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Salesforce Admins Podcast

Salesforce Admins Podcast

Written by: Mike Gerholdt
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The Salesforce Admins podcast features real-life Salesforce Admins, product managers, and community leaders who transform businesses, careers, and community with clicks, not code. This 20min (sometimes a bit more) weekly podcast hosted by Mike Gerholdt feature episodes to empower Salesforce Admins who are implementing Enterprise CRM solutions. There may be some (digital) confetti. For more than our most recent episodes, go to https://admin.salesforce.com/salesforce-admin-podcast. Careers Economics Personal Success
Episodes
  • Winter '27: What Admins Should Check Before Their Org Upgrades

    Winter '27: What Admins Should Check Before Their Org Upgrades
    Oct 15 2026
    Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast, we talk to Jennifer Lee, Lead Admin Evangelist at Salesforce. Join us as we chat about all the cool new features coming in the Winter '27 Release, including Builder Central, Setup with Agentforce, and what's new with Flow. You should subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Jennifer Lee. Admins are agent-powered with Builder Central and Setup with Agentforce First of all, this is the first week with our new format, there will be a video version as well. Coming soon to the Salesforce Admins YouTube channel to see demos, clips, and visual explainers for each episode. Today, we're looking ahead to the Winter '27 Release with Jennifer Lee to find out which new features admins need to know about. One thing that generated a lot of excitement at Dreamforce is Builder Central. It's an intelligent, agent-powered workspace where you can build, test, and deploy solutions using natural language. You really need to see it in action to understand how powerful it is, so check out the video for this episode, where we have a demo for you. Setup with Agentforce is also now generally available (GA). This tool simplifies so much about managing users, configuring your org, and troubleshooting user access issues. Jen's found it to be especially helpful for reorganizing role hierarchy and, in general, taking control of permissions in your org. Three Flow enhancements to make your life easier Jen highlights three Flow enhancements that she thinks will have a big impact for admins: Edit History allows you to review, restore, and reuse past versions of a flow. If you've ever found yourself staring at a broken flow and asking yourself why you can't just go back to a version that worked, this enhancement is for you. Also new in Winter '27, you can now process multiple records with Screen Flows from List Views and Related Lists. This makes it easier than ever for your users to do bulk updates with a quick mass action, without having to leave the screen flow they're already working in. Finally, Test Mode (Beta) allows you to debug and test in Flow Builder in one place. You can save manual tests so you're not entering the same criteria over and over again, and use them to build an automated testing suite. Jen's steps for release readiness The wonderful thing about Salesforce is that a new release is always around the corner. For Jen, release readiness comes down to four steps: Plan and learn Get hands-on Test Communicate with your team and users The good news is that by reading this post, you're already doing step 1. So my advice is to pick one new feature for this week's episode and spend some time exploring it. As admins, we learn so much more when we get our hands dirty and start building. Make sure to listen to my full conversation with Jen for more highlights from the Winter '27 Release. And don't forget to subscribe to the Salesforce Admins Podcast to catch a new episode every Thursday. Podcast swag Salesforce Admins on the Trailhead Store Learn more Salesforce Admins YouTube Channel: @SalesforceAdmins Salesforce Admins YouTube video: A 4-Step Release Readiness Guide for Admins Salesforce Admins Blog Post: Jen's Top Winter '27 Release Features For Admins Salesforce Admins Blog Post: Introducing Setup with Agentforce: Your New Admin Superpower Salesforce Admins Podcast Episode: September Monthly Retro Admin Trailblazers Group Admin Trailblazers Community Group Social Jen on LinkedIn Salesforce Admins on LinkedIn Salesforce Admins on X Mike on Bluesky social Mike on Threads Mike on X Full Transcript Mike Gerholdt: Welcome to the Salesforce Admins podcast, this week I'm joined by Jennifer Lee to walk through Winter '27 Release readiness, including Builder Central setup with Agentforce Flow and some of the features that admins should be paying attention to after Dreamforce. Now, hey, quick heads up, if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcast, there's a video version of this episode over on our Salesforce Admins YouTube channel and this time it matters because we're actually dropping demos and clips into the conversation. Now, don't get me wrong, you'll still get the full discussion right here but you're going to miss out on some really fun stuff by not seeing the video one. So, go check out that video version on YouTube, let me know what you think, in the meantime, let's get Jennifer on the podcast. So, Jennifer, welcome to the podcast. Jennifer Lee: Thanks for having me. Mike Gerholdt: Yeah. Well, it's October, it's post Dreamforce time which means we got to start paying two releases and you put out an amazing release readiness blog. We've also gone through Dreamforce, there's been iterations of stuff being updated so I figured why not have Jennifer back on the podcast to talk about everything that we saw at Dreamforce, everything that was in the release and maybe, I think, some ...
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    28 mins
  • September Monthly Retro: What Changed, What Matters, and What Admins Should Do Next

    September Monthly Retro: What Changed, What Matters, and What Admins Should Do Next
    Sep 24 2026
    Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast, we talk to Joshua Birk, Senior Director of Admin Evangelism, and Kate Lessard, Lead Admin Evangelist at Salesforce. Join us as we chat about what caught our attention at Dreamforce, what surprised us, and what's worth spending time on. You should subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Joshua Birk and Kate Lessard. Build fast and accurately with Builder Central Probably the most exciting announcement from the keynote is Builder Central. It's a low and no-code workspace to enable admins to build fast and accurately, without compromising on security. From React sites to flows to agents, you can get an idea off the ground with plain language prompts. But just because you move fast doesn't mean you need to break things, thanks to automated testing, safety checks, and built-in controls. "We can take what we as admins already know about data models and our org structure and really, truly define what we're building," Kate says. You can upload requirements documents and information about your organization's business processes to make sure everything that you build works from the get-go. Create consistently amazing Salesforce experiences The other thing that was touched on in the keynote was Headless 360 and the Headless Experience Layer. You can bring Salesforce to Slack, Claude, and anywhere else your users need to interact with your data. If you're feeling overwhelmed by how many different ways there are for users to interact with your Salesforce data, know that you're not alone. But at the end of the day, these are experiences that you're designing for your users to make their lives easier where they're already working. Admins need to focus on governance and security Finally, the biggest takeaway from Dreamforce this year is that governance and trust are more important than ever. Hackers use AI too, and the threat landscape is constantly evolving. Now more than ever, the role of the Salesforce Admin has shifted into governance. That means data cleanup and strict permissions controls to make sure that your agents are working as intended. And that also means getting a better handle on how your data is moving across platforms and who might have access to it. Trust is a core principle at Salesforce, and so we're rolling out new tools like Security Center Essentials and the Transaction Security Policy Accelerator to help you take control of what's going on in your org. There's so much more great stuff in our September Monthly Retro recap of Dreamforce, so make sure to listen to the full episode. And don't forget to subscribe to the Salesforce Admins Podcast to catch us in your feed every Thursday. Podcast swag Salesforce Admins on the Trailhead Store Learn more Salesforce Admins Blog Post: Dreamforce 2026 Product Highlights for Admins Salesforce 360 Blog Post: Introducing Builder Central: The No Code AI Workspace for Salesforce Salesforce Platform Guide: Your Guide to the Headless Toolkit: Bring Salesforce Anywhere Humans and Agents Work Salesforce 360 Blog Post: Deploy Best-Practice Security Policies Instantly with Transaction Security Policy Accelerator Admin Trailblazers Group Admin Trailblazers Community Group Social Josh on LinkedIn Kate on LinkedIn Salesforce Admins on LinkedIn Salesforce Admins on X Mike on Bluesky social Mike on Threads Mike on X Full show transcript Mike Gerholdt: Before we jump into today's conversation, I want to give you a quick heads up about what's coming on the Salesforce Admins Podcast. Starting in October, we're moving to two episodes a month with a little bonus episode to kick things off. So October 1st, we're talking about how do I decide if a new Salesforce feature belongs in my org? Because Salesforce just released it and we should turn it on, are two very different things. Then on October 15th, Jennifer Lee joins me for a special video and audio episode, Winter '27, What Admins Should Check Before Their Org Updates. We'll help you figure out what deserves your attention, what you should test, and what you need to be ready for before the release hits your org. And then on October 29th, we're asking the question, what does an admin certification prove in the Agentforce era? We'll look at what certification tells employers and admins today and where hands-on experience and judgment fit into that picture. So after October, you can expect two episodes a month focused on helping you understand what matters, why it matters to your work, and what you can actually do with it when you get back to your organization. And that brings us to today's episode. So I'm joined by Kate Lessard and Josh Birk for a post Dreamforce conversation about what caught our attention, what surprised us, and more importantly, what's actually worth an admin spending time on. We're going to talk about Builder Central and what it could change about how admins build, new ways Salesforce can show up in ...
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    40 mins
  • How Do I Decide If a New Salesforce Feature Belongs in My Org?

    How Do I Decide If a New Salesforce Feature Belongs in My Org?
    Oct 1 2026
    Today on the Salesforce Admins Podcast, we talk to Alastair Dinning, Senior Solution Architect at Salesforce. Join us as we chat about the process of adding new features to your org, from what to look for when you're reading through release notes to rolling something new out and driving adoption. You should subscribe for the full episode, but here are a few takeaways from our conversation with Alastair Dinning. Which new features should I pay attention to in the release notes? The exciting thing about working in the Salesforce ecosystem is that it's continually evolving. A new release is always around the corner, chock-full of new features that could improve your org. But how do you sift through everything to figure out what will add value and what's just a shiny new toy? My guest this week is Alastair Dinning, a Senior Solution Architect with Salesforce Professional Services. He has 14 years of experience as a consultant for businesses of all sizes, helping admins change their orgs for the better. For Alastair, the most important thing when you're looking through release notes is to have a clear understanding of your business processes and problems. Do any of these new features address a pain point? Whether you practice SABWA, run a steering committee of power users, or use a case management system for feedback, you need to have your finger on the pulse of your users. Three pathways for adding a new feature to your org Once you've identified a problem you'd like to address, Alastair lays out three options: you can build a declarative solution yourself, you can buy a solution off of the AppExchange, or you can work with a developer to code something custom. Building your own declarative solution means that you end up with something that's tailored exactly to your specific business requirements, but it also costs you resources in terms of time. Buying something off the AppExchange, on the other hand, costs you money up front, but you're saving a lot of time and can deploy the change quite quickly. Even if the solution isn't 100% right for your specific problem, Alastair encourages you to reach out to the AppExchange partner because they're often willing to make improvements. Finally, coding a custom solution is probably the most expensive in terms of internal resources, but gets you exactly what you want. The drawback here is flexibility. You don't want to end up with a solution that you can't update if your business context changes in the future. Know when to keep Salesforce steady for your users If you've spent time with your users and really understand their pain points, adoption should come easily. But at the end of the day, the job of the admin isn't to constantly roll out new features—it's to make life easier for your users. Sometimes, the best thing you can do is to keep your Salesforce environment consistent and stable. That means not only identifying which new features could possibly be helpful for your org, but having proactive conversations with leadership about the bigger picture. Make sure to listen to my full conversation with Alastair for more about how to roll out new features to your org and how admins can best work with consultants. And remember to subscribe to the Salesforce Admins Podcast so you never miss an episode. Podcast swag Salesforce Admins on the Trailhead Store Learn more Salesforce Admins Podcast Episode: September Monthly Retro: What Changed, What Matters, and What Admins Should Do Next Admin Trailblazers Group Admin Trailblazers Community Group Social Alastair on LinkedIn Salesforce Admins on LinkedIn Salesforce Admins on X Mike on Bluesky social Mike on Threads Mike on X Full show transcript Mike: This week on the Salesforce Admins Podcast, I'm talking with Alastair Dinning, a senior solution architect with Salesforce Professional Services about how admins can decide if a feature is right for their org. We're going to dig into how to spot the business problem behind a feature, when to click, buy, or code your solution, how to prototype before making a big investment, and why timing and support ability matter just as much as functionality. So next time you find yourself reading the release notes and thinking, "Oh, that looks cool," you'll have a framework for deciding when to implement it. With that, let's get Alastair on the podcast. So Alistair, welcome to the podcast. Alistair Dinning: Thank you, Mike. It's good to be here. Mike: We connected ironically over Slack. Not ironic. Is it ironic? I always get hung up because I'm afraid I say ironic because I learned irony from Alanis Morissette, but we connected over Slack because you're a fan of the podcast and you work at Salesforce. And I was like, "Hey, I have this topic that I think you're perfect for." So let's start off by you letting everybody know what you do at Salesforce and how you got there. Alistair Dinning: So I am a senior solution architect with Salesforce Professional Services. I've been...
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    37 mins
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