The New Operating System for SMB with Salesforce EVP Adam Alfano

In this episode of the Shift AI Podcast, Adam Alfano, Global Head of SMB at Salesforce, joins host Boaz Ashkenazy for a wide-ranging conversation on how AI agents are fundamentally reshaping small and medium-sized businesses.

Adam shares his unconventional career journey—from growing up in a steel town outside Toronto to building a global sales career and now leading Salesforce’s SMB organization. From there, the discussion dives deep into how today’s SMBs are navigating constant macro change with resilience, optimism, and an increasingly innovative mindset.

The conversation explores how agentic AI is enabling small teams to operate with enterprise-level reach—automating frontline sales development, customer service, onboarding, and even complex workflows traditionally reserved for large organizations. Adam explains why CRM platforms are becoming the operating system for human–AI collaboration, how structured data is the foundation for effective agents, and why managing AI agents increasingly looks like managing employees.

Boaz and Adam also examine the growing sense of overwhelm SMB founders feel around AI tooling, why “just help me set it up” is becoming the winning go-to-market strategy, and how natural-language interfaces are collapsing the technical barrier to adoption. The episode closes with a forward-looking discussion on avatars, workforce orchestration, and why the future of work is best described as “limitless potential.”

This episode is essential listening for founders, operators, and product leaders who want to understand how AI is moving beyond individual productivity gains to unlock entirely new operating models for small businesses.

Chapters

[00:00] From Steel Town to Salesforce: Adam’s Career Journey

[04:24] The State of SMBs: Resilience, Innovation, and Opportunity

[07:18] What Defines an SMB—and Why Size Matters Less Than Ever

[08:17] Agentic AI in Practice: Sales, Service, and Infinite Reach

[11:22] Why CRM Is Becoming the OS for Human–AI Collaboration

[14:44] Data as the Foundation: Structuring Information for AI Agents

[17:32] Lowering the Barrier: Natural Language, Vibe Coding, and Usability

[19:41] The AI Tool Overload—and How SMBs Actually Want Help

[21:31] Where AI Delivers the Biggest Near-Term Impact

[24:31] Avatars, AI Teammates, and New Interaction Models

[28:48] The Future of Work: Limitless Potential

Connect with Adam Alfano

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-alfano-60ab329/

Connect with Boaz AshkenazyLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/boazashkenazy/

Email: info@shiftai.fm