Salesforce stands as the leading platform in the customer relationship management (CRM) space and is recognized as one of the most influential companies globally. With a vast workforce and an extensive network of users, Salesforce powers businesses across a wide range of industries—from startups to large enterprises. Their solutions help organizations improve customer engagement, streamline operations, and support growth.
In this article, we’ll explore key trends and insights reflecting Salesforce’s continued expansion and the increasing number of companies embracing its technology around the world.
Salesforce is a top-rated customer relationship management (CRM) platform trusted by more than 150,000 businesses worldwide. From small enterprises to large corporations, Salesforce provides tools that help organizations manage customer interactions, automate workflows, and analyze data efficiently. With a global workforce exceeding 80,000 employees, Salesforce has established itself as a leader in cloud-based business solutions.
A wide variety of industries rely on Salesforce’s powerful CRM capabilities to improve their customer engagement and operational efficiency. Many large companies choose Salesforce because it offers strong security measures, complies with global standards, and delivers customizable solutions that can be tailored to meet unique business demands. Salesforce is a popular choice for organizations that want to improve their processes and provide excellent customer experiences. Its ability to adapt makes it suitable for different needs.
Salesforce is widely used across the U.S., where it serves a large chunk of its global customers. By the end of 2022, almost 6 out of 10 Salesforce users were based in the United States. This shows how many American businesses trust Salesforce to manage their customer relationships.
Salesforce had over 150,000 customers around the world in 2024. This number is skyrocketing, and experts believe it will double by 2026. Many U.S. companies in banking, retail, technology, and telecommunications use Salesforce for their customer relationship management (CRM) needs. They prefer this platform because it is flexible, secure, and can be tailored to different business goals.
Amazon Web Services (80 billion USD of Annual Revenue)
The New York Post (9.9 billion USD)
U.S. Bank (22 billion USD)
Walmart (611.3 billion USD)
Macy’s (24.4 billion USD)
T-Mobile (19.2 billion USD)
L’Oreal Americas (10 billion USD)
American Express (55 billion USD)
The Hershey Company (10.8 billion USD)
Among Salesforce's customers, 49% are small businesses with fewer than 50 employees, 40% are medium-sized businesses, and 11% are large businesses with over 1,000 employees.
Salesforce is especially favored by small businesses, mainly those generating annual revenues between $1 million and $10 million. Following this, companies with revenues ranging from $10 million to $50 million also form a significant portion of Salesforce’s clientele. Large corporations, including those with revenues up to a billion dollars, make up the third-largest group using the platform.
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Salesforce CRM helps many types of businesses around the world. It can adapt to different needs, making it useful in areas like commercial real estate, private equity, higher education, and nonprofit organizations.
By 2025, most Salesforce users will be in professional services, making up nearly 30% of its customers. This group includes lawyers, architects, advertising experts, and accountants who use Salesforce to manage their client relationships and improve their operations.
Manufacturing companies account for over 11% of Salesforce users. Companies use Salesforce to improve their production processes and manage their supply chains. Financial and banking institutions make up about 10% of users. They use Salesforce to keep customer data secure and provide personalized services. The retail sector accounts for nearly 8% of Salesforce clients, using its tools to enhance customer experiences and boost sales.
Industries such as consumer packaged goods and media have more minor, yet significant, shares of Salesforce users—around 5% and 4%, respectively—showing that Salesforce’s reach continues to expand across various markets.
The most well-known companies that use Salesforce in the sphere of professional services are:
Accenture
American Express
Bain & Company
Bank of America Corporation
Boston Consulting Group
Columbia Banking system
Deloitte
EY
KPMG
McKinsey & Company
PwC, etc.
BlueScope Steel, KONE, and Schneider Electric are in the manufacturing sphere.
Salesforce has a strong global presence, with the majority of its customers located in the United States. In fact, nearly 62% of Salesforce users are based in the U.S., making it the platform’s largest market. Within the U.S., California leads with the highest number of customers, followed by New York and Texas.
The United Kingdom has the second-largest number of Salesforce users, making up about 13.6% of all users. France is in third place with nearly 5% of users using Salesforce. These numbers show that Salesforce is popular in major international markets and is a trusted tool for businesses worldwide.
Salesforce has cemented its position as a leading CRM platform, particularly in the United States, where nearly 62% of its customers are based. Within the U.S., California leads with over 9,000 businesses using Salesforce, followed closely by New York and Texas. This strong foothold in key states highlights how Salesforce meets the demands of diverse industries across the country.
Beyond the U.S., Salesforce maintains a significant presence internationally. The United Kingdom accounts for around 13.6% of customers, while France holds nearly 5% of the user base. This widespread adoption across important global markets showcases why Salesforce continues to grow in popularity and trust among businesses worldwide.
Consumer Goods
Media
Retail
Energy & Utilities
Financial Services
Public Sector
Travel & Hospitality
Education
Healthcare & Life Sciences
Nonprofit
Manufacturing
Communications
A large number of Salesforce users rely on the platform to streamline their sales workflows. Industry analysts at IDC highlight that this leads to more efficient sales operations and an increase in lead generation. Beyond just the sales department, customer support teams also gain advantages by using Salesforce CRM to enhance their service and support capabilities.
Most people think Salesforce is just for sales teams, and while sales teams use it extensively, other departments are also using it. Teams like IT, customer support, marketing, and finance regularly use Salesforce to keep their work organized and connected.
Some departments, like product development and operations, don’t use it as much, but it’s clear Salesforce helps the whole company run smoothly, not just sales. It’s a tool that brings different parts of a business closer and makes collaboration easier.
The detailed distribution of Salesforce products for different departments is as follows:
Businesses adopt Salesforce with clear goals in mind. Around 30% seek to enhance customer experience, while 25% focus on improving their operational efficiency. Increasing employee productivity is a priority for 23%, and 22% aim to speed up research and product development.
Many companies quickly see a strong return on their investment. Some recover more than half of what they spent within the first year, and some report returns of up to 500%. Additionally, around 60% of customers who start using Salesforce’s basic services decide to buy more products, indicating their trust and satisfaction with the platform.
Since its founding in 1999, Salesforce has rapidly become a dominant force in the customer relationship management (CRM) industry. Today, it holds a significant share of the market and consistently outshines many of its competitors by offering cutting-edge digital solutions designed to meet the needs of businesses across all sectors.
For the past nine years, Salesforce has been the world's leading CRM provider. It works with some of the largest companies worldwide and sets the standard for innovation and reliability in digital business. In this section, we will look at how Salesforce has made an impact and how it continues to shape the future of CRM technology.
As of 2022, Salesforce holds a 23% share of the global software market, according to the latest report by IDC. The company competes with 163 other companies in providing CRM services.
Salesforce faces competition from several major technology companies, including Microsoft, Adobe, Oracle, and SAP. While these well-known companies share a portion of the customer relationship management (CRM) market, Salesforce remains ahead in many areas.
Salesforce is a leader in several areas of customer relationship management (CRM), like sales applications, customer support tools, and marketing platforms. Its marketing solutions are strong in the market and compete closely with Adobe’s products. Its sales-focused platform outperforms competitors by a wide margin, and its customer service tools continue to set the standard for the industry.
Overall, Salesforce’s comprehensive suite of products and continuous innovation allow it to maintain a clear lead over its competitors across key CRM functions.
Salesforce started as a small startup and has grown into a leader in the CRM industry. This growth shows the company’s ability to adapt to changing business needs and continue to innovate. By expanding its customer base and increasing its revenue, Salesforce proves that it is still successful. Its steady rise underscores how organizations across the globe trust Salesforce’s tools to manage customer relationships and fuel their growth effectively.
Since its inception, Salesforce has experienced steady growth not only in its business but also in its workforce. As the company expanded its reach globally, its employee count grew consistently year after year. This steady increase in staff reflects Salesforce’s ongoing success and its commitment to supporting a wide range of clients worldwide with a growing team of skilled professionals.
Salesforce has grown its revenue significantly in recent years. The company’s revenue continues to rise, showing substantial progress as it moves forward. Experts believe Salesforce will maintain this growth, with revenue expected to reach new levels as the business expands.
A significant portion of Salesforce’s income comes from subscriptions and support services, which make up the vast majority of its total revenue. These services have experienced steady increases, driving much of the company’s financial success. In addition, Salesforce earns revenue from professional services, which, while a smaller portion of overall income, has grown consistently and is expected to gain a larger share moving forward.
Salesforce makes most of its money from its subscription services and its large AppExchange platform. These two areas reflect the strong demand for cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) solutions. Although professional services and other business operations generate lower revenue, they still play an essential role in the company’s growth strategy.
Salesforce offers a range of products designed to help businesses run smoothly in different areas. The main ones are Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Platform (which includes tools like Tableau and MuleSoft), and Marketing and Commerce Cloud.
Lately, Service Cloud brings in the most revenue and leads the pack. Sales Cloud, which used to be the biggest earner, still contributes a lot and ranks high among the products. The Platform segment has been growing fast, thanks to popular tools like Tableau and MuleSoft, making it the second-largest source of revenue. Marketing and Commerce Cloud focuses on marketing and online sales, rounding out the group with steady earnings.
Salesforce isn’t just about these four products. There’s a whole ecosystem of Salesforce partners— Salesforce consultants, developers, and software companies—that help businesses get the most out of Salesforce. These partners support customers by tailoring solutions and ensuring seamless integration.
One well-known partner is Codleo, which has been helping companies with Salesforce consulting and development for over ten years.
Interestingly, the whole Salesforce ecosystem actually makes much more money than Salesforce itself. For every dollar Salesforce earns, its ecosystem generates several times more, and that number is only growing. This vast network shows just how crucial partners are to Salesforce’s business success.
Salesforce earns the most revenue from the Americas, where businesses contribute the largest share of its income. This region has also seen steady growth, reflecting strong demand for Salesforce’s products and services.
Europe holds the second spot in terms of revenue, and it’s growing quickly. In fact, revenue from European customers has been increasing at a faster pace compared to other regions like the Americas and the Asia Pacific, signaling a promising future for Salesforce in this market.
The Asia Pacific region currently brings in the smallest portion of Salesforce’s revenue, but it is experiencing solid growth as the company continues to expand its presence there. While it remains behind the Americas and Europe, the region’s growth rate shows potential for future gains.
Looking at the broader impact, Salesforce and its cloud solutions are expected to contribute significant economic value worldwide. Customers using Salesforce’s tools will generate substantial revenue for their local economies, with the United States leading the way. Japan, Germany, and the UK also stand out as key markets where Salesforce is driving notable economic benefits.
Overall, Salesforce is actively used worldwide, and regardless of the territory, it contributes positively to other businesses' growth and development by unifying processes and easing operations.
Salesforce has grown quickly due to many company acquisitions and subsidiaries. These acquisitions have helped strengthen Salesforce’s position in the technology industry and improve its ability to provide complete solutions to its customers.
Here, we explore Salesforce’s approach to acquiring companies and managing its subsidiaries by answering common questions about the company.
Salesforce's latest major acquisition is Slack, a workplace messaging service that helps businesses communicate internally and offers additional services and integrations. Salesforce announced the deal in December 2020 and finalized it in July 2021(Source). This acquisition is notable for being the largest in software history, costing 27.7 billion USD.
Salesforce bought Slack to integrate its popular messaging and collaboration tools into its CRM system. This move responds to the growing need for remote work and easy team communication. The acquisition is a key step in Salesforce's becoming a complete digital workplace platform.
The deal was one of Salesforce’s best investments. It boosted Salesforce’s revenue by nearly $600 million in the last half of fiscal year 2022 and is expected to add another $1.5 billion to its revenue for fiscal year 2023(Source). Like other companies it has acquired, Salesforce now offers Slack on its AppExchange marketplace, making it a valuable part of its ecosystem.
In 2022, Salesforce focused on buying companies to enhance its existing ecosystem and support its infrastructure. The company made three major acquisitions: Track on Demand, a consultancy firm; Phennecs, a compliance services vendor; and Troops.ai, a sales automation bots provider.
Since its inception, Salesforce has bought 70 companies, including Tableau, MuleSoft, Demandware, ExactTarget, Vlocity, and Slack. In 2020, these purchases cost $29.1 billion. The most acquisitions happened in 2016 when Salesforce acquired 12 companies. The most significant purchases were Slack for $27.7 billion, Tableau for $15.7 billion, and MuleSoft for $6.5 billion. Overall, Salesforce has spent over $70 billion on its acquisitions.
It can be hard to tell which companies belong to Salesforce since they often offer services under different names. Quip, Heroku, MuleSoft, Tableau, SoftwareAcumen Solutions, and Slack Technologies are commonly recognized as Salesforce subsidiaries. Some sources include Datorama, Inc., ClickSoftware Technologies, Demandware, Inc., BeyondCore, and Clipboard as Salesforce subsidiaries. Below is the complete list of Salesforce subsidiaries:
Here you can find more information about Salesforce Subsidiaries and their market projected growth:
Mulesoft is a leader in the software integration market, which is expected to grow at 15.4% from 2021 to 2028. Due to its strong position in the industry, Mulesoft will likely see its revenue grow even faster than the overall market in the coming years.
Datorama specializes in marketing, advertising, and data management software. According to Mordor Intelligence, this market is expected to grow by 19.4% annually from 2021 to 2028. Datorama is an essential company in this field, and its revenue will likely increase significantly.
Clipboard. Grand View Research predicts that the short-term data storage and transfer software market will grow by 12.1% annually from 2021 to 2028. Clipboard is a new player in this market, but it has already gained a significant share and is showing strong results.
Coolan. MarketsandMarkets predicts that the data analytics platform market will grow at 17.9% annually from 2021 to 2028. Coolan is a major player in this market.
Heroku provides a Platform as a Service for industrial IoT. According to Fortune Business Insights, this market is expected to grow at 14.8% each year from 2021 to 2028.
Quip. Quip is a leading provider of tools that help businesses work better together. Its software allows users to easily edit shared documents, manage accounts, and take notes. According to Mordor Intelligence, Quip’s productivity software market is expected to grow by 10.2% annually from 2021 to 2028.
ClickSoftware Technologies. ClickSoftware Technologies is a leader in workforce and service management software. According to MarketsandMarkets, this industry is expected to grow 11.8% annually from 2021 to 2028.
Tableau is a well-known provider of data analytics software. According to MarketsandMarkets, the financial services and analytics software market is expected to grow 17.2% annually from 2021 to 2028.
Slack is a significant platform for business communication and collaboration alongside Microsoft and Google tools. Markets and Markets predicts that the team communication software market will grow 14.6% annually from 2021 to 2028, which means Slack will likely increase its revenue even more.
Salesforce had 79,390 employees worldwide in the 2023 fiscal year, nearly a 60% increase since 2020. Most employees (58%) work in the US, while 42% are in 84 international Salesforce offices worldwide.
Salesforce increased its employees by nearly 8% in 2023 compared to 2022. This growth came despite a hiring freeze from November 2022 to January 2023. In January 2023, the company announced plans to cut its workforce by 10%, which is about 8,000 employees(Source).
Salesforce has grown massively over the past 20 years. In 2005, the company had only 767 employees. Fast forward to 2023, and that number is nearly 80,000. That’s pretty impressive.
The number of Salesforce employees doesn’t give a complete picture of its culture and values. Salesforce focuses on being welcoming and inclusive. It supports minorities, LGBTQ employees, and people of all genders, ages, and abilities. 50.7% of Salesforce employees come from underrepresented groups(Source).
Salesforce has been ranked on the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For list for 14 years. In 2023, it scored #8 on the list.
Salesforce and its partner ecosystem play a significant role in the global job market. By the end of 2026, Salesforce is expected to create 9.3 million jobs worldwide and generate $1.6 trillion in new business revenue globally.
Salesforce and its partners have created 3.8 million direct jobs through their solutions. Additionally, these direct employees and their spending have generated 5.5 million indirect job opportunities in the local economy.
Salesforce is a group of successful products, a growing network of partners, and related products that help the global economy.
Salesforce is a leading company in the CRM market. It helps both large businesses and startups use their data to increase productivity, improve customer satisfaction, and grow their annual revenues. Because of this, Salesforce was the first company to embrace AI development in real estate, especially in generative AI, during the rise of AI and GPT technology.
A generative AI model offers new possibilities for Salesforce users by creating images, text, videos, and sounds to build a virtual world. This AI continually learns and improves itself based on the data it receives.
In March 2023, Salesforce launched Einstein GPT. This generative AI tool is designed specifically for customer relationship management (CRM) and is part of the Customer 360 platform. It works with OpenAI, especially ChatGPT technology, and connects with all Salesforce clouds, Tableau, Slack, and MuleSoft. Einstein GPT helps create content like personalized emails for marketing and sales teams and responses for customer care teams. It also automates code generation for developers.
Recently, the company has significantly advanced its AI development. In June 2023, Salesforce launched an AI Cloud built on Einstein GPT. This cloud provides AI features across all of Salesforce's services. It helps manage tasks, analyze customer behavior, and handle sales and marketing. This aims to increase revenue and enhance Salesforce clients' presence in the real estate market.
Salesforce understands the security risks that AI can create. The company has developed the AI cloud using the Einstein GPT Trust Layer to protect customer data. This allows users to train AI models on their data without worrying about it being hacked.
AI Cloud is built on Einstein GPT and combines multiple systems in one place.
Sales GPT—This system includes automatic email generation and meeting scheduling. It also has a Sales AI feature. Built as an extension of Sales Cloud, Sales AI helps users improve their sales results by automating and personalizing sales tasks using Einstein GPT.
Service GPT—Service GPT is a new feature in the Service Cloud that automatically creates personalized responses in customer service chats.
Marketing GPT – Creating personalized web content and advertising.
Slack GPT—Collaboration tools are getting better with AI. Slack GPT helps users by summarizing conversations, providing AI-driven research, and automatically creating message drafts.
Einstein GPT for Developers: Development teams can use the AI chat assistant to generate code efficiently or to ask questions about Salesforce's large language models.
We don't know how many companies use Salesforce AI, but some include Gucci, Inspirato, and RBC US Wealth Management. These big companies show that more Salesforce clients will likely use AI soon.
Salesforce Ventures is increasing its Generative AI Fund from $250 million to $500 million. This fund aims to support promising AI startups focused on generative AI. As a venture capital firm and a software developer in the CRM market, Salesforce has already invested in companies like Anthropic, Cohere, You.com, and Hearth. Salesforce will host their large language models on its infrastructure.
The data shows that Salesforce has grown significantly over the last ten years. Let's add some important facts and milestones that contributed to its success. In addition to various products, services, and clouds, Salesforce launched AppExchange, a platform where fans can share ideas.
Salesforce AppExchange is the top marketplace for cloud applications designed for businesses. Salesforce runs this platform. It allows third-party developers to create and share applications that work well with Salesforce products.
Apps, or applications, are designed to make Salesforce's CRM and cloud services more useful across different industries. Businesses can easily add these apps to Salesforce.org, improving and personalizing their CRM experience. Many customers use AppExchange to customize their CRM to fit their needs.
The service requires a subscription fee paid by third-party app providers. This system benefits both Salesforce and developers and contributes significantly to Salesforce's overall income. Salesforce does not share specific AppExchange revenue numbers; IDC estimates it generated $20 billion in 2020 for its 2,000+ independent software vendor (ISV) partners. In 2022, Salesforce announced that AppExchange installs surpassed 10 million, so we can only estimate how much revenue this generated for the company.
Salesforce is one of the most sustainable global companies. Since 2013, it has worked to help the world shift to clean and renewable sources of electricity.
Salesforce reached its goal in 2021 by using 100% renewable energy and achieving net-zero emissions across its entire value chain. Additionally, 7.39% of Salesforce customers said the company's cloud solutions helped them with their sustainability efforts.
You will face several challenges if you move to Salesforce as your central CRM platform. You'll need to decide which Salesforce Cloud to use and how to adjust the existing Salesforce features to fit your business needs. This way, you can make the most of your new investment.
Salesforce consulting partners help new customers succeed with Salesforce. They provide valuable advice for developing apps on the AppExchange, customizing CRM to fit needs, and setting up Salesforce solutions.
Codleo Consulting is a Salesforce Summit [Platinum] Consulting Partner, and a software development firm focused on the technical side of Salesforce and other top CRM platforms. For over 10 years, we have been helping the world’s leading companies with their CRM needs. Visit our case studies for more details.
Besides that, Codleo offers:
CRM products and apps
200+ professionals on board
Salesforce Certified Developers, App Builders, and Admins
Onshore and Offshore engagement models for cost compression
Top CRM consulting & custom software development company on Clutch.co.
Contact us if you have a Salesforce project but aren't sure how to start. Let us know your business challenges, or explore our Salesforce Quick Start packages for ready-made support.
Publish date: 28th April, 2025