Slack is done being just a chat app

Salesforce is adding more AI to Slack as it tries to turn the app into more than just a workspace chat tool.

At an event in San Francisco, the company announced around 30 new AI features, most of them focused on smarter Slackbot.

The update builds on charges from January, when Slackbot first gained agent-like features such as drafting emails, scheduling meetings, and finding information in inboxes.

Now Salesforce is pushing it further by giving the bot more ways to handle tasks across different tools and workflows.

One of the main additions is reusable AI skills.

These let users create tasks Slackbot can repeat in different situations.

Slack will offer a built-in library of these skills, and users can also make their own.

For example, someone could ask Slackbot to create a budget for an event, and it could pull information from Slack and connected apps, build a plan, and set up a meeting with the right people.

Slackbot can also connect with outside tools and services, including Salesforce’s Agentforce platform.

That means it can send work to other apps or AI agents and help move tasks along with less manual effort.

Salesforce also said Slackbot can now transcribe meetings, summarise them, and highlight action items.

It can also use context from things like calendars, desktop activity, and conversations to suggest follow-ups or next steps.

The company says users will be able to control permissions and privacy settings.

Overall, Salesforce is trying to make Slack a bigger part of how companies get work done, using AI to help with planning, coordination, and routine tasks.

We Slack users laugh in the face of those on Microsoft Teams. Haha. - MV