Salesforce president and chief operating officer Bret Taylor discussed Salesforce's pandemic operating model, cultural shifts, and the role of technology in the ‘new normal' with Harvard Business Review's Amy Bernstein
"We are really leaning in to the changes caused by the crisis rather thinking of it as a short term effect.... I have many more conversations with CEOs around the world that I would not have in person."
"Salesforce employees have 1.7 more hours of meetings per day on their calenders during the pandemic. I think this year is not sustainable for a lot of our employees."
Salesforce chief operating officer Bret Taylor played a key role in the firm's $27.7 billion deal to buy Slack, putting the exec in the spotlight near the end of a tumultuous year in which he's leaned on his experience and expertise to help guide the firm.
Taylor acted as the main liaison to Slack CEO Stewart Butterfield, and Salesforce CEO Benioff publicly praised him on an analyst call following the announcement:
For example, he leaned on his experience as an entrepreneur who built a collaboration tool to extol the benefits Salesforce could gain from Slack.
"Slack is really one of the few companies in the history of software that set out to change the way people work and actually succeeded," he said at the company's annual investor day. "We truly believe this is the next generation of the way companies work together."