Crews work to prepare for Salesforce’s annual global event, Dreamforce, in San Francisco on Sunday. The three-day event features topics on innovating technologies, including AI and GenAI to improving customer experiences through data and education technology.
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Dreamforce, a three-day event centered at Moscone Center, is expected to attract more than 40,000 people.
Brontë Wittpenn/The Chronicle
Crews work to prepare for Dreamforce, which begins Tuesday at the Moscone Center.
Brontë Wittpenn/The Chronicle
UPDATE: What San Francisco’s streets look like as Dreamforce crowds descend downtown
Dreamforce, San Francisco’s biggest conference, returns this week with around 45,000 attendees flocking to Moscone Center.
Hotel rooms around downtown have spiked to as much as $1,000 per night and a block of Howard Street is cordoned off for last-minute construction on Monday, as workers put the finishing touches on everything from fake waterfalls to concert stages to an expo floor.
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The event, which runs from Tuesday through Thursday, and is organized by tech giant Salesforce, is about 5,000 people larger than last year with the biggest attendance expected since COVID. Events will fill the convention center and spill over to part of the InterContinental Hotel on Fifth Street, Salesforce Tower and Yerba Buena’s Blue Shield of California Theater.
A whopping $93 million in local spending is projected and around 1,400 event staff were hired, a boost to the city’s tourism sector after a weaker convention calendar in 2024, compared with last year.
“We’ve been expanding the footprint,” said Ariel Kelman, a Salesforce president and chief marketing officer. “There’s just tons of demand at the conference.” He bills it as the “largest artificial intelligence event in the world,” as the industry booms.
Crews work to lay fake grass on Howard Street as a part of the Dream Forest in preparation for Salesforce’s annual global event, Dreamforce, which is expected to bring in $93 million in local spending.
Brontë Wittpenn/The Chronicle
AI has long been a part of Dreamforce — a cartoon Albert Einstein mascot was splashed around the conference to signify the company’s AI products for years — but it’s become the overwhelming focus since around 2022. That coincides with San Francisco’s rise as the global epicenter of AI, which has helped boost its economy and image as it has struggled with remote work’s impacts.
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Speakers at this year’s event include tech heavyweights like AI firm Anthropic’s President Daniela Amodei and Lisa Su, CEO of chipmaker AMD, which powers AI.
Salesforce will be using the conference to showcase its new Agentforce product, which uses AI to automate customer support tasks, with attendee demos. Kelman expects around 3,500 people to customize and build their own agent at Dreamforce through educational sessions. The product is already being used by some clients like school textbooks company Wiley and restaurant bookings firm OpenTable, Kelman said.
A floating Einstein head can be seen in the Agentforce launch zone ahead of Dreamforce. “We’ve been expanding the footprint,” said Ariel Kelman, a Salesforce president and chief marketing officer who bills the event as the “largest artificial intelligence event in the world.”
Brontë Wittpenn/The Chronicle
At the same time, Kelman said, the event has cut down on attendee gifts like free water bottles and printed-out brochures, to reduce waste and be more sustainable. “We’ve cut down on swag dramatically,” he said. Beef was cut from the menu years ago and this year there will be no pork or almonds, which use a substantial amount of water to grow.
There’s also the usual mix of pop culture stars, such as actors Matthew McConaughey, Kate Hudson, Edward Norton and John Mulaney. Restaurateur and entrepreneur Ayesha Curry, the wife of Warriors star Stephen Curry, is also speaking. Musical stars Pink and Imagine Dragons will perform at Oracle Park as part of the conference, after headliner Elton John canceled.
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Two notable Republican politicians, former House Speaker Paul Ryan and Utah Gov. Spencer Cox will also appear.
“We want to have a broad mix of people,” said Kelman, adding that a “four-day conference … can’t just do product training sessions all day.”
Mayor London Breed will also be speaking at the event, and her office hailed it as another sign of downtown’s comeback.
Crews work in the Lodge Village room to prepare for Salesforce’s annual global event, Dreamforce, in San Francisco.
Brontë Wittpenn/The Chronicle
“San Francisco is proud to welcome Dreamforce back with its largest crowd in years. Not only are we excited about the energy that Dreamforce brings to our City, but we know our restaurants, hotels, and small businesses will benefit from the tens of thousands of visitors flooding Union Square, Yerba Buena, and the surrounding area,” a Breed spokesperson said in a statement. “This will be another major boost for Downtown and we are ready to make sure our visitors feel welcome, safe, and supported when they come to San Francisco.”
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Salesforce has not commented on Dreamforce location plans for next year, but Kelman said that the city has been a “tremendous partner.” CEO Marc Benioff also gushed about the city’s safety and cleanliness after last year’s event, after threatening to move the conference due to homelessness and drug impacts, which didn’t happen.
“We want to be part of that story of recovery,” Kelman said. “We love having the conference in San Francisco. It is our preference to remain here for the fullness of time.”
Reach Roland Li: [email protected]; Twitter: @rolandlisf
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