Salesforce is one of those companies that the general public may not know about, but has great importance in business. It is about a company with a long history in the technology sector focused on cloud-based CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems.
Its founder and CEO, Marc Benioff, recognized in a recent interview who has inspired him the most throughout his career. And coming from a technology company located in San Francisco, there couldn’t be another answer that didn’t start with “Steve” and end with “Jobs.” Even if the most striking part of his interview is the revelation of having been one of the first to see the iPad in 2010. And not just one, but up to two.
Marc Benioff discovered a new iPad thanks to Steve Jobs
One of the rare photographs in which Steve Jobs and Marc Benioff are seen together in public
Even if they already knew each other before, Marc Benioff especially highlighted a point in his relationship with Steve Jobs which would change everything. An anecdote that began in 2010 when the then CEO of Apple called to invite him to his offices with a mysterious “I need you here today”.
Before getting to this point, they had a previous relationship. So much so that Jobs showed him the iPhone months before his announcement. A reliable proof of the trust and closeness between the two.
It was precisely during this visit to Apple’s offices in 2010 that Jobs reminded Benioff of the day he showed him the iPhone. He did this as a prelude to what he was going to teach her: the first iPad in history and another one we’ve never seen. Benioff must have been hallucinating.
“It’s the new iPad. The 10-inch one, because I’m not going to take the other one out.” Steve Jobs showed Marc Benioff two previously unreleased iPad models. One was larger than the other, and Jobs said that if that ended up happening, he would only release one. However, it’s curious because the original iPad was 9 inches and if the one Jobs intended to release was 10 inches, that means he ended up changing his mind.
“All products must fit on my coffee table”
Steve Jobs during the presentation of the first iPad in 2010
After this historic moment where Marc Benioff observed two still unpublished products which would ultimately be Steve Jobs’ last great revolution, the CEO of Salesforce asked his Apple counterpart what was the reason why tablets had these sizes.
It’s at that moment Jobs discovered one of Apple’s secrets at that time I didn’t want an Apple device to take up more space than a coffee table. Or at least these tablets, since his idea was to make the iPad a comfortable and handy device like the iPhone had already been.
In fact, during the presentation of the original iPad in January 2010, Jobs was already seen sitting in an armchair, using the device in a comfortable position. The idea was to resemble what the iPhone already offered in terms of connectivity, but offer a more comfortable size for tasks such as reading, browsing the Internet or managing email.
However, one of the differences between the Jobs era and the current Cook era is how the latter has become more commercial. And without it seeming negative. The market demanded larger tablets and so we’ve found iPads up to 12.9 inches since the introduction of the iPad Pro in 2015. A tablet that, of course, doesn’t fit on any coffee table.
“Steve Jobs helped me a lot with Salesforce”
Beyond this anecdote, Marc Benioff also recognizes the extent to which Steve Jobs inspired him in his career. Salesforce was founded in 1999 and although they didn’t know each other at the time, he has on occasion claimed to have been inspired by Steve Jobs.
It is not in vain that at the end of the 90s, Jobs returned to an almost bankrupt Apple to eventually revive it. He was retired from the company for many years after his dismissal, but remained a recurring figure for newspapers and technology pundits, whether because of his successes at NeXT, a company he founded after leaving Apple, or as a member of the collective memory. for leading the company to lead the “fight” against IBM.
Likewise, he states that He also had long discussions about artificial intelligence with Steve Jobs.. A sector that is booming today thanks to generative AI, but which has already existed for decades with hundreds of algorithms prepared to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of systems. Benioff says he learned a lot from Jobs in this area. So much so that he attributes part of his company’s current success in this area to it.
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