General News
Salesforce and Google Expand Partnership, Introduce Gemini to Agentforce
Salesforce and Google today announced a major expansion of their strategic partnership, delivering choice in the models and capabilities businesses use to build and deploy AI-powered agents.
The AI landscape is evolving so quickly that businesses are struggling to keep pace with innovations like autonomous agents. This expanded partnership provides crucial flexibility, empowering customers to develop tailored AI solutions that meet their specific needs, rather than being locked into a single model provider.
Google Cloud is at the forefront of enterprise AI, with millions of developers using its cutting edge Gemini models and AI optimised infrastructure
This expanded partnership lets Salesforce customers build Agentforce agents with Gemini and deploy Salesforce on Google Cloud. It builds on their existing collaboration, which enables seamless data sharing between Google BigQuery and Salesforce via zero copy technology. This gives businesses the AI, data, and trust they need to integrate autonomous agents into their operations.
“Through our expanded partnership with Google Cloud and deep integrations at the platform, application, and infrastructure layer, we’re giving customers choice in the applications and models they want to use,” said Srini Tallapragada, Salesforce President & Chief Engineering and Customer Success Officer.
“Salesforce offers a complete enterprise-grade agentic AI platform that makes it easy to deploy new capabilities easily and realise business value fast. Google Cloud is a pioneer in enterprise agentic AI, offering some of the most powerful, capable models, agents, and AI development tools on the planet. Together we are creating the best place for businesses to scale with digital labour.”
“Salesforce’s selection of Google Cloud as a major infrastructure provider means enterprise customers can now deploy some of their most critical applications on our highly secure,
AI-optimised infrastructure — with minimal friction,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud.
“Our mutual customers have asked us to be able to work more seamlessly across Salesforce and Google Cloud, and this expanded partnership will help them accelerate their AI transformations with agentic AI, state-of-the-art AI models, data analytics, and more.”
“At Wayfair, we’re deeply committed to using data and AI to create exceptional customer experiences,” said Fiona Tan, CTO of Wayfair. “The Salesforce and Google Cloud partnership, particularly the availability of Salesforce on Google Cloud infrastructure and the integration of Agentforce and Gemini, offers powerful new capabilities to personalise interactions and empower our teams to better serve our customers.”
Why it matters:
Agentic AI isn’t just emerging, it’s already here and represents a $2 trillion market opportunity, according to a study from Salesforce. In fact, 84% of CIOs believe AI will be as significant to businesses as the internet. To fully realise this potential, businesses need an agentic strategy with openness, trust, and choice at the centre.
This includes:
● Data: Highly secure and unified access to all your data, no matter where it resides, with a zero-copy architecture and enriched metadata for deeper insights. This breaks down data silos across platforms so customers don’t have to sacrifice choice for an integrated experience, unlike solutions that hoard data access or require users to cobble together disparate solutions.
● AI: Unparalleled choice and flexibility with leading AI models, including predictive, generative, and multi-modal options. This allows businesses to tailor solutions to their specific needs and avoid being locked on a single provider’s AI capabilities.
● Trust: A multi-layered approach to protect your data and infrastructure with encryption, data residency options, and a choice of infrastructure providers. Additionally, robust guardrails, bias detection, explainability, and toxicity controls are built-in to ensure responsible AI development and deployment.
● Actions: Seamless integration of automation, analytics, and applications across platforms to streamline workflows and drive efficiency across the organization. This allows businesses to maximize the impact of AI agents by connecting them to their existing tools and systems, unlike solutions with limited integrations or closed Ecosystems.
Data: Real-Time Responses in Agentforce with Google Search
Agentforce will be able to leverage Grounding with Google Search through Vertex AI, building on the secure data foundation established through the zero copy partnership between Salesforce Data Cloud and Google BigQuery. This integration empowers Agentforce agents with the ability to reference up-to-the-minute data, news, current events, and credible citations, substantially enhancing their contextual awareness and ability to deliver accurate, evidence-backed responses.
For example, in supply chain management and logistics, an Agentforce agent could track shipments and monitor inventory levels in Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and proactively identify potential disruptions using real-time data from Google Search, including weather conditions, port congestion, and geopolitical events. Availability is expected in the coming months.
AI: Unlocking the Power of Choice and Flexibility with Gemini and Agentforce
Businesses need the freedom to choose the best models for their needs rather than be locked into one vendor. In 2025, Google’s Gemini models will also be available for prompt building and reasoning directly within Agentforce.
With Gemini and Agentforce, businesses will benefit from:
● Agents with multi-modal capabilities: Gemini’s native multimodality lets agents “see” and interpret the world, enabling AI to recognize images (like error codes) and detect emotions in voice. Integrating this into Agentforce creates smarter agents that respond to audio, video, and text.
● Expanded contextual understanding and reasoning: Gemini’s 2 million-token context window lets agents retain and reference massive amounts of information, like entire codebases, years of customer interactions, or product documentation.
● Increased speed and efficiency: Google’s Tensor processing Units (TPUs), combined with advanced techniques like those used in Google’s NotebookLM, enable Gemini to process and understand information with exceptional speed and efficiency, delivering real-time responses even for complex queries. This translates to faster response times and reduced operational costs.
For example, an insurance customer can submit a claim with photos of the damage and an audio voicemail from a witness. Agentforce, using Gemini, can then help the insurance provider deliver better customer experiences by processing all these inputs, assessing the claim’s validity, and even using text-to-speech to contact the customer with a resolution, streamlining the traditionally lengthy claims process. Availability is expected this year.
Trust: Salesforce Platform deployed on Google Cloud
Customers will be able to leverage Salesforce’s unified platform (Agentforce, Data Cloud, Customer 360) on Google Cloud’s highly secure, AI-optimized infrastructure, benefiting from
features like dynamic grounding, zero data retention, and toxicity detection provided by the Einstein Trust Layer.
Once Salesforce products are available on Google Cloud, customers will also have the ability to procure Salesforce offerings through the Google Cloud Marketplace, opening up new
possibilities for global businesses to optimize their investments across Salesforce and Google Cloud and benefitting thousands of existing joint customers.
Action: Enhanced Employee Productivity and Customer Service with AI-Powered
Integrations
Millions use Salesforce and Google Cloud daily. This partnership prioritizes choice and flexibility, enabling seamless cross-platform work. New and deeper connections between platforms like Salesforce Service Cloud and Google Cloud’s Customer Engagement Suite, as well as Slack and Google Workspace, will empower AI agents and service representatives with unified data access, streamlined workflows, and advanced AI capabilities, regardless of platform.
Salesforce and Google Cloud are deeply integrating their customer service platforms – Salesforce Service Cloud and Google Cloud’s Customer Engagement Suite – to create a
seamless and intelligent support experience.
Expected later this year, this unified approach empowers AI agents in Service Cloud with:
● Real-time Voice Translation and Sentiment Analysis: Google Cloud AI in Service Cloud will enable real-time voice translation breaking down language barriers. New agent assist features within the Service Cloud desktop will analyse tone of voice and audio cues for deeper customer sentiment understanding.
● Agent-to-Agent Intelligent Handoffs: Across all channels, virtual agents built on Google Conversational Agents will be able to seamlessly connect with Agentforce in Service Cloud for more efficient management of multi-step, customer interactions. Salesforce and Google Cloud are also exploring deeper integrations between Slack and Google Workspace, boosting productivity and creating a more cohesive digital workspace for teams and organisations. The companies are currently exploring use cases such as:
● The ability for users to leverage enterprise search in Slack to access and act on files in Google Drive.
● The ability to more easily share information between Gmail and Slack, enhancing communication and knowledge sharing.
The result is a more connected and productive work environment, where businesses can choose the best tools for their needs from employee productivity to customer service while
benefiting from a seamless and intelligent workflow across platforms.
Expanding Partnership Capabilities and Integrations
This partnership goes beyond core product integrations to deliver a more connected and intelligent data foundation for businesses. This is just the beginning; Salesforce and Google
Cloud are committed to ongoing innovation and deeper collaboration to empower businesses with even more powerful solutions. Expected availability throughout 2025.
● Deeper integrations across Data Cloud, BigQuery, and Cortex Framework will make it easier than ever for customers to securely ground their AI agents in all of their enterprise data.
● New native Tableau, Looker, and BigQuery integration will allow customers to manage and visualise business data across all platforms in one single UI with standardized business logic and data definitions.
African legislators across the continent are increasingly demanding answers from mobile network operators for chronic poor service. Parliamentarians in Cameroon, South Africa and Zambia are demanding answers on data pricing, network connectivity needs in rural regions, contributions to job creation, data security and privacy, and adherence to universal service obligations.
Zambia is the latest country to question telcos over quality of service, and National Assembly speaker Nelly Mutti has ordered minister of technology and science Felix Mutati to deliver a ministerial statement on the Airtel network’s repeat outages and the steps being taken to resolve them.
Lawmakers have expressed concerns about the impact of inconsistent connectivity, particularly in rural areas where mobile communication is important for emergencies and essential services.
This come after telecoms regulator, Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (ZICTA) read the riot act to Airtel, after its most recent outage last week.
This was not the first time the telco had experienced service interruption, which prompted ZICTA to threaten the telco with a fine.
Meanwhile, the speaker of parliament declared that the nation has to be informed about the causes for the network provider’s bad service and the steps being taken to address the issue.
Mutti said: “This matter is affecting everyone. We need to know why the services are poor and what is being done to ensure service providers comply with stipulated guidelines.”
The move by the Zambian parliament comes a few days after South African parliament also summoned mobile network operators to respond to a range of concerns that lawmakers felt impacted consumers.
The following issues were considered by parliamentarians: network connectivity standards in rural areas, contributions to job creation, transformation, and economic inclusion and empowerment for blacks in general, women, youth, and people with disabilities, data security and privacy, adherence to universal service obligations, and spectrum conditions for universal connectivity.
TD Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa’s foremost technology distributor, took a bold step toward strengthening almost three decades of collaboration by hosting a high-level strategic meeting with HP Inc. at an exclusive gathering in Ikoyi, Lagos.
The meeting brought together top executives from both organisations to reaffirm their commitment to advancing digital transformation and deepening technology penetration across Nigeria and Africa.
Speaking at the meeting, Dr. Leo Stan Ekeh, Chairman of Zinox Group (parent company of TD Africa), traced the long-standing partnership between HP and TD Africa and emphasised the need for a more intentional synergy going forward.
“The relationship between TD Africa and HP goes beyond business; it’s a shared vision to use technology as the catalyst for a smarter, more prosperous Nigeria. Technology is the new oil, and together, we must build the infrastructure to power a 21st-century Africa,” said Dr. Ekeh.
Also, Mrs. Chioma Chimere, Coordinating Managing Director of TD Africa, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to digital inclusion and local empowerment. “At TD Africa, we are passionate about pushing technology to every part of the country and the continent. Our vision is to see an Africa where every individual, business, and institution is IT-ready and globally competitive,” she stated.
On behalf of HP, Kingsley Osuala, Distribution Business Manager, Central Africa, expressed appreciation for the enduring relationship with TD Africa and stressed the importance of local tech adoption.
“We are grateful to TD Africa for staying true to their mission of empowering Africa through technology. As the digital age accelerates, Nigerians must stay ahead by embracing innovation and high-performance tech solutions. That is how we stay globally relevant,” Osuala remarked.
The meeting concluded with renewed resolve from both parties to explore deeper collaboration and build on their shared legacy, one that prioritizes access, innovation, and the digital empowerment of Africa.
Justice Ambrose Allagoa of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered Mr Nnamdi Kalu, a legal practitioner, to appear before the court on July 9, 2025, to provide explanations regarding the whereabouts of Richard Ironbar Edemadem, his client, who is accused of cyber-related fraud and has allegedly jumped bail.
The judge issued the directive during the ongoing trial of Edemadem and four others, namely: Samuel Okpapi, Nelson Ojovbo, Bamigbade Olushola, and ISD Technology Limited, who are standing trial on charges of tampering with the critical mobile telecommunications infrastructure of MTN Nigeria and illegally profiting from unsolicited messages sent to subscribers.
The prosecution, led by Mr Nnemeka Omewa of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), informed the court that Edemadem, the first defendant, had jumped bail and ceased communication with both his counsel and the court.
He further revealed that Mr Kalu, who represented the defendant at the early stage of the trial, had stopped appearing in court and was unreachable.
During the trial proceedings, Justice Alagoa queried the continued absence of the first defendant, especially as his name had come up repeatedly during the testimony of the EFCC’s witness.
Upon receiving the explanation from the prosecutor, the judge expressed concern that no attempt had been made to bring the sureties to account, as required when a defendant absconds.
Responding to the judge’s query, Omewa said the prosecution had made efforts to trace the sureties and review the bail bond documents.
However, they discovered that no valid documentation about the sureties or their contact addresses could be found in the court file.
Disturbed by the absence of such critical records, Justice Alagoa directed the absentee defendant’s counsel, Mr Kalu, to appear before the court on the next adjourned date to provide clarity on his client’s disappearance and explain his failure to participate further in the trial.
In the meantime, the trial resumed with the testimony of Mr Olamide Sadiq, the fourth prosecution witness and an investigating officer with the EFCC.
Sadiq detailed how the defendants fraudulently manipulated MTN’s telecom systems to send unsolicited messages to thousands of unsuspecting subscribers.
According to his testimony, the defendants, who were employed as IT professionals for various telecom value-added service providers, compromised MTN’s Critical Mobile Telecommunications Network System between 2017 and 2018, adding that by exploiting the system’s vulnerabilities, they deployed mass unsolicited messages that led to unauthorised deductions from subscribers’ airtime balances.
Sadiq explained that these illegal deductions were routed into multiple accounts linked to the defendants and their affiliated entities, notably ISD Technology Limited.
The stolen proceeds, totalling N36,837,438.20, were subsequently distributed among the conspirators, he said.
Following the witness’s testimony, the court adjourned the matter to July 9, 2025, for the continuation of the trial and to enable Mr Kalu to appear and address the court on the issue of his absconding client.
The EFCC had filed a three-count charge against the defendants, detailing their alleged roles in the multimillion-naira fraud.
On count one of the charges, the defendants, Richard Ironbar Edemadem, Samuel Okpapi, Nelson Ojovbo, Bamigbade Olushola, ISD Technology Limited, and a fugitive known only as “Sola”, were accused of conspiring to tamper with a critical mobile telecommunications network system.
This, the EFCC said, is contrary to Sections 27(6)(b) and 10 of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc.) Act, 2015, and punishable under the same law.
The second charge stated that the defendants were charged with unauthorised tampering with MTN’s network infrastructure, an offence also contrary to Section 10 of the Cybercrimes Act, punishable under the same provision.
Counts three of the charges posited that the defendants allegedly took possession of N36,837,438.20, which they reasonably ought to have known were proceeds of an unlawful act, namely, stealing, contrary to Sections 15(2)(d) and (6) of the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2011 (as amended), and punishable under the same.
Source: Tribune
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