Big moves in the Salesforce ecosystem this week: TCS just made its largest acquisition in 17 years, Agentforce crossed 9,500 paid deals, and the clock is ticking on legacy automation. Here's everything you need to know.
Top Stories
TCS Acquires Coastal Cloud for $700 Million
Tata Consultancy Services announced a definitive agreement to acquire Coastal Cloud, a leading Salesforce Summit partner, in an all-cash deal valued at $700 million. This marks TCS's largest acquisition since 2008, when it purchased Citigroup's captive BPO arm for $505 million. Coastal Cloud brings over 400 Salesforce professionals with more than 3,000 multi-cloud certifications.
Why it matters: This deal significantly expands TCS's Salesforce practice and continues the trend of global SIs acquiring boutique partners. But consolidation cuts both ways. When boutique specialists get absorbed into global SIs, clients often lose direct access to senior architects, response times lengthen, and the personalized service model that attracted them in the first place starts to fade. For organizations that value working directly with experienced practitioners rather than cycling through junior consultants, this trend reinforces the case for independent specialists who stay focused on their craft.
Agentforce Hits 9,500 Paid Deals as Q3 Smashes Expectations
Salesforce reported Q3 FY26 results on December 3rd with revenue of $10.3 billion (up 9% YoY), but the real story is Agentforce. The AI platform has now closed over 18,500 total deals (9,500 of them paid), more than doubling since the start of the year. Agentforce and Data 360 together hit $1.4 billion in ARR, up 114% year-over-year. The stock surged roughly 13% over the following sessions.
Why it matters: This isn't hype anymore. Agentforce accounts in production increased 70% quarter-over-quarter, and half of Q3 bookings came from existing customer expansion.
Agentforce 360 Opens Up to Partners
On December 10th, Salesforce announced a major expansion of its ISV partner platform. Partners can now embed the full Agentforce 360 stack (including Data 360, industry-specific agents, and Trusted Services) into their own products. New flexible pricing models (seat-based, usage-based, and consumption via Flex Credits) plus a new Partner Marketplace with automated provisioning make this a significant shift.
Why it matters: This opens the floodgates for partners to build and commercially distribute AI agents. Expect a wave of industry-specific and vertical AI agent solutions hitting AppExchange in 2026. For Financial Services specifically, this means nCino, Blend, and other banking ISVs can now build AI-native capabilities for lending, compliance, and customer onboarding workflows.
Workflow Rules & Process Builder: End of Support Dec 31
If you haven't migrated yet, the clock is ticking. Salesforce stops supporting Workflow Rules and Process Builder on December 31, 2025. No new automation can be built in these tools, and while existing ones will continue to run, you're on your own if something breaks.
Why it matters: This isn't just about compliance. It's about technical debt. Legacy automation scattered across Workflow Rules, Process Builders, and Flows creates maintenance nightmares and makes troubleshooting nearly impossible. Organizations with complex orgs (especially those in regulated industries like banking) should treat this as a forcing function to consolidate and document their automation landscape. A proper audit now prevents a 2 AM escalation later.
Spring '26 Preview Orgs Go Live
Salesforce has activated Spring '26 preview environments, giving admins and developers early access to test upcoming features before production rollouts begin in early 2026. Check the Salesforce Trust status page for your org's specific upgrade window.
Why it matters: If you're running custom Visualforce pages or have integrations using instance-specific URLs, now is the time to test in a preview sandbox. Review the Spring '26 Release Notes for breaking changes that may affect your org.
Industry Spotlight: Financial Services
Beyond the ISV partner expansion, Salesforce continues building out Agentforce capabilities for banking. Following the Informatica acquisition completed in November, the Data 360 foundation now includes enterprise data catalog, governance, and Master Data Management capabilities. These are critical for financial institutions navigating regulatory requirements around data lineage and customer privacy. As Marc Benioff put it: "Without clean data, there is no intelligence, only hallucination." For banks running FSC alongside core banking systems, nCino, or wealth platforms, this creates a path to AI agents that actually understand the full customer relationship, not just fragmented snapshots from disconnected systems. The challenge, as always, is getting the data architecture right first.
Recommended Trail
Get Ready for Agentforce (~4 hours)
With Agentforce adoption accelerating and the Agentforce Specialist certification still free through December 31st, this is the perfect time to build your foundational skills. The trail covers core concepts, Agent Builder basics, and hands-on practice, all directly relevant to this week's partner expansion news. Complete it before year-end while the cert is still free.
Quick Takes
- Cyber Week by the numbers: AI and agents influenced 20% of all global orders during Cyber Week, driving $67 billion in sales. Retailers using Agentforce 360 saw sales grow 32% faster than those without.
- Healthcare AI: Agentforce for Health continues expanding with Athenahealth integration for appointment scheduling and prescription refills, reducing manual admin work for clinical staff.
- Rebranding watch: Data Cloud is now officially Data 360. Sales Cloud → Agentforce Sales. Service Cloud → Agentforce Service. Marc Benioff says a full company name change "might happen."
- Job market reality check: The Salesforce talent market remains competitive. If you're hiring, it's a buyer's market. If you're looking, differentiate on AI and architecture skills. Agentforce expertise is becoming a key differentiator.
That's a Wrap
Between ecosystem consolidation, Agentforce momentum, the automation deadline, and Spring '26 prep, there's plenty to keep orgs busy through year-end. Questions about any of these updates or how they might affect your Salesforce org? Get in touch. Always happy to discuss.