Industry experts noted that Benioff has tipped his hat to Kieden before, most recently at the AppExchange User and Developer Conference in May.

"Marc has been talking about this company since AppExchange was founded. It's his poster child," said Jeff Kaplan, an analyst at THINKStrategies.

On Monday, Benioff called Kieden a "great addition to Salesforce's marketing technology," but also "a demonstration how two entrepreneurs can start an application with no infrastructure, start a company. Get going and become a success."

Not entirely surprising, the announcement is still significant, Kaplan said.

"It validates some speculation that AppExchange could be more than just an ecosystem. It could be an incubator for new business opportunities and new acquisitions for Salesforce.com. It's fertile ground for new businesses to emerge, evolve, and be acquired over time," he said.