Dreamforce 2023 returns to San Francisco on Tuesday.
Billed by Salesforce as “the largest software conference in the world”—the conference attracts global attendees and a star-studded cast of Hollywood celebrities, prominent tech bosses and politicians.
This year will be the 21st iteration of Dreamforce. Around 40,000 people attended the conference last year, much lower than previous years, where attendance reached nearly 200,000. Dreamforce is expected to draw between 30,000 to 35,000 attendees to Moscone Center this year.
Actor Matthew McConaughey, a Salesforce brand partner, is scheduled to speak and was also a speaker at last year’s conference.
Director Spike Lee, actress Viola Davis and former Black Eyed Peas frontman-turned-entrepreneur Will.i.am are also scheduled speakers.
Mayor London Breed, Rainn Wilson—the actor best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on NBC’s The Office—and Jane Goodall will also appear at the event.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff warned that this year’s Dreamforce could be the last in San Francisco, adding that the future of the conference is in peril because of ongoing issues with homelessness and street drug use affecting the event.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu are also slated to speak at the conference.
ChatGPT creator Sam Altman and former media magnate Arianna Huffington, along with various other tech entrepreneurs and AI experts, will join Benioff for talks.
The Foo Fighters will headline the annual Salesforce Dreamfest charity concert on Wednesday night to benefit the University of California San Francisco’s Benioff Children’s Hospitals.
To accommodate the event and ensuing traffic congestion, the city will close Howard Street between Third and Fourth streets through Sept. 17.