The next big evolution of artificial intelligence (AI) is about to be agent AI, where AI agents will go out and perform tasks on their own with little to no human supervision. The technology carries the promise of a workforce of AI agents working alongside everyday employees.
It is not surprising that there are many companies taking advantage of this opportunity. Two of the most intriguing are SoundHound AI(NASDAQ: SOUND) and sales force(NYSE: CRM). They both approach technology differently and both have something unique that helps them stand out.
Let’s dive into the prospects of the two stocks to see which is the better buy.
In recent years, SoundHound has established itself as a leader in AI voice technology. The company created a platform that can interact more naturally with people by using “speech-to-meaning” and “deep meaning understanding” technology, where it can recognize someone’s intent before they even finish speaking, much like how humans process speech. This technology alone has found strong roots in the automotive and restaurant industries.
However, SoundHound saw where the puck was moving with AI and smartly went out and acquired Amelia, which brought with it virtual agents that were being used in several industries, including highly regulated ones like healthcare and financial services. It then combined the two companies’ technologies to launch a voice-based AI agent platform and later acquired a workflow automation company.
Today, SoundHound seeks to offer customers an end-to-end AI customer service solution that can interact with people naturally. It’s just the beginning of taking advantage of this opportunity, but it’s huge. The company had already been growing rapidly before this agent AI push, and its revenue more than doubled in the last nine months. However, the stock isn’t cheap, trading at a forward price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of 15 times analysts’ 2026 revenue estimates.
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A leader in customer relationship management (CRM) software, Salesforce stock has come under pressure due to the belief that it will be one of the many software-as-a-service (SaaS) losers due to AI. The risk for SaaS companies is considered twofold, since there is a thesis that AI will make companies more agile and therefore need fewer positions. Meanwhile, there is also a line of thinking that organizations will simply “vibrate code” (using natural language and artificial intelligence to develop software) custom software solutions to replace existing vendors.
In my opinion, those risks seem exaggerated. SaaS companies can change pricing models, although there is a big difference between prototyping software and developing a market-ready solution that can handle the security, compliance, and reliability requirements needed to run a large-scale business. Removing a complex piece of software embedded throughout an organization is not an easy step.
Meanwhile, Salesforce, for its part, has already begun to evolve into an agent AI platform. One of its strengths has always been collecting data and breaking down departmental silos, but with the acquisition of master data management company Informatica and the launch of Data 360, Salesforce has positioned itself to be the master record of an organization’s data.
While this hasn’t received much fanfare, it’s a great move that makes the company a stalwart of agent AI. The reason is that AI has been found to work best when it can extract clean, organized data, and this will be even more important when it comes to AI agents, which have little human supervision.
With a forward P/S multiple of just 4.5 and a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of less than 17 based on analyst estimates for 2026, the stock is cheap and has a huge growth opportunity ahead.
Personally, I like Salesforce between the two, given its beaten valuation and think the company has taken smart steps to become an eventual leader in artificial intelligence. However, I think SoundHound probably has more growth potential, given its much smaller size. If its voice technology proves to be a major differentiator in the AI agent race, the sky could be the limit.
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Geoffrey Seiler has positions at Salesforce. The Motley Fool has posts on and recommends Salesforce and SoundHound AI. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Best Agent AI Stock: SoundHound AI vs. Salesforce was originally published by The Motley Fool
