Artificial intelligence scientist Richard Socher might seem like an odd fit for Salesforce, a juggernaut in sales and marketing software for businesses. But in nearly two years at Salesforce, Mr. Socher has helped develop new AI-powered software that helps its customers identify promising sales leads and monitor their brands on social media. His efforts illustrate how companies are finding practical applications for AI.

At the same time, Mr. Socher, who is an adjunct professor at Stanford, has promoted a research-oriented culture that emphasizes publication of research papers. In 17 months under Mr. Socher, Salesforce Research has published 20 research papers, seven of which were recently accepted to the International Conference on Learning Representations, a major AI conference, said a Salesforce spokeswoman.