Salesforce Announces $2 Million AI Accelerator to Fund AI Implementation

Salesforce has been very present in the AI sphere this year; as we head into the summer of AI, there are plenty of new products and features to look forward to. Adding to their growing list, Salesforce has now announced the Salesforce Accelerator – AI for Impact. This philanthropic effort aims to bridge the gap between AI and purpose-driven nonprofit organizations that may be missing out on the rapid innovation and power of Generative AI. 

In 2023, this accelerator will grant $2 million to a selection of education, workforce, and climate organizations to help “advance the equitable and ethical use of trusted AI”. With generative AI being used in more and more sectors, it’s important that everyone has access to this technology and understands how it can benefit their business goals. 

Making AI Accessible

Whether or not AI is accessible enough is a tough question to answer as teams are still adjusting. While it is true that AI is now more available on open platforms and more affordable for the masses, as with most things, business cases will vary greatly. Some teams will find they don’t yet have anyone sufficiently trained to deploy new AI advancements, or they may even be stuck not knowing how AI works in the first place.

Then there is the obstacle of being afraid of AI. It makes sense that some people are uneasy; generative AI is a relatively new technology that’s boomed in a short space of time, and there are more cautionary sci-fi movies than you can count based on the potential dangers! These are all concerns and barriers that the AI Accelerator aims to help businesses overcome. 

Why These Sectors?

For this philanthropic effort, Salesforce has chosen to focus on three main sectors: education, workforce development, and climate. These are known in this context as ‘impact areas’, and are areas that Salesforce believe are both missing out on AI investment and could benefit more impactfully from its capabilities at the moment.

It’s important to remember that anyone, including those working at nonprofits, can skill up on generative AI to further their career using Trailhead. Trailhead currently offers learning content on the fundamentals of AI, data analytics, creating ethical AI systems, and more.

What Can the Grants Do?

Generative AI is a powerful and fast-growing technology that should be available to all businesses to help nail down digital transformation. Its capabilities include assisting with automation, code writing, prompt building, content writing, planning, creating, and generally speeding up workflows.

However, according to Salesforce’s research, while nearly three quarters of nonprofit organizations understand the importance of AI, many of them lack the resources and knowledge to fully understand, integrate, and invest in it. Nonprofit organizations can’t be the only ones either; the scale of companies missing out from using AI could be huge.

Naomi Morenzoni, the SVP for Climate and Innovation Philanthropy at Salesforce, echoes this point:

“Our research actually shows us that while charities in schools really recognize the potential for technology, they’ve been historically a little bit slow to adopt these technologies. But it’s important to note that it’s not because of a lack of will or openness.

It’s really a lack of resources. It’s a lack of capacity and support, and so we believe that we can’t let these organizations, our frontline organizations serving our communities, we can’t let them fall behind at this moment.”

“We can’t let these organizations, our frontline organizations […] fall behind at this moment.”

Naomi Morenzoni, SVP for Climate and Innovation Philanthropy, Salesforce

The Accelerator’s $2 million grant will help organizations gain access to AI tools, as well as expertise and knowledge sharing from Salesforce specialists to help companies make the most of the technology. Organizations will be able to benefit from innovation sessions that will teach them all about AI (and what they can do with it) in an ethical and equitable way.

“As part of this accelerator, the other really important part of it is a series of innovation sessions that we’re running with our partners,” Naomi explains. “These are innovation sessions that are going to allow us to listen deeply, to understand their needs, and to develop solutions together that are going to help.”

Next Steps

Expressions of interest in the AI Accelerator opened in July 2023 and grantees will be announced in the months to follow.

If you’d like to find out more about the AI for Impact Accelerator, check out the full news room post from Salesforce here: