The maker of software for customer relationship management, Salesforce, said that costs for certain of its cloud-based and marketing products will increase by an average of 9% starting in August.
Its first price increase in seven years coincides with an increase in spending on generative artificial intelligence by Salesforce and a number of other technology companies.
Over the past seven years, the firm has spent more than $20 billion on research and development to enhance its software with new capabilities, such as generative AI tools.
The price increase also coincides with a slowdown in cloud service revenue growth, which exploded during the pandemic lockdown.
Large cloud providers like Microsoft, Amazon, and Alphabet are under pressure to grow as business clients try to cut costs while using the cloud due to rising borrowing costs.
According to Salesforce, the increased rates for Tableau, Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and Industries will apply to both existing and new clients.
