Dreamforce kicks off, bringing tens of thousands to downtown San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – San Francisco is buzzing with tech excitement as Dreamforce kicks off today.

Thousands of tech workers from around the globe are converging on the city for the annual conference hosted by Salesforce at Moscone Center.

The facility itself has been turned into a temporary park – complete with fake rocks and a waterfall.

Salesforce Chief Digital Evangelist Vala Afshar says it's the biggest tech conference since the pandemic.

“We expect about 45,000 to be here in person, so it’s great to have a great gathering – especially post-COVID,” Afshar told KCBS Radio.

The theme of the event this year?  AI.

“You can work with intelligence software, AI agents, to do your jobs faster, better, and, frankly, bring a little joy back to work,” noted Afshar.  “Who wants to do repetitive, mundane tasks?”

He said Dreamforce is expected to pump 93-million dollars into the local economy.

The downside: multiple street closures around Moscone Center.

BART is doing what it can to help San Francisco commuters.

“We are adding cars to our busiest line, which means you can expect longer trains when you ride BART on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday,” BART spokesperson Alicia Trost explained.

The transit agency is hoping Dreamforce will help push it over 200,000 trips a day – a post-pandemic record for BART.