The world is fundamentally changing. For developers, admins, and IT leaders there is increasing pressure to digitally transform more quickly than ever before. Business users are demanding new apps and processes. And at the same time, employees who don’t like their technology tools are twice as likely to leave their job in the next year. 

As Parker Harris said to the audience of developers and IT leaders at the TDX keynote:

“It’s so exciting to see that ourdigital first world isbeing built by you. You’re building the apps, the processes and the solutions that make this new world possible. You are embracing a new model for work– what we call the ‘Success from Anywhere Imperative’. It’s the idea that to be successful in this world of accelerated digital transformation, we have to be able to innovate anywhere, automate anything, scale everything and empower everyone.”

This imperative is shaping the future of IT.

At TrailheaDX event, Parker Harris and other Salesforce leaders shared the company’s vision for that future, and new innovations designed to help the community of Trailblazers — Developers, Admins, Architects, Partners, and IT Leaders —to innovate anywhere, automate anything, scale everywhere, and empower everyone. These innovations include:

• A new expansive partnership between AWS and Salesforce to unify developer experiences and launch new intelligent applications
• New innovations that empower creators to build apps with low code on a single platform
• A new Trailblazer Community, offering a single location for anyone to build new skills, learn from peers and experts, and connect to job opportunities in the Salesforce ecosystem

AWS and Salesforce announce expansive partnership to unify developer experiences and launch new intelligent applications

Salesforce announced a significant expansion of its global strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) that will make it easier for customers to use the full set of Salesforce and AWS capabilities together to quickly build and deploy powerful new business applications. Together, Salesforce and AWS will help customers quickly build, deploy and scale powerful business applications that accelerate digital transformation through low-code and code-based development tools, a unified developer experience, and pre-integrated, out-of-the-box Salesforce apps running on AWS.

“This is a milestone partnership for the technology industry, and one that will enable our customers to experience an even more powerful Salesforce Customer 360 and achieve a new level of success in their business,” said Marc Benioff, Chair and CEO, Salesforce. “With a more strongly unified Salesforce and AWS platform, our customers around the world can create a single source of truth across sales, service, marketing, and commerce, and achieve success from anywhere.”

The next generation of Salesforce Platform 

According to new Salesforce research, 83% of IT leaders plan to increase their use of low code tools moving forward. Companies today need a platform that can innovate, automate, scale, and empower to drive Trailblazer success from anywhere. 

As Parker Harris, Salesforce co-founder and CTO put it on stage,

“This is the world’s most trusted low code platform that enables you to innovate anywhere, and is used by Trailblazers everywhere, every day.”

Salesforce is introducing the next generation of the Salesforce Platform — helping power innovation from anywhere.  

The new release includes a powerful set of low-code development tools that empower everyone within an organization, regardless of technical skill or role, to create and ship apps on a single platform. 

“Salesforce’s low-code tools and elastic scale capabilities allowed our team to launch new customer buying experiences, like CarMax Curbside, in less than three weeks,” said Shamim Mohammad, EVP, Chief Information and Technology Officer, CarMax. 

A new Trailblazer Community to build new skills, learn from peers and experts and connect to job opportunities

Salesforce also announced the reimagined Trailblazer Community, which integrates Trailhead, the company’s free learning platform, with its online community into one unified platform.

The new Trailblazer Community offers a single location for anyone to build new skills, learn from peers and experts, and connect to job opportunities in the Salesforce ecosystem from anywhere. 

New Trailblazer Community features include:

• Today Page: A personalized homepage that brings the Trailblazer Community feed, in-progress learning and recommended Trailhead modules into one destination.
• Learning Panel: Surfaces relevant Trailhead learning content in the flow of community interactions on the Topics and Questions pages, by suggesting learning modules that match your conversations and questions.
• Community in Trailhead GO: Brings the Trailblazer Community to mobile through Trailhead GO, Trailhead’s free mobile app. Members will be able to post questions to the Community to get answers quickly and access direct messages to connect with Trailblazers from anywhere.

“We know you want a learning experience that is connected to your community experience. And we want to empower you to stay connected wherever you learn – your desktop, your phone – from anywhere”, said Leah McGowan-Hare, Salesforce’s VP of Trailblazer Community and Engagement on stage at TDX.

“That’s why we’re thrilled to introduce the reimagined Trailblazer Community! This is one modern platform to learn, earn, and give back with Trailblazers from anywhere.”

Read more about the new Trailblazer Community and how Salesforce is reinventing learning in Forbes.

$700K Year Up grant will help close the opportunity gap for young people

Salesforce also announced on stage a new $700,000 grant to non-profit and long-time partner Year Up. 

“We’re committed to closing the opportunity gap for under represented groups. As we all know, business is truly the greatest platform for change. That is why, in addition to the $30 million that we’ve already invested in workforce development,we’re giving a $700,000 grant to YearUp.”

This brings Salesforce’s total commitment to the nonprofit to more than $9.2 million and the company’s total workforce development grants to $30 million.

This grant will support Year Up’s work to train and place young adults facing barriers to accessing high wage, high-demand careers, and to support employers in meeting their talent needs. Salesforce’s commitment extends beyond grants – the company has hosted nearly 700 Year Up interns across the United States, and partners with Year Up to develop an ongoing talent pipeline for the Salesforce ecosystem. 

Learn more about Salesforce’s untapped talent programs and partnership with Year Up here.

To watch a replay of the complete TrailheaDX keynote, visit the TrailheaDX website.