Salesforce began life in a one-bedroom apartment in 1999 in Telegraph Hill, San Francisco. The company was founded by Marc Benioff and three other employees which included Parker Harris, Frank Dominguez, and Dave Moellenhoff. The goal was to provide sales automation software through a software-as-a-service model, a model in which companies could access their sales automation software through a website. This way, companies would eliminate the hassles and costs associated with the ownership and maintenance of its IT infrastructure. The idea took off, and in 2003, Salesforce launched the first Dreamforce, an annual conference where Salesforce users and creators gather to discuss product improvements, updates, and share knowledge. In 2005, Salesforce launched AppExchange, an online marketplace where solutions developed with Salesforce could be opened or sold to the broader Salesforce community. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay In 2006, Salesforce introduced its own programming language called APEX and VisualForce, a technology that allows users to create any user interface they want. Apex and VisualForce together were branded Force.com, and through this, Salesforce took the first step in extending its software-as-a-service model to a platform-as-a-service model. Users can now create their own custom applications on the platform. In 2012, Salesforce acquired ExactTarget, a multimedia marketing tool, and expanded its platform to support marketing applications. This was an important milestone as it represented the first step in making Salesforce a more comprehensive solution that addresses all areas of CRM. Salesforce also expanded its platform to mobile devices in 2013. The Salesforce1 platform was built specifically for mobile devices and allowed, for the first time ever, users to access the same information from a mobile device that they could access from a computer. This allowed users to access their Salesforce applications from anywhere and with any device. In 2015, Salesforce launched Lightning Experience, a new dynamic user interface that made building custom applications more user-friendly. Lightning Experience also encouraged a more nuanced way of development in which existing functional system components could be integrated and reused to create complete applications, saving time and costs for developers. Lightning Experience also provided the foundation for building smarter applications that incorporated the power of artificial intelligence (AI). AI was introduced to the platform in 2016 with the launch of Salesforce Einstein, a set of AI-based features that could be integrated into applications to improve performance. Business users can now get on-demand forecasts, detailed analytics and insights into their customers that make them more competitive. Salesforce notes that AI is driving the future of CRM and as such plans to significantly expand and improve its use as part of its platform within the next few years[3].