(Reuters) -Business software provider Salesforce forecast fiscal 2026 revenue below Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, weighed down by slower adoption of its artificial intelligence agent platform, sending shares of the company down around 5% in extended trading.

The software-as-a-service pioneer is banking heavily on AI agents to reinvigorate growth at a time when other cloud firms, including Microsoft and Amazon, have firmly established themselves as leaders in the sector while making strides in machine learning. 

The company expects revenue to be between $40.5 billion and $40.9 billion, compared to the average analysts' estimate of $41.35 billion, according to data compiled by LSEG. 

The downbeat forecast indicates that the spending environment remains pressured, with enterprises withholding new financial commitments owing to still-high interest rates and economic uncertainty.  

It forecast full-year adjusted earnings per share between $11.09 and $11.17 per share, compared with analysts' estimate of $11.18 per share.

Analysts have said that the company's return to double-digit growth rates hinges on the success of Agentforce - its AI agent builder platform - after it reported single-digit revenue growth in the past few quarters. 

The emergence of AI agents reflects a shift in the booming artificial intelligence space, as tech firms are starting to move beyond chatbots in a move to show returns on the billions they have poured into this revolutionary technology.

The rapid evolution of AI has spurred Salesforce to hire people to sell its new products while simultaneously cutting jobs in other areas. 

The company's fourth-quarter revenue came in at $9.99 billion, missing a consensus estimate of $10.04 billion.

Salesforce forecast first-quarter revenue to be between $9.71 billion and $9.76 billion, below estimates of $9.90 billion.