I’ve seen it enough times: a team gets excited about deploying Agentforce — maybe the tech is ready, the use case looks solid — and then somewhere along the way something trips up. The rollout slows, metrics don’t move, or worse: the AI agent acts in ways you didn’t expect.

If you’re working in revenue operations and considering Agentforce, the difference between success and frustration often comes down to what you skip, overlook or assume. So let’s walk through the common missteps we’ve seen — so you don’t find yourself having to fix them later.

Mistake #1 — Starting With the Tool Instead of the Outcome

One of the fastest ways to set yourself up for trouble is launching Agentforce like another checkbox project. The “Oh, we’ll automate these tickets now” mentality.

What we’ve seen in teams that struggle: they deploy the agent, the tech works, dashboards show activity — but nobody really knows if it’s driving what matters (revenue retention, faster case resolution, fewer escalations).

Salesforce’s blog on deployment tips emphasizes this: Define what success looks like — it’s not about being live; it’s about business value.

As a RevOps lead, your job is to ask: What will change because the agent is there? Fix metrics. Fix use case. Then move to build.

Mistake #2 — Ignoring Data and Process Readiness

Here’s a hard truth: Agentforce isn’t magic. It learns from and acts on your data. If your case records, knowledge articles, or product usage feeds are inconsistent, the agent will behave inconsistently. Messy data, muddy processes, and missing structure are far more likely to sink an Agentforce rollout than a technical bug.

From your RevOps seat, make sure you’ve got:

• Clear owner of data objects & fields
• Clean knowledge base or FAQ repository
• Defined process models for what happens when the agent escalates to a human

Mistake #3 — Building Too Much Too Soon

Another pattern we see: teams try to deploy Agentforce for everything at once — service, sales, renewal, upsell. The result: complexity, cost overrun, and delayed ROI.

Salesforce’s “Guide to Agentforce” warns: scope your topics, actions and instructions carefully.

Start small. Pick one high-value, repeatable workflow. Get it rock solid. Measure success. Then scale.

Mistake #4 — Skimping On Testing and Guardrails

With traditional process automation you could test basic flows and hope for the best. With Agentforce — because you’re dealing with reasoning, data integration, and possible ambiguity — you can’t treat testing like an afterthought.

Last-minute changes and untested edge cases — those blow deployments.

As RevOps you should insist on:

• realistic test data (not just happy-path)
• monitoring of agent actions post-deploy
• clear human-in-the-loop escalation pathways
• metrics that show not just volume but accuracy and impact

Mistake #5 — Forgetting Change Management

Even the sharpest tech and cleanest data won’t fix user resistance. If agents change workflows and no one tells the users what’s happening, you’ll face low adoption, bypass fees, or worse — rogue manual work.

RevOps professionals know this: people + process matter as much as platform. Communicate early, train service/sales agents on when they’ll work with the AI, not against it. Build credibility by showing how the agent supports them, not replaces them.

Practical Next-Steps for Your RevOps Team

Here’s a quick checklist you can use this week:

• Define 1-2 success metrics for your first Agentforce use case (e.g., cases handled, time saved, escalation rate)
• Audit your data readiness: case records, knowledge articles, escalation rules
• Choose a pilot workflow which is repeatable and clear
• Develop a testing plan covering happy path + edge cases
• Communicate the plan to your users: what changes, how they work with the agent
• Set a go-live review date: measure, iterate, scale

Final Thought

Deploying Agentforce is exciting — it promises intelligent automation inside Salesforce. But the difference between a rollout that hums and one that stalls comes down to planning, clarity, and readiness.

As a RevOps lead, your role is to make sure Agentforce works for your business, not just for the tech. Get smart about use case, data, process and change management — and you’ll be way ahead of teams that treat Agentforce like another checkbox.

If you’d like help mapping your readiness, building your roadmap or running the pilot — we at Revenue Ops LLC lean into this every day.