Leadership, Loyalty, and Landmarks: Andi S. Giri’s Decade of Dreamforce

About Andi S. Giri

CEO, Softsquare

Andi S. Giri is the CEO of Softsquare and a veteran Salesforce innovator who has attended Dreamforce more than fifteen times, starting with his memorable first conference in 2009.

From humble beginnings with a five-member team in Chennai to building a global AI-driven Salesforce solutions business, Andi has woven Dreamforce into the fabric of his professional journey.

The Beginning: Dreamforce 2009—New Ground, New Lessons

My first Dreamforce was back in 2009, just 12 months into our fledgling SI partnership. I’d recently returned to India after a long stint in Washington DC, spearheading a small but committed five-member team of Apex programmers.

Dreamforce 2009 was electrifying. Moscone South buzzed with 20,000 attendees—at the time, the largest IT event I’d ever witnessed. Marc Benioff’s keynote was a spectacle, and the scale of it all was awe-inspiring. In classic Silicon Valley fashion, Oracle even placed a prominent competing ad squarely on the route between Moscone West and South—a sign of the times, and of Salesforce’s surging influence.

Unexpected Inspiration: A Leadership Lesson That Lasts

I went to Dreamforce mostly to meet with existing customers and partners, and those expectations were absolutely met.But what stuck with me most was a bunch of leadership lessons from General Colin Powell, who was a keynote speaker that year.

Gen. Powell recounted how he valued every member of his team—from senior staff right down to the janitor—sharing a story about how he thanked her for ensuring the office sparkled before a visit from the British Prime Minister. That narrative reinforced a lesson I still draw on: leadership is about recognizing every contribution, creating pride in teamwork, and acknowledging that even unseen work shapes the biggest outcomes.

Building Relationships, Winning Customers

Every year since, Dreamforce has been my touchpoint to reinforce what matters most—deepening business relationships. In 2009, we landed our first mid-sized customer, Velociti, after connecting over a Salesforce integration project posted on Elance. A $4,000 project led to in-person solution design sessions at their Kansas City office. Over the years, Dreamforce dinners and regular meetings have turned Velociti into one of Softsquare’s most important and enduring success stories.

This is what Dreamforce enables: relationships that endure and deepen, project by project, year after year. The sessions and show floor are lively—but the real action, for me, happens at breakfast or over dinner tables where genuine trust is built.

On Growth, Focus, and the Community

My Dreamforce strategy is grounded and practical. I make it a point to attend sessions directly tied to my area of practice, and regularly participate in region-based dinners, using those moments to meet Account Executives and prospects who truly shape our business. After all these years, I still find it’s the face-to-face time that cements bonds and provides the context for growth.

Dreamforce isn’t about chasing every session or trend—it’s about showing up with intention, being present for your customers and partners, and always leaving space for natural connection.

The Product Innovator’s Playbook

In 2025, Dreamforce is even more exciting. I’m especially eager to learn about AgentExchange and discover how we can launch more products in this evolving ecosystem. This year, we’re also releasing FileMate—an AgentExchange app that builds on the success of our AppExchange favorite, Media Manager. FileMate will let end users extract text, search, summarize, and translate PDF documents—demonstrating how far we’ve come from our earliest days.

My advice for AppExchange or ISV participants: always have your apps ready and presentable (an iPad demo is essential!), and never underestimate the value of those spontaneous hallway and dinner conversations.

Make the Most of Dreamforce: Andi’s Tips

• Book breakfasts and dinners with prospects and customers—relationships aren’t built in keynotes, they’re built in conversation.

• Attend the sessions that align with your business—that’s where those crucial future partners are.

• Don’t waste hours in line: You can always stream keynote speeches online later.

• Demo readiness is critical: Always be ready to show your solution, anywhere and anytime.

• Don’t get lost chasing every piece of content—focus on what will move your business and relationships forward.

The Bigger Picture

Softsquare is now an AI solutions leader in the Salesforce ecosystem—delivering intelligent chatbots, customer service agents, vision-based safety and quality tools, and more, all with a 4.95/5 customer satisfaction rating, 300+ Salesforce implementations, and 35 AppExchange apps.

Our success is rooted in what Dreamforce has helped instill over the years: genuine connections, a commitment to innovation, and a relentless focus on delivering real value—one partnership at a time.

Dreamforce: Where Growth Is Forged

If you’re headed to Dreamforce for the first time (or your fifteenth), I can tell you from experience: go for the learning, but stay for the people. There’s nothing like seeing the Salesforce vision come alive in Moscone South, and even more, there’s nothing like building friendships and business alliances that last far beyond closing day.

I’ll be there this year—launching new products, learning what’s next, and, most importantly, sharing a meal (and a story) with the people who make the Salesforce ecosystem what it is.

Connect with Andi S. Giri on LinkedIn to learn more about his Dreamforce journey, AI product innovation, and what it takes to build lasting partnerships in the Salesforce world.