producer
“The pandemic ushered in a wave of new Salesforce content creators, but we can expect to see an even greater number of creators emerge as we move beyond the pandemic. This is due to two main factors:
- First, an influx of individuals are joining Salesforce career programs, and a key strategy taught to these entry-level professionals is to establish a personal brand through sharing content. Therefore, we can expect to see an increase of content on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, and TikTok from new creators and early professionals.
- Second, content creation is becoming increasingly accessible. Design tools like Canva and AI tools like ChatGPT, Standard Diffusion, and Dall-E make it easy and fast to share original content.”
Summary
I loved reading these predictions from Salesforce community rockstars and feel excited to see what 2023 will bring! What are your thoughts and Salesforce predictions for 2023? Let us know in the comments.
