Salesforce (CRM) and Google Cloud (GOOGL) have announced an expansion of their artificial intelligence partnership, introducing new integrations across Slack, Google Workspace, and Gemini Enterprise. The collaboration, unveiled at a Las Vegas event on April 23, 2026, aims to deepen the connectivity between Salesforce's Agentforce AI agents and Google's suite of productivity and AI tools. These integrations are set to roll out in phases, with some features expected to be fully available by late 2026.
Market Reaction and Context
Despite the strategic move, Salesforce shares tumbled approximately 9% on Thursday, reflecting renewed investor anxiety about the impact of AI on traditional software companies. The selloff was exacerbated by disappointing signals from peers ServiceNow (NOW) and IBM (IBM), which have also faced pressure as the market reassesses the potential for AI to disrupt established software business models. The broader software sector felt the impact, with the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV) losing nearly 6% on the day.
Details of the Expanded Partnership
The expanded partnership includes several key components. Salesforce's Agentforce Sales has entered open beta within Gemini Enterprise, allowing customers to leverage Gemini's capabilities for multi-step tasks. Meanwhile, Gemini Enterprise for Slack remains in private preview. Slackbot will now be able to pull content directly from Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and PDFs to assemble shareable files. According to Salesforce, over 1,400 customers are already using Gemini inside Agentforce to build prompts.
A notable technical advancement is the zero-copy access to Google Lakehouse, which allows data to remain in place while software runs queries directly. This feature is targeted for late 2026 rollout. Additionally, Slack's search feature for Gmail and Google Drive is now live, and Gemini-powered reasoning for Agentforce is scheduled for May 2026.
Executive Perspectives
Srini Tallapragada, president and chief engineering officer at Salesforce, expressed confidence in the market's readiness for agentic AI, stating that companies are “ready to go all in.” Karthik Narain, chief product and business officer at Google Cloud, emphasized that the integration allows customers to use their data “with speed and confidence.”
Broader Industry Implications
The partnership is part of a larger trend where cloud providers and software vendors are collaborating to offer more integrated AI solutions. Google also announced on Thursday that Gemini Enterprise will now support partner-built agents from Salesforce, ServiceNow, and Workday (WDAY), highlighting its focus on governance, security, and model flexibility as it competes with Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) in the enterprise AI space.
This latest agreement builds on a broader partnership first announced in February 2025, which saw Agentforce tapping Gemini models and Salesforce's tools operating on Google Cloud infrastructure. The strategy aims to give customers more AI model options, closer data integration, and reduce reliance on a single vendor.
Investor Concerns and Outlook
Despite the technological advancements, investors remain cautious. The software and services index has dropped roughly 16% since January, as fears persist that AI could cannibalize traditional software revenue. Salesforce faces the challenge of demonstrating that new product launches can translate into tangible revenue growth. With its next earnings report approaching, the focus will be on whether Agentforce is driving sales growth, retaining customers, and supporting margins.
Joe Maginot, portfolio manager at Madison Investments, noted that clarity on the long-term bear case may not emerge for a couple of quarters. UBS strategist Kiran Ganesh pointed to a “bigger range of outcomes” for tech, as investors shift focus from infrastructure names to software laggards.
