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Salesforce and Google Expand Partnership, Introduce Gemini to Agentforce

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Salesforce and Google today announced a major expansion of their strategic partnership, delivering choice in the models and capabilities businesses use to build and deploy AI-powered agents.

The AI landscape is evolving so quickly that businesses are struggling to keep pace with  innovations like autonomous agents. This expanded partnership provides crucial flexibility, empowering customers to develop tailored AI solutions that meet their specific needs, rather than being locked into a single model provider.

Google Cloud is at the forefront of enterprise AI, with millions of developers using its cutting edge Gemini models and AI optimised infrastructure

This expanded partnership lets Salesforce customers build Agentforce agents with Gemini and deploy Salesforce on Google Cloud. It builds on their existing collaboration, which enables seamless data sharing between Google BigQuery and Salesforce via zero copy technology. This gives businesses the AI, data, and trust they need to integrate autonomous agents into their operations.

“Through our expanded partnership with Google Cloud and deep integrations at the platform, application, and infrastructure layer, we’re giving customers choice in the applications and models they want to use,” said Srini Tallapragada, Salesforce President & Chief Engineering and Customer Success Officer.

“Salesforce offers a complete enterprise-grade agentic AI platform that makes it easy to deploy new capabilities easily and realise business value fast. Google Cloud is a pioneer in enterprise agentic AI, offering some of the most powerful, capable models, agents, and AI development tools on the planet. Together we are creating the best place for businesses to scale with digital labour.”

“Salesforce’s selection of Google Cloud as a major infrastructure provider means enterprise customers can now deploy some of their most critical applications on our highly secure,

AI-optimised infrastructure — with minimal friction,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud.

“Our mutual customers have asked us to be able to work more seamlessly across Salesforce and Google Cloud, and this expanded partnership will help them accelerate their AI transformations with agentic AI, state-of-the-art AI models, data analytics, and more.”

“At Wayfair, we’re deeply committed to using data and AI to create exceptional customer experiences,” said Fiona Tan, CTO of Wayfair. “The Salesforce and Google Cloud partnership, particularly the availability of Salesforce on Google Cloud infrastructure and the integration of Agentforce and Gemini, offers powerful new capabilities to personalise interactions and empower our teams to better serve our customers.”

Why it matters:

Agentic AI isn’t just emerging, it’s already here and represents a $2 trillion market opportunity, according to a study from Salesforce. In fact, 84% of CIOs believe AI will be as significant to businesses as the internet. To fully realise this potential, businesses need an agentic strategy with openness, trust, and choice at the centre.

This includes:

● Data: Highly secure and unified access to all your data, no matter where it resides, with a zero-copy architecture and enriched metadata for deeper insights. This breaks down data silos across platforms so customers don’t have to sacrifice choice for an integrated experience, unlike solutions that hoard data access or require users to cobble together disparate solutions.

● AI: Unparalleled choice and flexibility with leading AI models, including predictive, generative, and multi-modal options. This allows businesses to tailor solutions to their specific needs and avoid being locked on a single provider’s AI capabilities.

● Trust: A multi-layered approach to protect your data and infrastructure with encryption, data residency options, and a choice of infrastructure providers. Additionally, robust guardrails, bias detection, explainability, and toxicity controls are built-in to ensure responsible AI development and deployment.

● Actions: Seamless integration of automation, analytics, and applications across platforms to streamline workflows and drive efficiency across the organization. This allows businesses to maximize the impact of AI agents by connecting them to their existing tools and systems, unlike solutions with limited integrations or closed Ecosystems.

Data: Real-Time Responses in Agentforce with Google Search

Agentforce will be able to leverage Grounding with Google Search through Vertex AI, building on the secure data foundation established through the zero copy partnership between Salesforce Data Cloud and Google BigQuery. This integration empowers Agentforce agents with the ability to reference up-to-the-minute data, news, current events, and credible citations, substantially enhancing their contextual awareness and ability to deliver accurate, evidence-backed responses.

For example, in supply chain management and logistics, an Agentforce agent could track shipments and monitor inventory levels in Salesforce Commerce Cloud, and proactively identify potential disruptions using real-time data from Google Search, including weather conditions, port congestion, and geopolitical events. Availability is expected in the coming months.

AI: Unlocking the Power of Choice and Flexibility with Gemini and Agentforce

Businesses need the freedom to choose the best models for their needs rather than be locked into one vendor. In 2025, Google’s Gemini models will also be available for prompt building and reasoning directly within Agentforce.

With Gemini and Agentforce, businesses will benefit from:

● Agents with multi-modal capabilities: Gemini’s native multimodality lets agents “see” and interpret the world, enabling AI to recognize images (like error codes) and detect emotions in voice. Integrating this into Agentforce creates smarter agents that respond to audio, video, and text.

● Expanded contextual understanding and reasoning: Gemini’s 2 million-token context window lets agents retain and reference massive amounts of information, like entire codebases, years of customer interactions, or product documentation.

● Increased speed and efficiency: Google’s Tensor processing Units (TPUs), combined with advanced techniques like those used in Google’s NotebookLM, enable Gemini to process and understand information with exceptional speed and efficiency, delivering real-time responses even for complex queries. This translates to faster response times and reduced operational costs.

For example, an insurance customer can submit a claim with photos of the damage and an audio voicemail from a witness. Agentforce, using Gemini, can then help the insurance provider deliver better customer experiences by processing all these inputs, assessing the claim’s validity, and even using text-to-speech to contact the customer with a resolution, streamlining the traditionally lengthy claims process. Availability is expected this year.

Trust: Salesforce Platform deployed on Google Cloud

Customers will be able to leverage Salesforce’s unified platform (Agentforce, Data Cloud, Customer 360) on Google Cloud’s highly secure, AI-optimized infrastructure, benefiting from

features like dynamic grounding, zero data retention, and toxicity detection provided by the Einstein Trust Layer.

Once Salesforce products are available on Google Cloud, customers will also have the ability to procure Salesforce offerings through the Google Cloud Marketplace, opening up new

possibilities for global businesses to optimize their investments across Salesforce and Google Cloud and benefitting thousands of existing joint customers.

Action: Enhanced Employee Productivity and Customer Service with AI-Powered

Integrations

Millions use Salesforce and Google Cloud daily. This partnership prioritizes choice and flexibility, enabling seamless cross-platform work. New and deeper connections between platforms like Salesforce Service Cloud and Google Cloud’s Customer Engagement Suite, as well as Slack and Google Workspace, will empower AI agents and service representatives with unified data access, streamlined workflows, and advanced AI capabilities, regardless of platform.

Salesforce and Google Cloud are deeply integrating their customer service platforms – Salesforce Service Cloud and Google Cloud’s Customer Engagement Suite – to create a

seamless and intelligent support experience.

Expected later this year, this unified approach empowers AI agents in Service Cloud with:

● Real-time Voice Translation and Sentiment Analysis: Google Cloud AI in Service Cloud will enable real-time voice translation breaking down language barriers. New agent assist features within the Service Cloud desktop will analyse tone of voice and audio cues for deeper customer sentiment understanding.

● Agent-to-Agent Intelligent Handoffs: Across all channels, virtual agents built on Google Conversational Agents will be able to seamlessly connect with Agentforce in Service Cloud for more efficient management of multi-step, customer interactions. Salesforce and Google Cloud are also exploring deeper integrations between Slack and Google Workspace, boosting productivity and creating a more cohesive digital workspace for teams and organisations. The companies are currently exploring use cases such as:

● The ability for users to leverage enterprise search in Slack to access and act on files in Google Drive.

● The ability to more easily share information between Gmail and Slack, enhancing communication and knowledge sharing.

The result is a more connected and productive work environment, where businesses can choose the best tools for their needs from employee productivity to customer service while

benefiting from a seamless and intelligent workflow across platforms.

Expanding Partnership Capabilities and Integrations

This partnership goes beyond core product integrations to deliver a more connected and intelligent data foundation for businesses. This is just the beginning; Salesforce and Google

Cloud are committed to ongoing innovation and deeper collaboration to empower businesses with even more powerful solutions. Expected availability throughout 2025.

● Deeper integrations across Data Cloud, BigQuery, and Cortex Framework will make it easier than ever for customers to securely ground their AI agents in all of their enterprise data.

● New native Tableau, Looker, and BigQuery integration will allow customers to manage and visualise business data across all platforms in one single UI with standardized business logic and data definitions.


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Ugo Onwuaso is an ICT enthusiast. He believes technology should be used for general good. He holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Lagos state University. Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

General News

Nigeria Treats Religious Violence as Attack on State – NSA Ribadu

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National Security Adviser Nuhu Ribadu has said the federal government considers religious violence an attack on the Nigerian state, stressing that the protection of all citizens, regardless of faith, is non-negotiable.

Nigeria Treats Religious Violence as Attack on State – NSA Ribadu

According to presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga, Ribadu made the remarks in Abuja at the close of a US–Nigeria Joint Working Group session.

“Nigeria is a deeply plural society, and the protection of all citizens, Christians, Muslims, and those of other beliefs, is non-negotiable,” Ribadu said.
“Violence framed along religious lines is treated as an attack on the Nigerian state itself.”

In a follow-up post on X, Ribadu said the joint working group has recorded “tangible operational gains” in the fight against terrorism.

The working group was set up following Nigeria’s designation as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) by US President Donald Trump, a label that often triggers policy actions aimed at ending severe violations of religious freedom.

At the meeting, Ribadu led Nigeria’s delegation, which included representatives from 10 ministries and agencies, while the US delegation, made up of eight federal agencies, was led by Allison Hooker, US under-secretary of state.

Ribadu said Nigeria-US security cooperation has moved from dialogue to action, resulting in the disruption of terrorist networks and transnational criminal groups. He also praised the US for supplying drones, helicopters, platforms, spare parts, and other support systems over the past five years.

Speaking at the session, Hooker said the US was committed to expanding its partnership with Nigeria, particularly on deterring violence against Christian communities.

“Today, we are here to discuss how we can work together to deter violence against Christian communities, prioritising counter-terrorism, insecurity, investigation of attacks, and holding perpetrators accountable,” she said.

She added that efforts would focus on reducing killings, forced displacement, and abductions of Christians, especially in Nigeria’s north-central states


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PalmPay User Shares Experience on Fintech Apps to Trust in Nigeria

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For many Nigerians, fintech apps are judged by one simple question: Can I trust the platform? For Happiness, a young Nigerian entrepreneur, the answer manifested in the most defining moments of her life.

Trust Built Through Everyday Use

In 2025, Happiness relied on PalmPay to run her business, from receiving customer payments, paying vendors, and managing daily transactions. During PalmPay’s Hustle Grant Campaign, she joined thousands of small business owners hoping to win the N500,000 funding.

While she didn’t make the shortlist, the campaign gave her business something just as valuable: visibility. New customers discovered her brand, enquiries increased, and sales followed.

PalmPay didn’t just host a campaign; it created an ecosystem where small businesses could be seen and supported.

Just days later, Happiness’ life changed. On August 30, 2025, she lost her father. With this loss came challenges, especially payments. They tried transferring money through regular banks but were met with declined transactions. Happiness suggested using her PalmPay account and it was successful.

In a moment defined by loss and urgency, PalmPay cut through the chaos, proving that reliability isn’t a feature, it’s a lifeline. Happiness’ relationship with PalmPay didn’t stop at transactions. Through other management tools on the app, she learned to build discipline around her finances.

More Than an App, a Financial Partner

Beyond transactions, PalmPay’s tools helped Happiness build better money habits and financial discipline. Today, the brand continues to reward reliability through initiatives like its ongoing Premier Cool campaign, reinforcing a simple message: consistency should come with value.

The idea is simple: Purchase a bar of soap and stand a chance to get ₦10,000cash and other cash benefits.

It’s PalmPay’s way of saying that smart money habits deserve real value in return.

Why PalmPay Earns Trust

Life doesn’t give warnings before it tests you. When it does, you need a platform that doesn’t just usually work but always works.

For many users, PalmPay proves to be more than a payment app. It is a trusted partner powering ambitions, supporting users through defining life moments, while helping them bank smartly.

When it mattered most, PalmPay worked. To watch the full testimonial visit: @palmpayapp_ng


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Nigerians Target Self-Improvement, Business Startups in 2026 Google Data

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Google Search data from the first two weeks of 2026 reveals Nigerians are prioritising ambition, self-growth, and entrepreneurial ventures as they embrace the new year with renewed drive for personal and professional excellence.

Nigerians Target Self-Improvement, Business Startups in 2026 Google Data

Google

The data shows a 40 per cent spike in searches related to self-improvement and “becoming better”, reflecting a nationwide shift from mere resolutions to actionable plans across boardrooms, classrooms, and homes. Entrepreneurship leads the charge, with “how to start a business” topping “how to start” queries after an 80 per cent surge, alongside rising interest in blogging, podcasting, and YouTube channels to foster economic opportunities.

Personal development dominates, as searches for “how to be a better person” rose 20 per cent, extending to relationships with queries on becoming better lovers, partners, husbands, wives, and listeners. Health resolutions gain traction, with 40 per cent increases in “how to eat healthy”, “healthy diet”, and “how to meditate” underscoring commitments to physical vitality and mental wellness.

Skill mastery captivates diverse audiences, from “how to improve English” and communication skills to enhancing memory, credit scores, and even handwriting, while leisure pursuits spike in “how to get better at” chess, singing, running, Fortnite, and soccer. Top searches include “how to improve communication skills”, “how to be a better listener”, and entrepreneurial starters like “how to start a podcast”, painting a portrait of a nation honing edges for success.

Taiwo Kola-Ogunlade, Communications and Public Affairs Manager for West Africa at Google, described the trends as a “powerful reflection of Nigeria’s collective ambition”, affirming the company’s dedication to tools like Search and Gemini for guiding Nigerians toward prosperity


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