Salesforce Cuts 4,000 Jobs, CEO Explains Why: "I Needed Fewer Heads"

Salesforce, the parent company of Slack, recently eliminated approximately 4,000 roles in its customer support division, reducing the team from around 9,000 to 5,000 employees. This move, announced on September 1, is part of a broader strategic shift toward integrating "agentic" AI into core operations. During an appearance on the Logan Bartlett Show podcast, CEO Marc Benioff explained the rationale behind the move, emphasising efficiency gains and redeployment of human talent to higher-value areas.

Mr Benioff directly attributed the layoffs to AI's ability to automate routine customer interactions, stating, "I was able to rebalance my headcount on my support. I reduced it from 9,000 heads to about 5,000 because I need fewer heads."

He highlighted how Salesforce's AI now manages about 50% of customer conversations, allowing the company to streamline operations without sacrificing service quality. Notably, this "agentic layer" includes an omnichannel supervisor that monitors interactions between human and digital agents, escalating complex issues to people when necessary.

The CEO framed this as a forward-looking strategy to define "the next generation of the enterprise," where AI and humans collaborate seamlessly.

In the podcast, Mr Benioff also noted that AI has already eliminated a massive backlog of over 100 million uncontacted sales leads accumulated over 26 years due to staffing limitations.

"The agentic sales is calling all the people who have been trying to get in touch with us over the last 26 years. The agentic sales is having conversations with them and deeply integrating it through our omni-channel supervisor to our new agentic sales product", he said, crediting AI for breaking tasks into smaller steps and boosting productivity.

Here's the full video:

Notably, Salesforce deployed Agentforce at the start of the year, resulting in a decline in support cases and eliminating the need to backfill support engineer roles.

"At the start of this year, we deployed help.agentforce.com. Because of the benefits and efficiencies of Agentforce, we've seen the number of support cases we handle decline, and we no longer need to actively backfill support engineer roles. We've successfully redeployed hundreds of employees into other areas like professional services, sales, and customer success," a Salesforce spokesperson explained. 

Mr Benioff's comments mark a shift from his earlier stance. Just two months prior, in July 2025, he told Fortune that AI would augment rather than replace workers, insisting "the humans are not going away" and dismissing fears of mass unemployment due to AI's limitations in accuracy.

He stressed the need for "the human in the loop" for fact-checking. However, the rapid adoption of agentic AI has made these reductions "unavoidable," according to Mr Benioff, as the technology now handles half of customer service tasks.

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Millionaire's Firm 'Review Bombed' After He Took Cap From Child At US Open

Polish CEO Piotr Szczerek and his company are at the receiving end of public ire after he was seen snatching a signed hat from a young fan at the US Open. Not long after the video of Mr Szczerek's act, described by many on social media as "embarrassing", went viral, his company, Drogbruk, was bombarded with negative reviews.

The clip shows Polish tennis player Kamil Majchrzak offering the cap he used during his match at the US Open to a young fan in the crowd. But Szczerek, standing next to the child, snatched it.

Polish CEO Piotr Szczerek's company review bombed after taking child's hat at @usopen. Users on Polish forums labelled him “embarrassing” and a “thief,” with Drogbruk's rating drop to 1.1 in trustpilot. He needs to pay the price for what he did. pic.twitter.com/ufGNDbYTHB

— Pengu Aaron | Network School | ∞ᛤ???? (@AaronTing8) August 31, 2025

Users on Polish forums called the CEO a "thief," while Drogbruk saw its Trustpilot rating fall sharply to 1.1 stars. Some even said that he and his company should be banned from joining the sports events or sponsoring anything related.

Even on Google, the company received just 1.2 stars from 592 reviews. One review read, "The CEO of this company doesn't have any morals; stealing from children and then defending himself in public. Don't ever do business with this company."

Another read, "Top-level management steal from children in broad daylight, then laugh about it. Definitely not someone to do business with under any circumstances (sic)."

Majchrzak described the incident as "some kind of confusion" to The New York Post, saying that he didn't immediately realise that Szczerek had taken the hat. He suggested that Szczerek's actions may have been impulsive, "in the moment of heat, in the moment of emotions."

Szczerek said he thought that the hat was meant for him, specifically for his sons, who had earlier asked Majchrzak for autographs. He said he didn't realise it was actually meant for the young boy. He said he apologised to the child and his family for taking the hat and then returned it, reported Forbes.

"I made a serious mistake. In the midst of the excitement and celebration, I believed the tennis player was handing his cap to me - for my sons, who had previously asked for autographs," he said. 

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'We'll Get Your Delivery Done Elsewhere': MLA's Shocker On Hospital Question

Informed by a journalist that people, especially pregnant women, were facing difficulty without a hospital in the area, a Karnataka Congress MLA made a remark that has left many shocked. "Don't worry, we'll get yours done elsewhere," the MLA told the woman journalist, winking. 

RV Deshpande, who is the MLA from Haliyal in Uttara Kannada district and a former minister, was asked by a journalist in front of several of her colleagues and cameras when the Joida taluk (district subdivision) would get a hospital since residents, especially pregnant women, were suffering because of the lack of one. 

"We'll get yours done in (neighbouring) Haliyal," the MLA answered.

Apparently unable to believe the reply, the journalist asked, "What, sir?"

Mr Deshpande, however, doubled down, smiling and winking at people around him. "When it's time for your delivery, we will get it done," he said.

The journalist simply replied that the people of the region desperately need a hospital and Mr Deshpande should get it built in this term itself. 

The MLA responded with just an "okay".

BJP Spokesperson Vijay Prasad said the remarks were proof of the Congress' "cheap mentality" and "moral bankruptcy".

"Insulting mothers and women is not politics, it's moral bankruptcy. (Leader of the Opposition) Rahul Gandhi talks about love and respect but his leaders spread hate. This double speak must be exposed. Congress' politics is about insult, abuse and family attacks... They speak today, deny tomorrow and repeat the next week," he said.

There has been a long-standing demand for a multi-speciality hospital in Uttara Kannada and, a couple of years ago, a social media campaign called #NoHospitalNoVote was also initiated to press for it.

Residents of the region are often forced to travel to Mangaluru, Udupi or other neighbouring districts for good quality medical care, including for critical surgeries.

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Boney Kapoor Confirms Diljit Dosanjh's No Entry 2 Exit

The much-anticipated sequel to the 2005 blockbuster No Entry has hit a roadblock as actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh has stepped away from the project. The movie, directed by Anees Bazmee and produced by Boney Kapoor, was set to roll in October 2025 with a new cast featuring Varun Dhawan and Arjun Kapoor. 

What's Happening

• Confirming that Diljit Dosanjh is not a part of No Entry 2, Boney Kapoor told NDTV, "Yes, we have parted in good spirits as the dates were not aligning with our requirements, hopefully, we will soon do a Punjabi film together".
• Reports suggest that Diljit's packed schedule, particularly his Aura Tour across Australia and New Zealand from October 26 to November 13, clashed with the film's shoot. The actor-singer is currently one of the busiest names in both music and cinema, balancing back-to-back projects with his international tours.

Background

At a recent event, Boney Kapoor admitted that not being able to bring back the original trio (Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor, and Fardeen Khan) remains a sore point. "Yeh humara loss hai that we could not retain the same star cast. We waited for almost 8 to 10 years but somehow things didn't happen. We will miss them. And now we are trying to give a fresh start with a younger lot of actors. But at the same time, we will miss Salman, we will miss Anil and Fardeen. They were the original three boys in No Entry. And they were most loved," he shared.

The original No Entry, which also featured Bipasha Basu, Esha Deol, Lara Dutta, and Celina Jaitly, completed 20 years on August 26. In 2024, Boney Kapoor and Bazmee officially announced the sequel with a younger star cast, promising a fresh spin on the comedy that became one of the biggest hits of 2005.

ALSO READ: Anees Bazmee Felt "Pain" For Not Having Salman Khan, Anil Kapoor In No Entry Sequel

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Akram Or Bumrah - Who Is Greatest? Pakistan Great Ends Long-Standing Debate

Cricket in the Indian subcontinent has not only seen exceptional spinners but also terrific pacers. During the 1990s, Pakistan boasted a range of legendary pacers like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Shoaib Akhtar. Back then, the Indian cricket team was more reliant on its batters. However, from the time Virat Kohli became the Indian cricket team captain in the mid-2010s, a renewed effort was made to nurture effective and lethal pacers. The result is the emergence of players like Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, and Mohammed Siraj.

This also gave rise to social media debates on whether Bumrah is better than Wasim Akram. Now, the Pakistani cricket great himself has answered the question.

"Jasprit Bumrah is a wonderful bowler. He has an odd action, has pace, and credit to the Indian cricket board for the way they manage him and their mindset. Comparisons between the 90s and now are impossible. He is right-handed and I am a left-armer. We keep social media debates—Begano ki Shadi Me Abdulla Diwana. Neither I care nor he cares. They are fighting among themselves. He is a modern-day great. I was in my era. I did my job. He is a very impressive bowler, I must say," said Akram on GEOTV's Haarna Mana Hai show.

Wasim Akram talking about Bumrah's greatness and the useless comparision b/w 2 great bowlers of different eras in his latest interview #Bumrah #WasimAkram #AsiaCup pic.twitter.com/4lBJhlcVTN

— Cover Drive (@day6596) August 31, 2025

Recently, Wasim Akram, Pakistan great and one of the most lethal pacers in the history of the game, was impressed by Mohammed Siraj's show in England and termed his performance as “the best" he has seen in the recent past.

"I rarely watch cricket when I'm not working, but I was glued to the last day. Siraj was full of hunger and passion – it was an incredible effort. To bowl nearly 186 overs across five Tests and still be that fiery on the final day shows remarkable stamina and mental strength. He's not just a support bowler anymore. He's leading the attack and doing it with heart. Even when a catch went down– that of Brook – he didn't lose focus. That's the mark of a fighter. Test cricket is alive and kicking," Akram said in an interview to Telecom Asia Sport.  

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UP Man Beheaded, Dismembered For Relationship With Friend's Sister

A 22-year-old man was allegedly lured by his friends, murdered, and decapitated before his body was disposed of in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur. According to the police, the killing was motivated by a personal dispute after the victim's friend discovered that he had entered into a relationship with his sister.

The victim, Rishikesh, a resident of Kanpur's Chakeri, was reported missing by his elder brother Ravi Kumar on Sunday. By then, his body had already been discovered in the Maharajpur area, stripped of its head and thrown along the riverbank.

Four men have been arrested in connection with the murder, while four others, including the prime accused, remain missing.

The Disappearance

According to police, the chain of events began on the evening of August 29, when Rishikesh was called out of his home by two of his neighbours and friends, identified as Mogli and Nikhil. They told his family he was being taken to visit a Ganesh Chaturthi pandal.

Unbeknownst to his family, several other acquaintances -- Pawan, Babi, Danny, Satyam, Rishu and Akash -- were already waiting near the pandal. Together, the group forced Rishikesh onto a motorcycle and took him towards the Kakori forest, an isolated stretch on the outskirts of Kanpur.

Two days later, when Rishikesh did not return, his elder brother lodged a formal complaint of kidnapping with the police. 

The Killing In The Forest

According to the police, Rishikesh was tied up with a rope, his legs bound, and his throat slit with a knife in the Kakori forest.

The accused admitted to beheading the victim in order to prevent his body from being identified. A sack had been brought in advance to transport the remains. The group then procured an e-rickshaw, in which they carried the severed parts of the body to the Jajmau bridge and threw them into the River Ganga in different directions.

The Motive

The central figure, identified as Pawan Mallah, was both a friend of the victim and the elder brother of the woman with whom Rishikesh had developed a relationship.

Pawan, who has a prior criminal record and had previously been banished from Kanpur district for six months, allegedly grew enraged on discovering the relationship after his return. 

Discovery Of The body

On Sunday, the family filed a missing person complaint, but police in Maharajpur were alerted to the discovery of a headless body along the banks of the River Ganga.

Relatives of the missing man were called to the scene. They identified the body parts as those of Rishikesh on the basis of a tattoo on his right hand and the sacred thread tied around his wrist.

(With inputs from Arun Agarwal)

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US Actor Says Leaving US Has Been 'Liberating': "America Is A S***show"

US actress Robin Wright recently described her decision to leave the United States for England as "liberating" in a candid interview with The Sunday Times. The 59-year-old star, known for roles in 'Forrest Gump', 'The Princess Bride', and 'House of Cards', has relocated to a rented seaside home in England with her boyfriend, British-Australian architect Henry Smith (52), and their two Labradors, Rusty and Rocky.

During the interview, Ms Wright expressed frustration with life in America, calling it a "s---show" characterised by constant "rush, competition, and speed." She contrasted this with her experiences in England, where she finds a "freedom of self" and appreciates the kindness of people who are "living" rather than stuck in traffic, stressed on phone calls, or multitasking meals.

"I love being in this country. People are so kind. They're living. They're not in the car in traffic, panicked on a phone call, or eating a sandwich. That's most of America," she said.

Ms Wright's decision to move was partly driven by her dislike of the noise in Los Angeles. She said she craved a quieter life and expressed happiness about having found her ideal partner. "Everyone's building a huge house, and I'm just done with all that — I love the quiet. And I've met my person. Finally," she added. 

She also tied the move to a sense of personal closure as she approaches 60. "I'm turning 60 and I'm, like, 'Is this it?' I love being alone and I've done that many times. But I'm, like, 'I want to grow old with somebody, and travel and see the world," the Golden Globe winner said. 

Ms Wright mentioned enjoying the quiet of the English countryside, waking up to birds chirping instead of the noise of home renovations at her former oceanside Los Angeles property. While she still travels to Los Angeles for work, she plans to spend more time in England.

Ms Wright's move aligns with a trend of American celebrities relocating to the UK amid political and cultural shifts, particularly following Donald Trump's 2024 election victory. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi cited the election as a reason for staying in the Cotswolds after arriving just before voting day.

Robin Wright was previously married to actor Sean Penn from 1996 to 2010. They have two children together: Dylan, 34, and Hopper, 32. Ms Wright later married fashion executive Clement Giraudet in 2018, but they parted ways, filing for divorce in 2022 due to irreconcilable differences. Prior to that, she had a short-lived marriage to actor Dane Witherspoon from 1986 to 1988.

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