How AI Agents and Salesforce Media Cloud
Are Reshaping Ad Sales Operations for Media Firms
Psssttt…. The future of ad sales isn’t coming—it’s already here.
This week, our team at V2 Strategic Advisors had the opportunity to attend Agentforce World Tour in New York City. Hosted by Salesforce, this one-day event brought together clients, partners, and product leaders to explore the next frontier of AI-powered business transformation. Held at Pier 60 in Manhattan, the event featured demos, customer stories, and product deep-dives with one major theme front and center: Agentic AI has arrived, and it’s reshaping how media companies sell advertising.
We had several team members on the ground throughout the day, reconnecting with clients, meeting with Salesforce colleagues, and taking in all the action from the sessions dedicated to Media & Entertainment. Being there firsthand—talking to others, seeing what’s live, and what’s coming next—reminded us how rapidly the rules are changing. Actually, the rules aren’t the only things changing, as witnessed last week, the technology is also changing too, as evidenced by Salesforce’s latest acquisition of Convergence.ai, which was just announced last week.
Yes, AI is everywhere now. But what’s still scarce is understanding. And in this moment of flux, that understanding doesn’t come from reading another white paper. It comes from experience. From walking into a room full of other people who’ve tried something, failed, tried again, and are now willing to share how they did it better the second time. That’s what made this event worth it.
As a firm rooted in the media and advertising world, we’re always thinking about what these developments mean for the companies we serve. Many of the biggest breakthroughs discussed at Agentforce World Tour directly apply to the ad sales motion—a space we’ve helped clients optimize for nearly two decades. Below, we’re sharing the most important takeaways for media companies navigating the path ahead.
1. Agentic AI Is About Orchestration, Not Just Automation
The headline shift isn’t from manual to automated. It’s from disconnected to coordinated.
Agentforce isn’t just another AI feature—it’s a platform-wide evolution that enables real-time orchestration across the full ad sales lifecycle. Through use cases shared live on stage, Salesforce showed how Agentforce is being embedded into Slack, Salesforce Sales Cloud, and Media Cloud to surface high-impact signals, automate repetitive workflows, and drive faster, smarter decision-making.
Imagine opening your laptop and instantly seeing two key alerts from your Agent: a new qualified lead already calendared and briefed, and a campaign underperforming with one of your top clients. That’s not theory—it’s happening now. And it means sellers can act faster and focus on strategy, not chasing down data.
2. Ad Sales Use Cases Are the AI Beachhead
One of the clearest messages from the day was this: ad sales is where AI is gaining the most traction first.
In multiple sessions, Salesforce leaders walked through how agents can now handle everything from RFP response generation to campaign reporting. The new Advertising Proposal Skill, for example, automatically digests incoming RFPs, populates Salesforce opportunity records, assembles product recommendations, and creates a proposal-ready deck—reducing a process that often takes days down to minutes.
Agents also help course-correct underperforming campaigns in real time. One demo showed how a sales rep used Agentforce to identify which inventory was dragging down campaign performance, re-segment the audience by age group, and reallocate underutilized placements—all before the reporting cycle closed.
These are not science fiction demos. They’re practical, configurable, and available to media firms today.
3. AI Can Unlock Revenue/Retention, But Only If It’s Trusted
Beyond efficiency, what Agentforce really unlocks is better business outcomes—for both revenue and employee experience.
During the sessions, we heard from leaders at Salesforce and clients like Pearson who reinforced that bots may handle linear tasks, but agents operate with nuance. They understand the context, adjust dynamically, and complete tasks end-to-end. That’s what allows companies to move beyond “ticket deflection” and start enabling upsell, cross-sell, and personalized engagement at scale.
Just as important, these tools elevate the employee experience. By offloading repetitive, time-consuming tasks, AI agents help teams focus on higher-value work—improving job satisfaction and reducing turnover. That’s not a side benefit—it’s a strategic imperative for media firms trying to retain top sales talent and support hybrid work.
4. Media Cloud Is Still the Foundation
While Agentforce took the spotlight, the backbone of the solution stack remains Salesforce Media Cloud—purpose-built to manage the full ad sales journey from lead to cash. With deep data models, workflow automation, and native integrations into Data Cloud and Tableau, Media Cloud helps organize the chaos of fragmented ad tech stacks and gives teams a single system of truth.
For companies that haven’t yet consolidated onto a unified platform, this is a critical first step. And for those ready to layer in AI, Media Cloud ensures the data foundation is solid—so agents act on relevant, trustworthy, and timely information.
5. Start Small, But Start Now
The strongest advice from Salesforce speakers? Don’t try to boil the ocean.
Start with high-volume, repetitive use cases—like proposal generation, campaign reporting, or subscriber support. Out-of-the-box skills are available today, and early adopters are already seeing ROI in areas like reduced turnaround time, increased self-service, and better campaign performance.
But the key to success is trust. Media sellers and ad ops leaders must understand why an agent recommends a specific action. Salesforce emphasized that Agentforce is built with explainability and guardrails—giving humans confidence to act, and teams the ability to measure and iterate.
Building Trust Starts With A Conversation.
This Is the Moment to Lean In
At V2, we’ve spent nearly 20 years guiding media companies through ad sales transformation. And this moment—with Agentforce, Data Cloud, and AI reshaping how work gets done—feels like one of the most important inflection points yet.
If you’re a media company trying to make sense of what to do next, we’d love to connect. We’re not just implementers—we’re former operators who’ve sat in your shoes. We help you evaluate paths A vs. B, and make sure your team not only launches, but lands the changes that matter most.
The future of ad sales is coordinated, intelligent, and powered by agents. Let’s build it together.
Want help getting started with Agentforce or evaluating your ad sales tech stack?
Get in touch with the team at V2 Strategic Advisors. We’re ready to help you make sense of it all—and unlock the next level of performance.
