Hybrid human and AI workforce is coming, CEO says

DAVOS, Switzerland – Today's CEOs will be the last to lead an all-human workforce as businesses look to integrate AI agents, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff predicted.

Why it matters: The use of AI agents, also known as the digital labor force, has slowly been on the rise as companies look for ways to increase productivity and solve issues, like labor shortages.

Axios' Ina Fried and Dan Primack moderated conversations with Benioff, IBM vice chairman Gary Cohn, The Carlyle Group co-founder & co-chairman David Rubenstein and Snowflake CEO Sridhar Ramaswamy in Davos. The Jan. 22 discussions were sponsored by Lightspeed Venture Partners.

What they're saying: "We are really moving into a world now of managing humans and [AI] agents together," Benioff said.

• Salesforce gets 36,000 support inquiries every week, Benioff said. By implementing AI agents – or what he calls "Agent Force" – they were able to resolve 5,000 more inquiries than normal. "I just have that much more productivity."
• Ramaswamy said separately that no one knows what agentic AI's capabilities will be over the next 12 months, calling this a "time of a lot of change."
• Private equity will also be impacted by AI by helping investors make "core decisions" that are "quicker" and "hopefully better," Rubenstein said

Regulating AI and all its capabilities have been a focal point of many governments and critics, but Cohn warns against overregulation that could harm competitiveness.

• Cohn hopes President Trump's AI czar, David Sacks, continues "to allow the U.S. to be the dominant creative force in AI."
• "Our competitive and comparative advantages in the United States is we've got capital and we've got creativity, and we've got entrepreneurial spirit. We want to continue to thrive with that. … We want to continue to have all of our smart minds contribute to the AI world. We don't want to let someone else win," Cohn added.

Yes, but: Industries or activities that are regulated should also have their AI regulated too, Cohn said.

• "If you used a mapping program to get here today … and the map took me five steps out of my way, I don't think that needs to be regulated," Cohn said.
• "If some doctor is putting your symptoms into an AI machine and they're diagnosing your illness, I think we should regulate that because that's a regulated industry," Cohn added.

Sponsored content:

In a View From the Top sponsored segment, Lightspeed Venture Partners partner and global leader Bejul Somaia said people have to change their mindset when they approach AI and rethink how businesses operate.

• "There's going to be this massive market expansion because technology is no longer just going to automate workflows, it's gonna automate work," Somaia said.