I write about the three topics that I am most passionate about; Sales, Marketing and Social Media. These topics are covered from my experiences in outside sales and marketing. My objective is to use my expertise to help business and the individual.
I covered Salesforce AgentForce in New York this past month. This event was organized to showcase Salesforce’s Agentforce. Agentforce is DIY AI in action. Agentforce is a customer service agent that can be built by Salesforce customers and integrated into all industries across the customer journey.
In the keynote, Patrick Stokes, EVP of Product & Industries Marketing at Salesforce, asked, “What if organizations can create an unlimited labor force?” Salesforce shared how organizations use DIY AI in Agentforce to multiply their workforce.
I saw demos for use cases across industry verticals and the customer journey in Sales, Service, and Marketing functions.
Alice Steinglass, EVP & GM Platform at Salesforce demos how Prudential uses Agentforce.
Sanjna Parulekar, SVP of Product Marketing at Salesforce demos how Prudential uses Agentforce.
Jon Moore, Director of Product Marketing at Salesforce, demos Agentforce, empowering Financial Advisors.
There was a panel discussion; leaders discussed using Agentforce and Agentic AI. Panelists also shared how they would like Agentforce and DIY AI to evolve to improve productivity and outcomes.
Lydia Dishman hosts a Salesforce media panel at Agentforce Tour on Agentforce and Agentic AI.
Agentforce Tour was a great event. I learned much about AI Agents, DIY AI, and how it can transform the customer experience.
People connect and network in the Salesforce Ecosystem while learning about Salesforce Agentforce’s new features and rollout.
Salesforce, thank you for having me at the Agentforce Tour.
If you want to be on the cutting edge of DIY AI, attend Agentforce in your city.
Using Technology, Data & AI to Improve Traffic Safety: Insights from The 2025 World Traffic Safety Symposium
I covered the World Traffic Safety Symposium at the New York International Auto Show this past April. The symposium focused on using data and AI to reduce pedestrian fatalities and to make roads and cars safer.
Mark Scheinberg, President of the Greater New York Automotive Dealers Association and the New York International Auto Show, opened the symposium.
Guest Speakers included:
Mark F. Schroeder, Commissioner, NYS DMV, Governor’s Representative for Highway Safety, Richard Martinez, Former NHTSA Administrator and current Adjunct Professor of Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, Garret Eucalitto Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Transportation, Eric Teoh Director of Statistical Services Insurance Institute for Highway Safety IIHS , Tara Andringa, Executive Director at PAVE , Jon Baldwin, EVP of Government Solutions a Verra Mobility, Jonathan Miller, VP Enterprise Growth at Nexar Inc., and Zach Rash, Co-Founder and CEO of COCO, and many others.
Mark shared his commitment to road safety in New York State. He described the various task forces working to make roads safer for drivers and pedestrians. I was shocked to learn about the 20 percent pedestrian death rate on roads.
Richard Martinez, Former NHTSA Administrator and current Adjunct Professor of Emergency Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine, shared some interesting findings about enhancing vehicle and road safety through data and AI.
He shared that unintentional motor vehicle traffic accidents are one of the leading causes of death in the United States. For example, in 5 to 14-year-olds and 15 to 24-year-olds, it is the leading cause of death. In 1 to 4 year olds, 25 to 34 year olds, 35 to 44 year olds, 45 to 54 year olds, 55 to 64, and 65+, it is the second leading cause of death, with all ages ranking third in under one year of age. Overall, unintentional traffic accidents rank as the third leading cause of death across all groups.
This data suggests that motor vehicle accidents are a serious issue. I was shocked to see how motor vehicle crashes are.
Richard shared a way to improve road safety, achieving a vision zero through a safe system approach. Safe system elements include safer people, safe roads, safer vehicles, safer speeds, and enhanced survivability post-crash care. The creation of a safe environment for first responders to prevent secondary crashes through robust traffic incident management practices.
The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine presented critical findings in their report Tackling the Road Safety Crisis.
Critical Findings
Challenges
Opportunities
The goal is to go from Reactive to proactive to Predictive to reduce crashes.
The Connecticut DOT commissioner shared the challenges in AI.
Eric Teoh, Director of Statistical Services Insurance Institute for Highway Safety IIHS shared that motor vehicle crashes are down over the past 50 years, but motor vehicle crash fatalities are up 30 percent.
The goal is to go from Reactive to proactive to Predictive to reduce crashes.
Tara Andringa, Executive Director at PAVE, shared some interesting research about whether people would ride in an autonomous vehicle. Taxi and/or ride share, 48 % said that they would not. However, the poll found that 60 percent said that they would trust AVs if they understood the technology. 58 percent said that they would have greater trust in AVs if they could take a ride. PAVE educates the public showing demystifying technology and highlighting different ways AVs might be used.
In a panel discussion on the safety of Urban Mobility Safety Technology,
Jon Baldwin, EVP of Government Solutions a Verra Mobility, Jonathan Miller, VP Enterprise Growth at Nexar Inc., and Zach Rash, Co-Founder and CEO of COCO, shared how their companies’ offerings use Technology, AI, and Data to make urban mobility safer. Verra Mobility offers Automated Enforcement. Nexar offers Smart Dash Cameras that can be used in multiple applications and a robust Data platform, COCO offers autonomous delivery vehicles with mapping technology. They provided Cookies in one of their autonomous delivery vehicles, demonstrating the technology.
The 2025 World Traffic Safety Symposium highlighted issues, insights, and solutions to improve traffic safety.
I learned a great deal.
Thank you to the New York International Auto Show and the Greater New York Automobile Association for allowing me to cover this event.
I covered Automotive Forum New York, the day before the New York International Auto Show. This event connects Automotive thought leaders with Manufacturers and Dealers. Attendees learned about trends and insights in the Automotive industry, focusing on the dealer side of the business.
The auto forum started with an economist who analyzed the US Economy as a whole, followed by Thomas King, President, Data & Analytics Division, Chief Product Officer at JD Power, who analyzed the US auto industry, addressing the issue of tariffs and electric vehicle mandates on the automotive industry.
Thomas shared some interesting statistics and analysis.
The State of the Automotive Industry
The US put a 25 percent tariff on vehicles made outside the United States.
Vehicle exposure for US Retail sales amounts to $62 billion, translating to $4782 on average for every vehicle sold, or 10.6 percent of the price. However, this spread is asymmetric across brands. For example, brands where the tariff makes up 1 to 4 percent of the sales price sell more than brands where the tariff makes up a higher percentage of the sales price. As a result, dealers can not simply pass a 25 percent tariff on to their customers without a significant sales decline.
What can dealers and OEMs do immediately for the long term?
Dealers can focus on pricing incentives, shipping, rationalizing their portfolio, leveraging a global sales footprint to increase prices in other markets, right-sizing local production, optimizing part sourcing to increase US production, and eventually building more plants in the United States.
Thomas predicts that vehicle prices will increase 5 percent on average $2300, with an annual retail sales pace SAAR decrease of 8 percent or 1.1 million sales.
Industry Regulations & the EV Landscape
In the 2025 Industry Regulations & the EV Landscape panel, there was a conversation about how manufacturers and dealers are impacted by differing incentives, fines, compliance, and manufacturing mandates from the federal and state governments, resulting in a lack of uniformity. This will impact sales and profitability.
Improving the Customer Experience at Auto Dealerships
Anu Roberts, Director of Product Marketing at CDK Global, shared a study highlighting a correlation with shorter purchase time on the customer journey (2 hours or less), improved customer experience, and an increased net promoter score. Anu also shared how dealers are using AI, which included:
AI assistant for lead generation and qualification
AI assistants for providing information to customers
Scheduling appointments for customers
Targeting marketing campaigns based on segments
Analyzing customer feedback
She suggests dealers audit their buying process to lower customer friction, testing how long it takes to purchase a car.
What’s next for OEMs, Dealers, and Manufacturers?
Senator Bernie Moreno, a former car dealer, advised dealers and manufacturers on improving relationships with one another and the US Government in the Golden Age of Retail panel. He suggested working with the Trump administration in a collaborative partnership to manufacture cars people want to buy instead of cars they need to sell because of mandates and regulations.
It was a great event with many great panels. I learned a lot about the automotive industry.
I want to thank J.D. Power, NADA, and the New York International Auto Show for having me as their guest.
The 2025 New York International Auto Show is at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. The New York International Auto Show is celebrating its 125th anniversary!
I covered the New York International Auto Show on press and industry days. The show opened with the World Car Awards Breakfast.
Congratulations to the other finalists and winners as well!
You can see what it is like to be at the Auto Show on Press Days in this show floor preview.
I rode along in the Hyundai Ioniq 9 EV on one of the multiple test tracks at the show. It was a great experience!
The show consists mainly of EVs and hybrid vehicles. There are two levels of EV test tracks where you can do a ride-along. You can also ride along on the Jeep and Ford off-road mountain track. I rode along on all of the EV Tracks.
The 2025 Chevy Police Blazer EV also made an appearance.
There were also some new vehicle roll-outs and major press announcements from Kia, Hyundai, Subaru, VW, and many others.
You can find additional pictures posted on Instagram.
The show is open to the public at the Jacob Javits Center located at 429 11th Avenue New York, New York 10001. How to get to the Auto Show. The Auto Show runs from Friday, April 18th, through Sunday, April 27th, 2025. The hours are Monday—Saturday from 10 am to 7 pm, and Sundays from 10 am to 7 pm. General admission tickets are $22 for adults and $8 for children. Tickets can be purchased here.
What are you hoping to see at the auto show?
If you have attended the auto show, what was the most exciting thing you experienced?
Share your thoughts.
Thank you to the New York International Auto Show for having me!
I covered Salesforce AgentForce in New York this past week. This event was organized to showcase Salesforce’s new product Agentforce which is DIY AI in action. Agentforce is a customer service agent that can be built by Salesforce customers and integrated into all industries across the customer journey.
Salesforce Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer, Slack Parker Harris kicks off the Keynote in New York!
Users of Salesforce Foundation Enterprise Edition and higher can upgrade to Agentforce for free!
Customers could build a customer service agent on-site.
Salesforce hosted a hackathon where the winner of the Agentforce contest won $20000!
The keynote showed how service and customer success functions have evolved from chatbots to copilots to Agentforce a self-designable customer service agent that can be customized to users’ specific needs across the customer journey, increasing productivity, reducing customer friction, and maximizing the customer experience.
Patrick Stokes EVP of Product & Industries Marketing at Salesforce, shows how he exchanged his sweater for the right size using Sofie and a customer service agent Saks Fifth Avenue built using Agentforce.
Patrick Stokes
I saw multiple demos of Agentforce across Sales, Marketing, Service and, more.
Salesforce announced the launch of the Testing Center for Agentforce; coming this December, which will allow users to develop Agentforce to answer every possible question in all forms and variations; something the current chatbots and copilots can’t do. Agentforce enables users to take proactive prescriptive action in real-time.
AgentforceTour was a great event. I learned much about DIY AI and how it can transform the customer experience.
I want to thank Salesforce for having me at Agentforce Tour.
If you want to be on the cutting edge of DIY AI, attend Agentforce in your city.
