Salesforce Inc. announced Monday a $15 billion investment in San Francisco over the next five years, a commitment the company says will strengthen the city’s standing as a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI).
The investment will fund a new AI Incubator Hub on Salesforce’s San Francisco campus, expand workforce development and training programs, and support companies transitioning to what the tech giant calls Agentic Enterprises, businesses where human employees work alongside AI agents in integrated systems.
The announcement comes as Salesforce prepares to host its annual Dreamforce conference in downtown San Francisco, which the company is billing as “the world’s largest AI event” this year. The conference is expected to draw nearly 50,000 attendees in person, with millions more participating online.
“San Francisco is a city of innovation, talent, and vision,” Marc Benioff, Salesforce’s billionaire CEO, said in a statement. “This $15 billion investment reflects our deep commitment to our hometown — advancing AI innovation, creating jobs, and helping companies and our communities thrive in this incredible new era.”
The San Francisco investment follows Salesforce’s recent announcement of a $1 billion commitment to Mexico over the next five years. The company has operated in Mexico since 2006 and employs more than 76,000 people globally.
The announcement also follows controversial remarks Benioff made last week in an interview with The New York Times, in which he expressed support for President Donald Trump sending National Guard troops to San Francisco. “We don’t have enough cops. If they can be cops, I’m all for it,” Benioff told the newspaper.
Despite those comments, Benioff struck a more optimistic tone in Monday’s announcement, framing the investment as part of “the next great technology transformation — where humans and AI work together to drive productivity, growth, and meaningful change.”
Founded in San Francisco in 1999, Salesforce has been incorporating AI features into its product lineup, including workplace messaging platform Slack, as it competes for market share in the rapidly growing enterprise AI sector amid escalating competition from Oracle Corp., ServiceNow Inc., and Microsoft Corp.
The timing of the announcement precedes the company’s annual Dreamforce conference, scheduled this week in San Francisco. Salesforce expects the event to attract nearly 50,000 attendees and generate $130 million in revenue for the local economy.
Separately, Salesforce launched its Agentforce 360 AI platform globally on Monday.
