Salesforce has launched its first fully autonomous AI agent, Einstein Service Agent, designed to enhance customer service efficiency and render conventional chatbots obsolete. Available 24/7, the AI agent communicates with customers in natural language across messaging channels, tailored to a brand's voice.

Einstein Service Agent is grounded in Data Cloud, a system that harmonises data across the enterprise, providing a comprehensive understanding of a business's customers. The AI agent is safeguarded by the Einstein Trust Layer, which masks personally identifiable information (PII) and establishes clear parameters and guardrails for the AI agent to follow.

The AI agent can assist customers across self-service portals and messaging channels, including WhatsApp, Apple Messages, Facebook Messenger, and SMS. It is capable of understanding images, video, audio, and text, enabling customers to send photos when their issue is difficult to explain in words. If an inquiry is off-topic or falls outside of Einstein Service Agent’s scope, it will transfer the conversation to a human agent using Service Cloud.

"Salesforce is delivering a future where human and digital agents join forces to improve the customer experience," said Service Cloud General Manager Kishan Chetan. "Einstein Service Agent, our first fully autonomous AI agent, will not just complete service jobs on its own; it will augment how human agents work and completely transform how service teams operate, making them far more efficient and productive. We are reimagining customer service for the AI era."

The AI agent is currently in pilot and will be generally available later this year. It can be set up in minutes with user-friendly interfaces, pre-built templates, and low-code actions and workflows.

SVP of Global Customer Success at OpenTable, George Pokorny, said: "Einstein Service Agent’s speed and accuracy in handling customer inquiries is promising. It understands and responds like a human, adhering to our diverse, country-specific guidelines. I can see it becoming an integral part of our service team, freeing our human agents to tackle higher value issues."