← All articles Data Cloud

Data Cloud

Data 360 — ingestion, DLO/DMO, identity resolution, SQL Calculated Insights, and the Query API that grounds agents in real data.

Data Cloud 7 min read

Credits Are the Currency: Thinking About Data Cloud and AI Costs Before You Build

Data Cloud and Salesforce's AI features are metered in credits — a cloud bill, not a site license. The questions to ask before you wire anything metered into a loop or a schedule, and the habits that keep costs defensible.

Data Cloud 7 min read

Your Agent's Conversations Are Queryable: Two-Sided Transcripts with Plain SOQL

Where does an Agentforce conversation actually live? In one real org, the full two-sided transcript sat in a Data Cloud DMO, readable with ordinary SOQL — here is how to find it, and the caveats that come with it.

Data Cloud 5 min read

The Data 360 Query API: Prove Your Grounding with Plain SQL

Before you wire Data 360 into an Agentforce action, prove the data says what you think it says — with a SQL query, zero UI, and zero agent credits. How I verified a +64.6% consumption anomaly for a real deployed agent.

Data Cloud 4 min read

Real-Time Data: How Data Cloud Reacts the Moment Something Happens

Why real-time ingestion and data actions let Data Cloud respond instantly instead of waiting for an overnight batch.

Data Cloud 4 min read

Data Cloud and Agentforce: Why They're Better Together

How Data Cloud's unified profile grounds an Agentforce agent so it gives genuinely smart, accurate help.

Data Cloud 4 min read

Your First Segment in Data Cloud: From Raw Data to an Audience

A unified profile is only valuable when you use it. Here's how segments turn Data Cloud's data into a real audience you can act on — the concept, the steps, and the beginner mistakes to dodge.

Data Cloud 4 min read

Calculated Insights: Turning Raw Data into Useful Metrics

Learn how calculated insights compute powerful metrics across your unified data, ready for segments and AI.

Data Cloud 4 min read

Identity Resolution for Beginners: How Data Cloud Knows Two Records Are the Same Person

Identity resolution is the heart of Data Cloud and the part that feels like magic. Here's how it actually works — match rules, reconciliation, and the unified profile — explained simply.

Data Cloud 4 min read

The Data Model in Data Cloud: DLOs, DMOs, and Mapping

Demystifying Data Lake Objects, Data Model Objects, and how mapping turns raw data into one shared language.

Data Cloud 4 min read

Data Streams: Getting Data Into Data Cloud

A beginner's guide to data streams, the first step that brings your scattered data into Salesforce Data Cloud.

Data Cloud 4 min read

What Is Salesforce Data Cloud? The Beginner's Picture

Data Cloud is one of the most misunderstood parts of Salesforce for beginners. Here's the clear picture: the problem it solves, the four things it does, and why it powers good AI.