How Salesforce AI Empowers Positive Environmental Impact
Salesforce has rolled out the latest phase of its Agents for Impact programme, introducing a nature-focused accelerator designed to innovate how mission-driven organisations leverage AI to address pressing environmental issues.
This programme expands on Salesforceās previous initiatives aimed at enabling non-profit organisations to enhance their operations through agentic AI ā a form of autonomous technology capable of making decisions, learning and operating independently from human intervention.
According to Sunya Norman, Senior Vice President of Impact at Salesforce, the scale of climate-related challenges demands technological innovation that can match the urgency.
āTo fully harness natureās potential to drive global resilience and restoration efforts, we need innovation that matches the scale and urgency of the challenge,ā she says.
The Agentforce platform and digital labour
At the core of this initiative is Salesforceās Agentforce platform, which empowers non-profits to create and implement AI tools tailored to both operational and mission-specific needs.
Even as AI technology becomes increasingly prevalent in commercial and enterprise landscapes, non-profit organisations often face barriers such as limited staffing and finances, making this development a significant advancement for the sector.
Salesforce research indicates that 74% of non-profits appreciate the value of technological adoption but encounter considerable barriers, highlighting the need for AI-driven solutions.
āMany mission-driven organisations, like those with the passion to deliver nature-based solutions, lack the capacity and technical resources needed to fully realise their goals,ā Sunya explains.The newest cohort in Salesforceās accelerator includes five organisations working across diverse sectors such as forest management, regenerative agriculture, access to clean water, fair trade, and sustainability in corporations.
- Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is creating a forest certification agent with the goal of making FSC certification more accessible, including providing tools for community and family forests, and accelerating the adoption of responsible forest management practices worldwide.
- Rare is rolling out a regenerative agriculture coach to deliver real-time, localized guidance to smallholder farmers tailored to their crops, soils, and local agro-ecological conditions. Anticipated impact includes a 40% reduction in staff time and the adoption of climate-resilient practices across 5,000 farmers in the initial phase.
- Fair Trade USA is building a partner management agent to understand holistic partner health, quickly resolve issues, and proactively engage partners to maintain investment in the Fair Trade Certification program, ultimately aiming to increase meaningful partner outreach and reduce trade partner decertification by 6%.
- Global Water Center is launching a WASH alumni agent to deliver relevant, personalized learning resources to professionals working on safely managed water access, improving the dissemination of best practices in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) ā and potentially increasing the number of learners mentored by 125%.
- Ceres is developing a partner engagement agent to support portfolio companies in implementing 500 sustainable company actions ā with the anticipated impact of speeding the time for companies to make sustainability commitments by 33%.
From certification to clean water
Among the participating entities is the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), aiming to develop an AI agent that simplifies forest certification access.
This effort will assist community and family forest managers, promoting responsible forestry practices.
Rare, focusing on regenerative agriculture, is launching an AI-enabled coaching tool to aid 5,000 smallholder farmers with customised guidance, cutting staff hours by 40% and promoting climate-resilient practices tailored to specific agro-ecological conditions.
Fair Trade USA is concentrated on enhancing partnerships, planning to reduce trade partner decertification by 6% via a new AI system that observes and aids certification stakeholders.
Global Water Center is creating a WASH alumni agent, targeting improved educational results in water, sanitation, and hygiene by delivering customised learning materials, with projected mentorship growth of 125%.
Lastly, Ceres is enhancing corporate sustainability by deploying an AI tool intended to assist companies in integrating sustainable methods, targeting a 33% reduction in commitment timeline, reflecting the programmeās importance to both civil society and the corporate sector.
Expanding the sustainability toolkit with AI
The Agents for Impact initiative contributes to a larger goal at Salesforce of addressing the technological industry's environmental challenges, including those posed by AI.
The company has teamed up with Hugging Face, Cohere and Carnegie Mellon to unveil the AI Energy Score ā a framework to evaluate the energy efficiency of AI models.
Salesforce leads as the first to disclose the energy consumption of its proprietary models, promoting transparency in a sector often criticised for its carbon footprint.
āTransparency like that offered by the AI Energy Score is crucial,ā says Ariane Thomas, Global Tech Director of Sustainability at LāOreal Group.
āBy openly sharing energy consumption data, our companies can collectively implement eco-design practices and minimise the environmental footprint of AI technologies.ā
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