Salesforce Winter ’26 Release Marks a Turning Point for Flow Governance & Security

By Rafat Khan, CRM Delivery Head, Nihilent Limited

Salesforce Winter ’26 Release Marks a Turning Point for Flow Governance & Security

Salesforce Flows have become the operating system of the enterprise Salesforce org, powering everything from lead routing and case escalations to quote approvals and subscription billing. In Winter ’26 release, Salesforce has indicated that automation is about control, compliance, and trust.

What Changed in Winter ’26

Several updates in this release reveal a deeper shift in Salesforce’s priorities:

• Permission Enforcement on Apex in Flows: Flows now execute Apex within the current user’s context, meaning missing permissions can break automations.

• Deprecation of FlowSites Permission: The legacy “all users can run flows” approach is retired. Execution now requires explicit permission assignment.

• Governance Signals: Role hierarchy references, verified user emails, and service planner licensing are tightening the access landscape across Salesforce.

These are early warning signs that Salesforce expects customers to elevate automation governance.

Why This Matters for Enterprises

For Salesforce Program Owners, the implications are profound:

• Technical Debt Exposure Without a governance model, new permission enforcement could expose hidden fragility, overnight.

• Compliance and Audit Readiness Flows running with “over-permissioned” access are no longer acceptable.

• Business Continuity Risks Imagine a critical revenue flow like CPQ discount approvals or payment posting failing in production because Apex permissions weren’t assigned correctly. It’s a business continuity issue.

What Leaders Should Do Now

Forward-looking enterprises can turn these updates into a blueprint for resilient, compliant automation:

1. Inventory & Assess: Map all active Flows, their Apex dependencies, and who has execution rights.

2. Redesign Permissions: Move away from legacy broad permissions. Align flows with principle-of-least-privilege access.

3. Establish Automation Governance: Define standards for flow design, review, and approval, just as you do for code.

4. Proactive Testing in Sandboxes: Don’t wait for production errors. Leverage the Sandbox preview to test automation against Winter ’26 changes.

5. Educate Business Stakeholders: Position this shift as part of the broader digital trust narrative, not just a Salesforce admin task.

The Strategic Takeaway

The organizations that act now by cleaning up technical debt, redesigning permissions, and embedding automation governance will gain strategic agility, compliance strength, and executive trust.

“How prepared is your Salesforce org for this new era of Flow governance? Let’s start the conversation.”