There are sometimes reasons to complain about life in the Salesforce ecosystem. The job market is not what it once was, and disruption from AI has left many wondering if they still have a future in their current roles. Layoffs from tech companies – including Salesforce – are also a worrying sign for the average ecosystem professional.
But for all the downsides, Salesforce is still a radically successful company that provides a huge amount of digital infrastructure to the world. As many as 90% of Fortune 500 businesses are Salesforce customers. The CRM company claims to have more than 150,000 customers worldwide – but the reality is likely much higher than that figure. So, amid all the doom and gloom, is there still cause for cautious optimism in the Salesforce job market?
Many Roles are Thriving
Specialists are thriving in the Salesforce ecosystem. Demand for Technical Architects rose by 27% in 2025, and Solution Architect demand increased by 21%.
Architect salaries are also pretty enviable. According to our latest SF Ben Salary Survey, Solution Architects average around $165,000, while Technical Architects get about $192,500.
As Salesforce Golden Hoodie Recipient Evaldas Zaranka, who is a Salesforce Architect and Administrator at Wise, told us earlier this year, the “easy money” era for Salesforce professionals is “probably over for good” – but we are likely on the way back up, albeit slowly.
We asked Evaldas more recently what he thought about the situation today. He told SF Ben he still believes Salesforce is one of the best ecosystems to build a career in, especially because it gives people so many different paths.
You can start as an admin, move into consulting, architecture, product ownership, RevOps, data, AI, or leadership. “That flexibility is rare,” Evaldas said. “The market is definitely more competitive than it used to be, but that does not mean the opportunity has disappeared – it just means people need to keep developing deeper skills and real business understanding.”
He added that what makes Salesforce special is that it is not just about technology. “The best Salesforce professionals solve business problems, improve processes, connect teams, and help companies scale. AI will change the way we work, but I do not see it replacing the need for people who understand both the platform and the business context,” Evaldas said.
In many ways, AI makes strong Salesforce professionals even more valuable because companies will need people who can apply it properly, safely, and strategically.
“For me, Salesforce has been a career where continuous learning actually pays off,” says Evaldas. “The community, certifications, Trailhead, events, and people around the ecosystem make it easier to grow than in many other industries. It may not be the ‘easy’ career path some people once thought it was, but it is still a very strong one for people who are curious, adaptable, and willing to keep improving.”
It’s Not Just the Platform, It’s the People
Senior Salesforce CRM Strategist Leanne Botwright told SF Ben that the question should be whether you want a career built around solving problems, improving experiences and helping businesses change.
“If the answer is yes, then Salesforce is still one of the best places to do that,” Leanne said. She added that the ecosystem has changed – but that’s okay. Ten years ago, technical knowledge alone could take you a long way. Today, businesses expect more. They need people who can understand customers, challenge assumptions, connect teams, navigate complexity and make good technology decisions.
AI will undoubtedly change how we work, but it won’t replace curiosity, critical thinking or the ability to bring people together around a shared outcome. If anything, those skills have become even more valuable, Leanne says.
“For me personally, the reason Salesforce remains such a rewarding career isn’t just the platform; it’s the people,” she said. “I’ve built friendships across the world, learned from people who freely share their knowledge, and watched complete strangers invest their time to help others succeed. That’s what has kept me here, and I think it’s what will continue to attract people for years to come.”
A Good Time for Specialists
Data skills are currently in-demand. If your skill set extends to data engineering, data architecture, or some AI-related fields, you’re now in a good spot – because that’s where demand is shifting.
The generalist is having a harder time, but specialists can certainly thrive in Salesforce in 2026.
As Salesforce CTA and MVP Hall-of-Famer, Keir Bowden, puts it: “It only feels like the Salesforce job market is imploding because we started from such a high bar.”
Salesforce was one of the first major SaaS platforms, and customers would usually want it heavily customized to match their exact business processes – be those currently existing or aspirational for the future.
This created an enormous demand for skilled professionals, not only for configuration and development but also for business analysis, project management, training, and QA, Keir says.
Salesforce grew at an unbelievable pace, which meant there was a decade-plus of significant skills shortage.
“For many years Salesforce experts could pretty much name their price, and they would find someone prepared to pay it, while even non-experts could land a very well-paying job with a few weeks of study,” Keir said, adding that tools like Trailhead and training bootcamps have led to the proliferation of far more junior Salesforce professionals than there used to be.
But we should not be disheartened, says Keir. “The Salesforce ecosystem is one of the largest in the world, with hundreds of thousands of customers and partners across pretty much all industries,” he said.
“While Agentforce is reported to have achieved $1.2B in ARR, the total [ARR] for Salesforce is estimated to be $45B, so there’s still an enormous amount of work that customers are undertaking outside of Agentforce implementations.”
Keir adds that demand is still healthy, but employers are increasingly looking for people who can solve business problems rather than simply configure CRM, which in my view speaks to the increasing maturity of the Salesforce customer base.
Skilled professionals at the mid and senior level are still highly prized and well looked after, which means there’s a good career path for those who look at Salesforce as a long-term option.
“In short, I think Salesforce is still a great career for those who want to develop deep expertise and adapt as the technology evolves, but less so for those who expect to grab a few certs, land a well-paying job, and then take life easy,” said Keir.
“I’m Genuinely Optimistic About the Future”
Heather Black, CEO of Supermums – which helps women and others relaunch careers in the technology industry – says that we’ve never seen such a rapid shift in how businesses are embracing tech, and every business owner wants to answer the question of how they use AI.
The 2025 World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report says that 92M jobs might be eliminated by 2030, but 170M new roles will be created because of AI, resulting in a net gain of 78M. So, how best does a Salesforce professional position themselves to ride this wave – rather than be buried beneath it?
The most important role for companies adopting AI right now, according to Heather, is change management. There are plenty of stories about AI projects failing because the focus hasn’t been placed on user adoption – and Salesforce’s biggest priority and pending problem right now is consumption metrics and adoption, she argues.
“If the customer doesn’t have a clear path to adoption, then the project will fail. Becoming a specialist in AI user adoption and focusing on change management and training is a great opportunity,” Heather told SF Ben.
Too many customers are reliant on external consultancies, and they don’t have internal teams managing the users and product adoption, which has led to Salesforce making it a top priority in this year’s kick-off and with relevant KPI’s embedded in every team from sales to customer success, she added.
“The role of the Business Analyst has never been more important in helping businesses appraise where AI can be applied to generate quick wins,” Heather told SF Ben. “However, it is also essential that a BA understands the wider landscape of AI solutions available to propose and create integrated tech platforms.”
Heather says that across the sales process, there are roughly 70 AI applications that could be implemented using a myriad of integrated products.
“As a BA, now is the time to level up your knowledge on where AI can add value to a business process, and to help businesses achieve the big vision through an advanced tech stack,” Heather says.
Understanding how to build tech stacks and systems using AI and developing agents is going to be non-negotiable in the future, and employers are going to hire individuals who can utilize AI to save time and money in the development life cycle.
The number of tech development roles is likely to decrease going forward, and the technical talent that prospers will be those who can use AI to increase efficiency and build AI agents to support them and the business, Heather claims.
“Taking time to learn these new skills such as Claude and Fin.ai should be on the to-do list, and the scope is wider than just Salesforce,” she said.
Heather adds that “every day” she speaks with companies who are “crying out for more diverse candidates” in their tech teams and her bootcamp, Supermums, is actively working to change this gender balance.
Lyn Constantine, Podcast Host of Mums on Cloud Nine, said that what excites her the most is where the Salesforce ecosystem is heading.
“I personally believe AI and humans make a brilliant team,” said Lyn, who is also Global Head of Customer Success at Supermums. “Tech will continue to evolve, but people are always the beating heart and soul of a great business.
“Combined with the incredible community and a mindset of continuous learning, I believe the future is full of opportunity for anyone willing to embrace change. That’s why I’m genuinely optimistic about the future of Salesforce and the opportunities it will continue to create.”
Final Thoughts
Pessimists have a habit of seeing decline when there isn’t one. What exactly the Salesforce ecosystem is going through right now will only fully be understood in the fullness of time, but as it stands, it appears to be more of a recalibration than a decline.
The “easy money” days described by some in the ecosystem, where a few Trailhead badges could land a six-figure job, are gone. It’s important we see them for what they were – a happy anomaly born from explosive growth which was always going to end.
The market is coming back towards something more normal, with depth, judgment, and the ability to solve real business problems the key differentiator – not just configuration know-how. Specialization appears to be the clearest way forward.
The recalibration might not be painless, but, as Keir Bowden points out, Salesforce is a global powerhouse – and it doesn’t seem to be going anywhere soon. For those willing to embrace the change, Salesforce remains a viable long-term career. The dream is different now, but, for many, it still remains the dream career.
