Are you finding it difficult to wrap your head around the different components of Agentforce in Salesforce and how they work together? I certainly did, which is why I created this post.
This visual guide will walk you through the flow, making it easy to grasp how these components integrate to bring powerful automation and AI-driven capabilities to your Salesforce Org.
1. Agents: Your AI Assistant
An AI agent is a smart system that can understand and respond to customer questions without needing help from a person. It uses machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) to handle tasks, from answering simple questions to solving complex problems—even juggling multiple tasks at once. What makes AI agents special is their ability to learn and get better on their own over time. This sets them apart from traditional AI, which needs human input for each specific task.
There are different types of Agents in Salesforce that includes:
- Einstein Copilot Agent
- Service Agent
- Sales Development Representative (SDR) Agent
- Sales Coach Agent
- Campaign Agent
- and more…
1.1 Einstein Copilot Agent
Einstein Copilot Agent is one of the standard agents that Salesforce provides. It is a conversational interface embedded within Salesforce, allowing users to interact in natural language. It intelligently processes users’ requests, executing tasks seamlessly to boost productivity across your Salesforce environment.
For more information, please refer to the Salesforce help article – What are Agents?
2. Topics: Way to Organize Actions
An Agent Topic is a category that groups related tasks an agent or Copilot can handle. Each topic includes actions—tools used to complete the tasks—and instructions that guide the agent in making decisions. Together, topics define what the agent is capable of doing. Salesforce offers a library of standard topics for common use cases, and you can also create custom topics to address specific business needs for your users.
3. Agent Actions: The Power Behind the Assistant
When a request is made to the Agent, it evaluates which action to trigger to fulfill that request. There are two main types of Agent Actions:
- Standard Actions: Pre-configured actions that automate common tasks with no additional setup or coding required.
- Custom Actions: Tailored actions that you can create to meet specific business needs, extending the capabilities of the Agent.
For instance, a standard action might be used to send a meeting request, while a custom action could be created to generate personalized sales proposals.
For more information, please refer to the Salesforce help article – Standard Agent Action Reference
4. Agent Custom Action Types: Flexibility and Customization
For more complex requirements, Custom Actions come into play. You can create three types of custom actions:
- Apex Actions: Utilize Apex code for complex logic and integrations.
- Flow Actions: Leverage Salesforce Flows for process automation and user interactions.
- Prompt Template Actions: Generate dynamic responses or trigger specific actions based on user input.
For more information, please refer to the Salesforce help article – Extend Your Copilot with Custom Actions
5. Prompt Entry Points: Access AI from Anywhere
Prompt Templates can be triggered not only from within Agent Custom Action but also from other Salesforce components. This flexibility allows you to integrate AI capabilities into various touchpoints like:
- Agent Custom Action
- Salesforce Flow
- Apex
- Rest API
- Record Page
- Email Composer
However, not all prompt templates are compatible with every entry point. Refer to the diagram at the top to see which combinations are available.
6. Prompt Template Types: Shaping AI Responses
In generative AI, a prompt is the input or set of instructions given to the AI to generate a response. The clarity and quality of the prompt significantly impact the AI’s output.
Salesforce takes this a step further with Prompt Templates, enabling you to predefine prompts for specific use cases and make it context-aware with data stored in Salesforce. These templates ensure consistent, high-quality, accurate responses tailored to your needs.
Salesforce offers four types of Prompt Templates:
- Sales Email Prompt Template: Generate personalized, context aware emails based on data stored in Salesforce.
- Field Generation Prompt Template: Generate values for fields (e.g. description, summary etc.) based on data stored in Salesforce.
- Record Summary Prompt Template: Generate summary of a record based on field values and related data stored in Salesforce.
- Flex Prompt Template: Create custom prompt templates using data stored in multiple objects in Salesforce.
For more information, please refer to the Salesforce help article – Prompt Template Types
7. Input Merge Fields: Bringing Context to AI
To make your prompts contextually relevant, you can enrich them with Salesforce data through merge fields. There are several ways to incorporate merge fields into your Prompt Templates:
- Record Merge Fields: Use data from standard/custom fields.
- Related List Merge Fields: Include data from related lists.
- Flow Merge Fields: Retrieve and insert data using Flows.
- Apex Merge Fields: Write Apex code for complex data gathering.
- Data Cloud DMO Merge Fields: Utilize data from Data Cloud Model Objects.
- Record Snapshot Merge Fields: Add data from Record Snapshots.
For more information, please refer to the Salesforce help article – Ground Prompt Templates with Salesforce Resources
Conclusion
The flow of Agentforce is designed to be flexible, powerful, and seamlessly integrated into your existing Salesforce workflows. By mastering each component, you can fully leverage the power of Generative AI to drive productivity and innovation in your Salesforce implementation.
Introducing Mastering Agentforce
We’ve developed detailed, step-by-step guides with comprehensive screenshots on how to configure, test, and use each component illustrated in the diagram. By subscribing to our “All Access” Pass, you’ll gain access to downloadable PDF versions of these guides, participate in our chat community, ask questions, and join our weekly live office hours.
