2023 Salesforce Developer Updates: 5 Enhancements You Should Know

What an exciting year 2023 has been for Salesforce Developers! AI is a major highlight, and there are several other thrilling updates to explore.

Keep reading to discover the four most significant updates for Salesforce Developers in 2023, along with a few honorable mentions!

1. Free API Only Integration Users

Salesforce recently announced a significant update: most organizations will receive five free licenses for integration users. This has excited many administrators as it directly impacts their daily tasks and brings financial benefits. Often, companies use separate tools alongside Salesforce, requiring a dedicated Salesforce user for integration.

Due to budget constraints, some opt for shared users with admins or managers, which is considered poor practice. The new enhancement eliminates this barrier, promoting best practices and reducing integration license costs. 

The provided licenses are exclusively API-only, lacking any UI access. It’s crucial to note that if your integration user occasionally needs UI access, these licenses won’t be suitable. Organizations with Unlimited, Enterprise, and Performance Editions are eligible for five complimentary licenses. For those requiring extra licenses, they can be acquired for $10 per user per month.

2. Code Builder Generally Available

Salesforce Code Builder is an online development tool aimed at enhancing coding for the Salesforce platform. Similar to Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code, it offers a web-based environment, accessible to developers, administrators, and architects, enabling them to boost productivity using the latest Salesforce development tools.

Code Builder facilitates easy customization of Salesforce directly from the web browser, providing a pre-loaded integrated development environment (IDE) with extensions, CLI tools, and support for programming languages like Lightning Web Components and Apex. It introduces AI capabilities, powered by Einstein for Developers, enabling faster coding tasks and customization through generative AI. Additionally, Code Builder allows flexibility by incorporating third-party extensions from the Open VSX marketplace, fostering a feature-rich IDE experience.

3. Einstein for Developers

Einstein for Developers, previously known as Apex GPT, is now in open beta, showcasing its natural language processing capabilities to enhance code writing for Salesforce Developers. This generative AI tool, exclusive to Salesforce-specific coding languages, is built using Salesforce’s open-source Large Language Model (LLM), CodeGen.

Unlike other AI coding tools, Einstein for Developers is seamlessly integrated into the Salesforce Platform, leveraging your organization’s metadata and offering recommendations based on existing code. It operates by translating simple English prompts into executable code, allowing developers to describe what the code should do, and the AI writes it.

Additionally, it incorporates the AI Trust Layer for code security. This tool empowers developers to accelerate coding tasks, scan for vulnerabilities, and receive real-time suggestions within the Salesforce integrated development environment.

4. Einstein Studio: Build and Deploy Your Own AI Models

Einstein Studio, a new tech from Salesforce, makes it simple for businesses to use their data to create and deploy AI models. Salesforce takes an open approach to Large Language Models (LLMs), allowing the use of their LLM or bringing in models from other platforms like Amazon SageMaker or Google Vertex AI.

This flexibility addresses challenges in adopting AI, crucial for organizations aiming to stay competitive while respecting data privacy. Einstein Studio lets data teams effortlessly build, train, and activate custom AI models within Salesforce, offering predictions and auto-generated content across applications.

The interface guides users through the infusion process between custom models and CRM data, providing extensibility with Salesforce Flow Builder. The open ecosystem approach allows organizations to choose their preferred AI providers. Salesforce’s introduction of GenAI CRM through Einstein Studio is a significant development for the Salesforce ecosystem, providing tools for powerful AI integration in organizations.

5. Journey to Salesforce

The Journey to Salesforce initiative, launched in 2019 to assist aspiring Salesforce Developers in India, has expanded globally, now welcoming participants from the US and Canada. This free, self-paced online program guides learners through Trailhead modules, offering a range of Salesforce topics.

Emphasizing hands-on projects for practical experience, it also provides mentorship by seasoned professionals and community support through a dedicated Slack channel. Participants can earn rewards and enter prize draws as they progress. The program is open to individuals with no prior Salesforce or development experience in Canada, the United States, or India, with plans for further expansion to include more countries in the future. Eligible individuals can register for the program.

Honorable Mentions

Snowflake and Salesforce Data Cloud

In the Winter ’24 release, Salesforce introduced a fresh Data Share feature, allowing real-time data sharing from Salesforce to Snowflake. This significant move aligns with Salesforce’s Bring Your Own Lake (BYOL) strategy, aiming for seamless, bi-directional access between Data Cloud and various modern data lake solutions.

The outcome is a streamlined, Salesforce-managed process, enabling the creation of a comprehensive view of customer data. This article delves into the recently introduced data share feature, focusing specifically on sharing data with Snowflake.

Salesforce Data Cloud and Vertex AI

In the realm of Salesforce in 2023, artificial intelligence took the spotlight, and the trend continues as the year wraps up. Salesforce recently made Google Vertex AI models generally available in Einstein Studio, a user-friendly AI tool empowering data teams to create, train, and utilize AI models with data from sources like Google Cloud Vertex AI and Amazon SageMaker. 

The ultimate goal is to access real-time data and make informed decisions. With tools like Data Cloud, Einstein Studio, and partnerships with Google Cloud Vertex AI and Amazon SageMaker, this dream is becoming more achievable than ever.

Salesforce to Retire Functions

Salesforce will discontinue Salesforce Functions (or Salesforce Elastic Services) on January 31, 2025, requiring users to transfer functions to another product before this end-of-life date. Salesforce Functions are cloud-based services for scalable applications on the Salesforce platform, offering benefits like automatic scaling, high availability, global reach, and security. While Salesforce hasn’t disclosed specific reasons for this move, it could align with a strategic focus on core products, simplification, or potential factors like adoption rates and cost control.

Key dates include October 31, 2023, as the last day for new subscriptions, January 31, 2024, as the last day for subscription renewals, and January 31, 2025, as the last day of availability in Salesforce orgs. Users are encouraged to consider migrating functions, with one option being Heroku Apps, which has differences in trust boundaries, scaling, invocation time, API limits, identity, management, developer experience, and available add-ons. Salesforce provides tools for the migration process, and users have over a year until retirement, offering ample time for planning and minimal disruption.

Summary

That’s a wrap on the top updates for Salesforce Developers in 2023! Got a favorite? Or maybe you think there’s one that deserves a shout-out? Tell us in the comments!