Salesforce Updates the Agentforce Specialist Certification: What’s New

Previously called Agentforce Concepts, this section now takes center stage as AI Agents and makes up the largest portion of the exam.

It dives deeper into:

• Deterministic behavior using filters and variables
• Understanding the reasoning engine behind Agentforce
• Agent security and user concepts
• Connecting agents to multiple channels (digital experiences, email, Slack)
• Knowing when to use an Employee, Service, or Sales Agent

This shift reflects Salesforce’s emphasis on real-world AI agent deployment, not just configuration.

This brand new section means you’ll now need to understand:

• Model Context Protocol (MCP) — how Salesforce agents communicate with external systems or LLMs
• Agent-to-agent communication
• When to use the Agent API

This addition hints at Salesforce’s broader AI vision, where agents don’t just act in isolation but collaborate and share context across the enterprise. 

The introduction of MCP and Agent API topics shows Salesforce is preparing for a connected ecosystem of intelligent agents. Learning how agents talk to each other (and to external systems) will help your learning journey.

The Agentforce and Data Cloud section is now Data Cloud for Agentforce, and it’s far more technical:

• Expect questions on retrievers, chunking, indexing, and search types (keyword, vector, hybrid)
• Know how to handle structured and unstructured data
• Understand how Data Cloud enhances grounding for more accurate, context-aware responses

If you’ve worked with grounding or Data Cloud retrievers, this content will feel familiar, but you’ll need to understand the mechanics, not just the concepts.

Understanding how retrievers, search types, and chunking influence grounding will be critical.
If Data Cloud is new to you, spend time on the Data Cloud for Agentforce documentation and Trailhead modules.

Prompt Engineering remains a major focus, including:

• Field generation and flex types in Prompt Builder
• Best practices for writing effective prompts
• Expanded grounding scenarios

Salesforce is clearly testing not just configuration knowledge, but your ability to design effective AI prompts that deliver reliable outputs.

Agentforce is maturing, and so is the exam’s expectation of your operational knowledge.

This section now covers:

• Using Agentforce Testing Center
• Deploying from a sandbox to production
• Monitoring agent adoption and security

Think of it as DevOps for AI agents — Salesforce wants certified specialists who can manage the full lifecycle.

If you’re preparing, invest time in hands-on practice within Agentforce Testing Center and explore AI agent security and deployment workflows.

Despite the overhaul, some core elements remain consistent:

• 60 multiple-choice questions (plus a few unscored ones)
• 105 minutes to complete the exam
• Passing score: 73%
• No prerequisites
• Free to register, with a $100 retake fee
• Recommended certs: Administrator and Platform App Builder
• Focus areas: Prompt Builder, agent customization, Data Cloud grounding, and security remain at the heart of the exam

The message is clear: Salesforce still expects hands-on familiarity with core platform configuration, not deep coding or LLM expertise.

The Agentforce Specialist Certification has evolved from being a product-specific exam to a strategic AI implementation credential.

It’s designed to validate not just your understanding of Salesforce tools, but your ability to design, deploy, and manage AI agents responsibly in a business environment.

For Admins, Consultants, and Developers looking to stay ahead in Salesforce’s AI-first world, this certification is now more relevant than ever.

Resources:

• Updated Exam Guide