Marc Benioff is chairman and CEO of salesforce.com. He founded the company in March 1999 with a vision to create an on-demand customer relationship management (CRM) solution that would replace traditional enterprise software technology. Benioffis regarded as the leader ofwhat he originally termed “The End of Software,” the now accepted idea that on-demand applications can democratize CRM by delivering immediate benefits to companies ofall sizes at reduced risks and costs. Under Benioff’s direction, salesforce.com has grown from a groundbreaking idea into a publicly traded company that is the market and technology leader in on-demand business services.

Benioff, a 25-year software industry veteran, is internationally recognized as one ofthe preeminent thinkers in information technology. Most recently he was named on Computer Business Review magazine’s “Top 10 Most Influential Movers & Shakers” list and he was ranked on the “50 People Who Matter” list published by Business 2.0magazine. Additional recent acknowledgments include: “Silicon Valley Visionary,” from the Software Development Forum, the leading source of information and education to the technology community; “Alumni Entrepreneur of the Year,” from the University of Southern California’s (USC) Marshall School of Business; “Northern California Entrepreneur ofthe Year,” from Ernst & Young; and “Entrepreneur ofthe Year,” from SunBridge, the leading incubator in Japan, which recognized Benioff for his work in catalyzing technology change. He has been widely recognized in many leading magazines. Among others, Selling Power named him “International CEO ofthe Year;” Fortunemagazine called Benioffone ofits “Top 10 Entrepreneurs to Watch;” and BusinessWeek named him one ofthe 25 people responsible for turning e-business around.

Throughout his career, Benioff has been determined to use information technology to produce positive social change. In July 2000, Beniofflaunched the Salesforce Foundation, a multimilliondollar global philanthropic organization. Pioneering the “1 percent model”—where the company contributes 1 percent of profits, 1 percent of equity, and 1 percent of employee hours back to the communities it serves—the Salesforce Foundation has demonstrated the power and impact ofintegrated philanthropy.Benioff is the coauthor of Compassionate Capitalism, the first-ever bestpractices guide for corporate philanthropy that illustrates the success of the integrated model. He has been widely lauded for his work to effect change: members of the World Economic Forum selected him as a “Global Leader ofTomorrow,” one of100 leaders in business, politics, and the arts committed to addressing social issues; he received the Promise of Peace award from the Prime Minister ofIsrael, Benjamin Netanyahu, for his work using technology as a means to further Middle East peace; and he was honored with the Bridge award from the nonprofit organization HEAVEN (Helping Educate, Activate, Volunteer, and Empower via the Net) for providing Internet access to the underserved in America’s inner cities.

Prior to creating salesforce.com, Benioff spent 13 years at Oracle Corporation, where he held a number ofexecutive positions insales, marketing, and product development. Before joining Oracle, Benioffworked at Apple Computer and founded Liberty Software. Benioff received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Southern California in 1986.

Carlye Adler is a freelance journalist who has been widely published in magazines such as Fortune, FSB: Fortune Small Business, BusinessWeek, and Travel+Leisure.

While based in Hong Kong, she wrote articles for Time-Asian Edition, and covered the film and television business as the Hong Kong correspondent for Daily Variety.

Formerly a senior writer at FSB, Adler wrote dozens offeature investigations and received several awards. Her story on the hefty price of investing in a Krispy Kreme franchise was selected for inclusion in the compendium The Best Business Stories ofthe Year. She was twice named one of the most influential business journalists under the age of 30.

Adler lives in New York with her husband, Anthony Fieldman, and their daughter, Mia.