As generative and agentic AI technologies advance, Salesforce’s Chief Ethical and Humane Use Officer Paula Goldman highlights how the company’s ethical framework has expanded, adapting to new challenges while advocating for risk-based AI regulation globally.
- Salesforce’s AI ethics role created before generative AI boom
- Ethical principles updated to address advancing AI risks
- Advocates for risk-based, harmonized AI regulations globally
What happened
Paula Goldman, who leads Salesforce’s Office of Ethical and Humane Use of Technology, shared insights on how the company’s AI ethics mission has evolved since she assumed the role in 2019. That period predates the widespread public and legislative attention on AI that exploded with the advent of generative AI models and agentic AI.
Salesforce invested early in laying down ethical infrastructure across its products and engineering teams, allowing them to respond swiftly as AI technologies advanced and business interest in ethical AI intensified. The company continues to co-develop guidelines and guardrails for AI deployment, focusing on updated priorities such as improving AI accuracy.
Why it matters
AI has become central to enterprise technology strategies, but it also introduces new risks that require evolving ethical frameworks. Salesforce’s early commitment to AI ethics positions it to navigate these complexities more effectively than companies starting ethical efforts post-gen AI surge.
Regulatory landscapes, especially in the U.S. and EU, are becoming more active and contentious. Salesforce supports the EU’s risk-based AI regulatory approach despite its mixed reception and advocates for comprehensive federal privacy laws in the U.S. to avoid a fragmented state-by-state patchwork that complicates compliance for enterprises.
What to watch next
Industry and policymakers will continue to watch how Salesforce integrates ethical principles into its AI products and how dynamic safeguards keep pace with rapidly evolving technologies such as agentic AI. Advances in defining actionable guardrails will influence wider AI governance debates.
Key developments to monitor include the potential passage of unified U.S. federal privacy legislation, progress or revisions to the EU AI Act, and global efforts toward harmonizing AI regulations. These regulatory movements will heavily influence enterprise AI adoption and ethical accountability in the coming years.