Career

AI reshapes everything. I build what's next.

Every enterprise is rearchitecting around AI. Not someday. Right now. I design the systems that make it real: production agents, grounded data pipelines, and autonomous workflows that start in Salesforce and reach every platform your business runs on.

Summary

Agentforce and Data Cloud architect who ships production AI that performs: 12% cold-lead conversion across 2,000+ autonomous interactions, 4× job placement throughput for an at-risk youth program, a $1M+ deal supported by a single deployment. The platform is Salesforce; the problems span CRM, ERP, POS, loyalty systems, and legacy data across the whole enterprise. I specialize in the full stack that makes AI trustworthy: RAG grounding, federated multi-agent design, and Zero-Copy/BYOL patterns with Databricks and Azure, built across two SI practices and 80+ architects enabled globally at Salesforce.

linkedin.com/in/rhernalsteen →

Experience

Perficient Senior Solutions Architect
May 2026 – Present

Leading AI adoption and tooling for a 50-person practice while delivering Data Cloud and Agentforce solutions for enterprise clients.

  • Built and maintain a Claude Code skills and prompt template library actively used across the practice, covering document generation, Marketing Cloud and Data Cloud implementation patterns, and architect-facing org tooling.
  • Developed an internal document-grounded product assistant: an index routes each query to the relevant Salesforce documentation, which is read to surface feature recommendations, implementation guidance, gotchas, and further reading.
  • Authoring token optimization guidance for the practice, establishing cost-aware patterns for efficient Claude usage across client engagements.
  • Building architect tooling for rapid org discovery and deployment of reusable assets into new client environments.
  • Deliver end-to-end Data Cloud and Agentforce solutions for enterprise clients, from scoping and architecture through go-live, including rapid proof-of-concept demos supporting active sales cycles.
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Rosetree Solutions Data Cloud Architect & Practice Lead
Mar 2025 – May 2026

Lead architect for enterprise-scale Agentforce and Data Cloud implementations across Retail, Manufacturing, and Automotive. Operates in high-ambiguity environments bridging legacy data silos with autonomous AI reasoning.

Key Win

Deployed Agentforce SDR agent that activated 3,000+ stagnant leads, managed 2,000+ autonomous interactions in 18 days, and achieved a 12% cold-lead-to-meeting conversion rate, directly supporting closure of a $1MM+ Salesforce expansion deal.

  • Architected and deployed a federated multi-agent Lead Nurturing system (Lead Specialist + Customer Specialist) in a 4-week window. Result: 52.6% meeting conversion rate.
  • Implemented RAG grounding via Vector Search using technical product and service documentation, enabling accurate industry-based recommendations and eliminating hallucinations.
  • Designed automated website-crawl data pipeline for a 200+ location hospitality brand, replacing manual document curation. Achieved 100% reduction in data prep time with full contextual accuracy across all locations.
  • Designed Identity Resolution and Zero-Copy/BYOL patterns with Databricks, unifying profiles from Salesforce, POS, loyalty, and gaming platforms.
  • Built Claude Code skills for the company's internal repository and led sessions introducing the team to AI-assisted development workflows and what was possible with the tooling.
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Prolocity Data Cloud / Agentforce Practice Lead
Feb 2024 – Mar 2025

Founded and led the organization's AI and Data Cloud practice from zero, establishing strategy, delivery, and go-to-market.

Key Win

Deployed Agentforce job-matching engine for a non-profit workforce program, transforming a quarterly batch process into an on-demand system with a 4× increase in placement throughput and eliminating 100% of manual data entry.

  • Secured acceptance into the exclusive Salesforce Agentforce Partner Network.
  • Built comprehensive Agentforce demo environment supporting cross-cloud sales, marketing, and internal enablement.
  • Presented production Agentforce and Data Cloud use cases at Salesforce World Tour NYC and Salesforce Connections.
  • Co-hosted Data Cloud workshops with Salesforce at Chicago Tower; designed and launched integrated Salesforce-aligned offerings for Slack and Data Cloud.
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Salesforce Senior Technical Architect
Feb 2022 – Feb 2024

Designed and implemented enterprise cross-cloud solutions with a focus on Data Cloud (CDP) and Marketing Cloud for Global Retail brands. Served as cross-cloud SME and internal enablement leader.

  • Architected and led global Data Cloud enablement programs for 80+ architects, directly scaling Professional Services delivery capacity.
  • Led platform migration for a global multi-brand Retail & Consumer Goods enterprise onto Marketing Cloud, integrating Data Cloud for harmonization and segmentation, and Marketing Cloud Personalization for real-time campaign targeting.
  • Evaluated current-state architecture for a Health & Life Sciences client; designed future-state with real-time patient data ingestion via Data Cloud and Marketing Cloud Personalization, integrated with Commerce Cloud and multiple non-Salesforce systems.
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Coastal Cloud Senior Consultant
Nov 2020 – Feb 2022

Project/Technical Lead and Solution Architect for complex Salesforce implementations across Finance, Healthcare, Non-profit, Insurance, and Education.

  • Engineered advanced segmentation and data manipulation using SQL and SSJS; built reusable, deployable architectural components via SFMC Package Manager.
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Publicis Sapient Marketing Automation Engineer
Jan 2020 – Nov 2020

Implemented cross-cloud Salesforce solutions spanning Sales, Service, Health, Government, and Marketing Cloud for regulated and public-sector clients.

  • Executed large-scale audience segmentation via SQL Query Activities and delivered web and email personalization across multiple concurrent client engagements.
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Hagerty Software Developer → Solution Architect
Aug 2013 – Jan 2020

Six years at a specialty insurance and automotive enthusiast brand, progressing from core systems development into enterprise Salesforce architecture and agile delivery leadership.

  • Administered enterprise Marketing Cloud account including campaign execution, content personalization, and segmentation of 1MM+ customer datasets using SQL Query Activities.
  • Supported nightly ETL and population of a SQL Server data warehouse with 5MM+ customer, policy, and vehicle records; led migration of 3MM+ records into Salesforce.
  • Led SAFe certification courses for 100+ Scrum Masters, Product Owners, and Executive Leadership; coached non-IT teams on Lean-Agile practices.
  • Owned source code repository, build pipelines, test environments, and production releases for core systems exceeding 2 million lines of code across a mixed on-prem/cloud landscape.
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R.L. Polk & Co. IT Programmer / Analyst
Jun 2005 – Aug 2013

Led development and support for global automated marketing programs across US and European teams. Replaced a legacy mainframe application with a new Oracle data mart, reducing vehicle population data delivery time from 5 months to 1 month.

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Salesforce Certifications

AI & Data
Agentforce Specialist Data Cloud Consultant Data Architect
Marketing Cloud
Consultant Developer Administrator Email Specialist Account Engagement Specialist
Platform
Service Cloud Consultant Sales Cloud Consultant Administrator Platform App Builder

Education

Northern Michigan University B.S., Computer Information Systems
1999 – 2003