Salesforce Pledges AI Training for One Million Indians by 2030

Salesforce announced a commitment on June 9, 2026, to provide AI and cloud skills training to one million learners in India by 2030. The initiative, unveiled during the 10th anniversary of the company's Centre of Excellence in Hyderabad, aims to transition the Indian workforce from basic digital literacy toward emerging AI-driven roles, such as agent orchestrators and forward-deployed engineers.

The program operates through four pillars: government partnerships with IndiaAI and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, virtual internships via the All India Council for Technical Education, academic Centres of Excellence with institutions like Manipal Academy of Higher Education, and a mentorship network including Accenture, Deloitte, Infosys, and TCS.

This expansion in South Asia occurs alongside workforce reductions in California. The company implemented a new round of layoffs affecting 86 roles in sales, general administration, and product divisions, specifically targeting the Marketing Cloud, Mulesoft, and Agentforce AI products. Salesforce leadership framed these diverging actions as a response to the evolving nature of work, noting that while AI may eliminate repetitive tasks, upskilling is essential to prevent job loss.