Slack’s AI Evolution
Following its recent redesign and new experience for Sales reps, Slack, now under Salesforce, is furthering its mission to simplify collaborative work for enterprises. The latest development is the introduction of Slack AI, a suite of generative AI capabilities integrated into the messaging platform. These AI smarts aim to enhance productivity and will be showcased at Salesforce’s annual Dreamforce conference.
A Shift Toward Intelligent Productivity
Rob Seaman, SVP of enterprise product at Slack, highlights the platform’s evolution from a channel-based messaging tool to an intelligent productivity platform. The focus is on three key areas:
- Streamlined Communication
- Efficient Work Management
- Automated Processes
These features will roll out gradually, with the initial release focusing on Channel recaps, thread summaries, and Search Answers powered by AI.
Channel Recaps and Thread Summaries
Channel recaps provide users with AI-generated highlights and summaries for channels and conversation threads. This feature aids users in quickly catching up on essential information, making it particularly useful when returning after being away.
Seaman emphasizes that channel recaps maintain transparency by displaying the information source alongside the highlights, enhancing user trust.
Search Answers, another AI-powered feature, enables users to ask natural language questions, generating clear, concise responses based on Slack’s collective knowledge. It complements the standard search experience, appearing alongside regular search results.
Privacy and Security
Slack’s proprietary Large Language Models (LLMs) underpin these AI capabilities, all hosted within a secure virtual private cloud. User data remains within the confines of this environment, ensuring data privacy and security.
Seaman assures users that Slack’s AI capabilities adhere to stringent security and compliance standards, with no data shared with third parties or used in external model training.
Enhanced Work Management
Slack introduces Lists, integrating work management into its communication flow. Users can create lists of active projects, assign tasks, and monitor progress directly within Slack. This feature streamlines collaboration and supports various work types, from IT requests to cross-functional projects.
Additionally, the updated workflow builder empowers teams to create automations without coding. Workflow connectors from various platforms enable task automation within Slack.
Slack plans to launch an automation hub, offering templates for quick setup and better workflow sharing and reuse.
What Lies Ahead
While these features promise an improved Slack experience, they are still in development. Slack AI and work management features are set for pilot testing in the winter, with a 2024 rollout. Meanwhile, the updated automation builder is now available, with the hub arriving later this month. Slack is committed to further AI advancements, exploring additional use cases such as Slack Canvas generation.
