Salesforce has announced the general availability of Slack AI, a generative AI experience to enhance worker productivity.
Slack AI, first revealed in September, is native to Slack's collaboration platform, meaning users can leverage the wealth of collective company knowledge shared within Slack through guided experiences powered by AI. These experiences encompass AI-powered search functionalities, channel recaps, thread summaries, and an upcoming "digests" feature that Salesforce is teasing.
These capabilities intend to empower users to rapidly discover answers, distil knowledge, and cultivate ideas more efficiently.
Denise Dresser, CEO of Slack, said:
For the past decade, Slack has revolutionized the way we work, bringing people, apps and systems together in one place. With Slack AI, we're excited to take this transformation to the next level. These new AI capabilities empower our customers to access the collective knowledge within Slack so they can work smarter, move faster, and spend their time on things that spark real innovation and growth."
Slack suggests Slack AI was inspired by Gartner's study that almost half of digital workers struggle to find the information they need to do their jobs effectively, while the rise in the number of apps and tools to leverage has complicated workflows even further. Slack cites the enormous "potential" of AI to address the challenges, with the company's research finding that test users saved an average of 97 minutes a week by utilising Slack AI.
"In the era of generative AI, Slack is the trusted, conversational platform that connects every part of a business to supercharge team productivity," Dresser added.
Slack AI is now available as a paid add-on for Slack Enterprise plans and in US and UK English. Slack promises that additional Slack plans and language support are "coming soon", while AI-powered partner apps are available now in the Slack App Directory.
Slack AI's Features in Detail
Slack AI's search and summarisation functionalities offer customers a convenient way to locate and digest substantial amounts of information. Slack underlines that these features are reliable, user-friendly, and intuitive, requiring no specialised training. Users can activate them through guided, context-sensitive interactions, eliminating the need to acquire new skills to enjoy the rewards. Each output is also secure, properly cited, and tailored to the individual user.
Slack AI's new advanced search means users can pose questions in natural language and receive succinct answers from relevant Slack messages. This streamlined process enables users to swiftly access the information they require, with Slack citing understanding a new marketing campaign or familiarising themselves with company policies as example use cases.
With channel recaps, users can review unread messages, condense the past week's activity, or specify a custom date range for summarisation. This functionality allows users to efficiently catch up after being away from work, familiarise themselves with a new project, or engage in resolving time-sensitive problems.
