Salesforce unveils AI-powered overhaul of Slack with 30 new features

Cloud software company Salesforce continues to reshape its business around artificial intelligence. During a small event held in San Francisco on Tuesday, CEO Marc Benioff and his team introduced a major update to Slack, featuring a wide range of new AI capabilities. At the centre of this update is a significantly enhanced version of Slackbot, the platform’s built-in AI assistant.

The update introduces around 30 new features, which are expected to roll out over the coming months. These additions build on a January update that already expanded Slackbot’s capabilities, enabling it to draft emails, schedule meetings, and search through inboxes for specific information using agent-like behaviour.

One of the most notable additions is what Salesforce calls reusable AI skills. This feature allows users to define specific tasks for Slackbot that can be reused across multiple workflows and contexts. While Slackbot includes a preloaded set of AI skills, users can also create custom ones tailored to their own needs.

Once configured, these skills can streamline everyday work tasks. For instance, a user could enter a simple command such as “create a budget” for an upcoming project. Slackbot would then gather relevant data from Slack conversations, connected applications, and internal systems to generate a structured plan. It can also automatically schedule a meeting and invite appropriate team members based on their roles.

Slackbot has also been upgraded to function as an MCP (Model Context Protocol) client, allowing it to connect with external tools and services. One such integration is with Agentforce, Salesforce’s AI agent development platform introduced in 2024. Through this connection, Slackbot can route tasks or queries to Agentforce or other enterprise systems, identifying the most efficient way to handle requests without requiring manual input.

According to Rob Seaman, Slack’s interim CEO and former chief product officer, the updated Slackbot can now also transcribe meetings and generate summaries. If users miss important parts of a discussion, they can request a recap that includes key points and assigned action items.

The AI assistant has also expanded beyond Slack itself and can now monitor activity across a user’s desktop. Salesforce says Slackbot can analyse data such as ongoing deals, conversations, calendar events, and usage patterns to provide recommendations or draft follow-up actions. Seaman emphasised that privacy controls are built into the system, allowing users to manage permissions and data access.

Overall, Salesforce appears to be positioning Slack as more than just a communication platform, aiming to transform it into a central hub for enterprise productivity and workflow automation. By adding extensive AI features, the company is making Slack a core part of how businesses operate every day.

During the event, Benioff highlighted the company’s progress since acquiring Slack, describing the past five years as an “incredible journey” that has driven approximately two-and-a-half times revenue growth. He also noted that around one million businesses are now using Slack, underscoring its continued expansion and importance within Salesforce’s broader strategy.