Salesforce’s acquisitions of MuleSoft (integration middleware) and Tableau (visualization) reveal a deliberate embedding strategy. These weren’t product plays. They were embedding accelerators.
The MuleSoft Play:
MuleSoft makes Salesforce the hub of more data flows. Every integration that passes through MuleSoft increases Salesforce’s centrality. The integration layer itself becomes a Salesforce asset.
The Tableau Play:
Tableau makes those flows visible. Visibility creates meetings where Salesforce is on screen.
Screen time becomes organizational habit
Habit becomes assumption
Assumption becomes “of course we use Salesforce — it’s how we see our business”
The Embedding Flywheel in Action:
More Integrations → More Dependency → More Data Flows Through You → Better Understanding of Organization → More Essential Insights → More Value Created for More Teams → More Integrations
The Critical Insight:
Each turn of the flywheel doesn’t just add value — it creates structural dependency that makes the next turn inevitable.
Gennaro is the creator of FourWeekMBA, which reached about four million business people, comprising C-level executives, investors, analysts, product managers, and aspiring digital entrepreneurs in 2022 alone | He is also Director of Sales for a high-tech scaleup in the AI Industry | In 2012, Gennaro earned an International MBA with emphasis on Corporate Finance and Business Strategy.
