Denise Dresser, the head of Slack, tells TechCrunch that she is changing the business chat platform into a “work operating system.” Specifically, she is making Slack a hub for AI applications from Salesforce, Adobe, and Anthropic. The CEO of the company sees Slack as more than just a place to chat with coworkers. The question is, do users want this change? And if they do, will they be willing to pay extra for it?
On Monday, Slack announced new features for a more expensive tier of the messaging platform called Slack AI. These updates include AI-generated Huddle summaries, where users can chat with Salesforce’s AI agents in Slack, in addition to tools from third parties for AI web search and AI image generation.
Salesforce acquired Slack in 2021, just after the messaging platform became essential for remote work. Now, three years later, Salesforce is focusing heavily on AI agents. Slack CEO Denise Dresser says that Slack will play a crucial role in this transformation because it is already a place where people chat throughout the workday, making it a natural fit for interacting with AI agents.
Dresser explains that AI brings a new way of experiencing technology that fits naturally with Slack’s conversational style. The platform allows users to surface information and take action seamlessly while working. She believes that Slack is the perfect product for this kind of interaction.
The addition of AI agents by Slack may seem unnecessary to some, especially since other companies have introduced AI features to appear modern without truly benefiting the core product. Dresser justifies the inclusion of AI agents by emphasizing that Slack is not just a messaging platform but a digital workplace that brings people and processes together.
The head of Slack mentions that every CEO is looking for AI features to improve team discussions and surface information quickly, which is one way Slack is trying to help companies transition into the AI era.
Some new agents within Slack, like Agentforce, Cohere, and Anthropic, offer services for enterprise AI customers. These agents enable tasks like on-demand data analysis and web searching. Adobe Express’s agent allows users to create branded content within the messaging service itself.
As Slack embraces AI further, questions about privacy arise. Earlier this year, Slack faced scrutiny for potentially using customer data in its recommender system. The company denied using customer data to train its AI models but emphasized the importance of trust and safety in enterprise AI solutions.
The privacy concerns around AI tools becoming more integrated into Slack highlight the need for transparency and safeguards. Users are right to be cautious as AI becomes a standard tool in platforms like Slack.
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