Salesforce pitches AI agents as answer to stretched public services

Salesforce has positioned the UK public sector as a key battleground for the next phase of AI adoption, using the opening of its new London AI Centre to argue that government and public services have moved from experimentation into what it called “the era of execution at scale”.

Speaking at the launch event on Wednesday, Zahra Bahrololoumi, UK and Ireland CEO at Salesforce, said the company’s new facility would act as a dedicated learning and innovation hub designed to help public sector organisations, enterprises and startups develop practical AI capability.

The centre forms part of Salesforce’s previously announced £6 billion UK investment over the next five years, which Bahrololoumi said would focus on AI innovation, skills and customer adoption rather than infrastructure investment such as datacentres.

“We’ve moved past pilots. We’re now in the era of execution and execution at scale,” she said. “The question is not if AI will transform the UK … it’s how we choose to direct that transformation to service.”

Public sector AI adoption accelerates

Bahrololoumi pointed to growing adoption of AI agents within UK public services, particularly in areas facing operational pressure and workforce constraints.

She highlighted how organisations including the National Centre for Violence Against Women and Girls and Public Protection are using Salesforce AI agents to support frontline services and improve access to information.

One example discussed during the event was “Ask Em”, an AI-powered policing assistant developed to help frontline officers quickly access operational guidance and victim support information.

Temporary Detective Chief Superintendent Claire Hammond described the challenge of providing consistent guidance across 43 police forces and thousands of officers, particularly during overnight incidents where frontline staff may have limited access to specialist support.

The AI tool is designed to give officers quick access to approved guidance using empathetic language, helping ensure victims receive more consistent support regardless of location or time of day.

“We’re putting in the tool all of the tools that they need as frontline officers, but in empathetic language, so that when they ask Em, they get the right language back of how to speak to a victim,” said Hammond.

Bahrololoumi also claimed Salesforce AI agents are already helping three UK police forces resolve 82 percent of inbound non-urgent public enquiries without escalation to a human officer.

AI skills and public trust

The CEO welcomed the government’s AI Action Plan and proposals for a cross-economy AI sandbox included in the King’s Speech, arguing that the approach could accelerate AI adoption in critical sectors including government.

She also stressed that public trust and accessibility would determine whether the UK fully realises the economic potential of AI.

“To truly realise AI’s potential, we must ensure that innovation is trusted and accessible to all,” she said.