"We are standing on the shoulders of giants," he said citing those who created the mainframe, client-server model and cloud computing. "Now here we are in the 21st century and we have this incredible social revolution. We believe so strongly that Salesforce.com's mission, our core mission, is to help you, our customers, to connect with your customers in a whole new way."

Benioff delivered a healthy helping of his trademark speechifying about how social software, intertwined with Salesforce.com's core CRM (customer relationship management) application, can help companies work more effectively with customers and partners. He also brought a series of executives onstage to present a regarding Salesforce.com's Chatter software, Work.com employee performance management software, Marketing Cloud and other products.

But the bulk of his presentation focused on stories of high-profile Salesforce.com customers who have bought into the company's vision.

The best way to communicate with customers these days is through social media, said David Cush, CEO of airline Virgin America. "These are real-time problems that need real-time answers." Virgin America is planning to rework its company culture using Salesforce.com's social software, he added. "Traditionally, airlines have been egalitarian, chain-of-command [environments]," he said.

Motivational speaker Tony Robbins also took the stage. Robbins' company also uses Salesforce.com's software. He related a story of how the company was able to use Salesforce.com's social media analytics tools to contest a media report. "The future is, connect or die," Robbins said. "The future is, connect and you win."