Salesforce has opened its first AI Center in London. The opening on the 18th of June at the London Salesforce offices in the Blue Fin building started with a welcome note from Howard Howard Dawber, Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Growth followed by a ribbon cutting to officially open.
The aim of the AI Center in London is for Salesforce to show its commitment to the UK’s AI economy. Zahra Bahrololoumi, CEO, of Salesforce UKI said at its 2024 World Tour London earlier in June why they have chosen London by saying “We are sending a clear message to customers and partners on AI: we are deeply committed to working closely together so that you can reap the rewards of this transformative technology while ensuring it is a force for good”.
For me, it shows that the opening is going to demonstrate how they are putting their money where their mouth is to train, develop, support, and grow digital talent in the UK. Likely with similar initiatives swiftly following in its key strategic markets outside of the UK and Ireland.
“London is a world-class AI hub, and we’re proud to have a thriving customer and partner ecosystem here. That’s why we chose the city for our first AI Center. The space will be a learning lab for experimenting and incubating new ideas, which will be shared with industry experts all over the world.”
Relina Bulchandani, EVP, Real Estate & Workplace Services for Salesforce
Salesforce AI Center in London is a Strategic Investment in the UK’s AI Future
The AI Center in London marks a notable investment in the UK’s AI sector by Salesforce, which has pledged $4 billion over five years to foster AI innovation and growth in the region. This initiative is part of a broader strategy that includes substantial investments through Salesforce Ventures, totaling over $200 million in UK companies such as ElevenLabs and AutoGenAI.
“AI has the potential to drive major growth for UK businesses – with the UK AI market predicted to reach over $1 trillion by 2035. To realize this opportunity, industry-leading experts must work together to develop innovative solutions and overcome obstacles.”
Zahra Bahrololoumi, CEO, Salesforce UKI
Salesforce’s decision to locate its first AI Center in London is a testament to the city’s growing status as a global hub for AI. Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Growth, Howard Dawber, expressed his support, noting that London is fast becoming one of the most important centers for AI businesses worldwide.
Janet Coyle CBE, Managing Director of Grow London at London & Partners, echoed these sentiments, highlighting the city’s supportive environment for AI development in a press panel following the opening statements and ribbon cutting.
“This new UK AI Center will bring industry experts together to innovate and collaborate. It will provide training for Londoners to access the jobs and opportunities of the future and boost our economy as we continue to work towards a fairer and better city for everyone.”
Howard Dawber, Deputy Mayor of London for Business and Growth
Addressing the Digital Skills Gap
A key focus of the new AI Center in London is to address the critical digital skills gap in the UK. Despite the rapid adoption of AI technologies, there is a constant conversation that a significant portion of the workforce in the UK lacks the necessary skills to leverage these tools effectively.
The AI Now Tour, a free event hosted by the AI Center, aims to equip over 100 developers and administrators with the skills needed to build the next generation of generative AI applications. This event is part of Salesforce’s broader commitment to train 100,000 developers worldwide.
This is why this AI center in London will lead nicely into the expansion of more AI training centers around the world with customers, partners, and wider AI players likely following and deploying similar initiatives to make sure there is the talent for the increased use of technologies such as AI in enterprise and consumer businesses.
“We are thrilled to open the doors to the Salesforce UK AI Center today, welcoming developers from across the industry to join us for a free intensive full-day workshop on building the future of generative AI applications. This will be the first in an ongoing program of skills sessions, all designed to help close the UK’s AI skills gap.”
Paul O’Sullivan, Head of Salesforce UK AI Center and UK&I Chief Technology Officer
The team at the opening of the Salesforce AI Center in London confirmed that it will also be a collaborative hub for its partner network and customers. Salesforce’s key partners include Accenture, Deloitte Digital, IBM Consulting, and Slalom.
“Salesforce is a priority alliance for Deloitte Digital. We’ve invested to grow our practice to the largest in the UK with over 125 people certified in Salesforce’s AI accreditation. Our focus is on deepening our capabilities in AI and data and, together with Salesforce, we are uniquely positioned to help our clients realize the value of AI and generative AI technologies responsibly and ethically.”
Colin Jeffrey, Lead Partner, Deloitte Digital UK
The wider initiative of opening more AI centers’ across the world will likely see more business and better expertise coming out of it as a result.
Steve Corfield, EVP & GM – Global Alliances, Channels & Emerging Products at Salesforce explained to me in an interview at World Tour that “Partners are huge brands for customer success and increase lifetime value. 70% of every dollar Salesforce make is partner backed”. And the AI Center in London will aim to be an enabler to how Steve explained that is imperative they do a world-class job at helping their 6,000 partners with enablement as they are “front and center” of Salesforce’s innovation.
Salesforce boasts a wide-ranging customer list across its different verticals, some of whom were featured in discussions at World Tour such as Simplyhealth, Aston Martin, Just Eat Takeaway, and John Lewis Partnership. I’d imagine the AI Center in London will be a key enabler for in-house teams to learn the Trailhead of Salesforce to better deploy its products such as Data Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Sales Cloud, and Service Cloud within the business.
