![\"Zahra](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/d5bf336a-b415-4f60-aa42-44ce0fc80f0b.jpg\")
Zahra Bahrololoumi<\/p>\nRolling out artificial intelligence tools without the right systems in place could have \u201ccatastrophic\u201d consequences for businesses, the UK head of the cloud-computing company Salesforce has warned. <\/p>\n
\u201cAI is making such profound decisions on behalf of people,\u201d Zahra Bahrololoumi, chief executive of Salesforce\u2019s UK and Ireland business, told The Times. \u201cYou can\u2019t just release it in the wild. Unfortunately, some companies do. They think they can build it all themselves, but they learn very painful lessons that you actually do need guardrails and safety precautions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf AI doesn\u2019t have access to the right data, or doesn\u2019t have the right guardrails, it could be catastrophic for businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zahra Bahrololoumi<\/p>\n
Nearly two thirds (64 per cent) of organisations in the UK said they were using AI this year, according to a recent report from Amazon Web Services, up from 52 per cent last year.<\/p>\n
While many companies have reported productivity gains from the new technology, issues like data security and the accuracy of AI tools have also posed serious problems. Gartner, a research firm, estimated that over 40 per cent of agentic AI projects would be cancelled by the end of next year owing to problems like inadequate risk controls and unclear return on investment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Salesforce itself has faced questions about the future of its business model in the age of AI. Some have warned that AI tools such as Anthropic\u2019s Claude Code<\/a> could threaten the software-as-a-service subscription model, which companies such as Salesforce pioneered.<\/p>\n In the long run, some argue that AI\u2019s increasing capabilities will enable customers to perform some tasks in-house rather than rely on external providers. Shares in Salesforce have lost about a third of their value this year as part of a global sell-off which has knocked trillions off the valuations of software companies.<\/a><\/p>\n Business newsletter<\/p>\n The business editor\u2019s exclusive analysis of all the latest financial and economic news.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tSign up with one click<\/p>\n Bahrololoumi said that the company\u2019s data would be indispensable for businesses looking to deploy accurate AI tools. \u201cAs our customers move from experimentation and pilots to implementation, they all realise that the value of AI comes from having access to real-time enterprise data \u2014 data that is grounded within their context, and that the veracity of that data is solid,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Marc](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/07b5325e-9553-4b75-b28d-c5f603245781.jpg\")
Marc Benioff introduced Agentforce 360 last yearMichael Short\/Bloomberg\/Getty Images<\/p>\n