Slack is becoming an AI workplace: Here's what that means for your work

The messaging app where millions of office workers share memes and coordinate projects is quietly transforming into something much more ambitious: a platform where AI agents work alongside humans as digital colleagues .

As part of Salesforce's sweeping campaign AI announced on Tuesday, Slab transforming from a communication tool into what company officials call a “working operating system” — one where AI agents can attend your meetings, summarize your conversations, create presentations and even negotiate with other AI agents on your behalf.

“We've been on a journey to become what we call a work operating system — one that simplifies the complexity of the systems you use every day,” said Slack CPO Rob Seaman, who leads integration The company's AI, in an interview with VentureBeat. . “While messaging and human interaction are still at the core of the work, the system now allows for automation and all the apps you need to get your work done do, as well as AI agents, who we believe will be critical players in the workplace.”

The new digital workplace: AI agents as your colleagues always

The transformation is already visible at such companies Accenturewhere customer executives use AI agents within Slack to significantly reduce the time spent on administrative tasks. These representatives can prepare for meetings, summarize discussions and even draft proposals – all within the familiar Slack interface where employees already spend their workday.

“To ensure the widespread adoption and continued development of these AI agents, it is essential to integrate them where people are already working,” explained Seaman.

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Unlike traditional chatbots or AI assistants that require users to visit separate websites or apps, Slack's AI agents are integrated directly into existing workflows. They appear in channels alongside human colleagues and can be summoned through natural conversation.

The system is designed to be accessible to non-technical users. “There's no code involved,” Seaman said. “From an end-user perspective, there's really no technical work for you.”

But the implications for workplace dynamics are profound. In demonstrations, AI agents demonstrated that they could independently organize meetings, search documents, create images and even collaborate with other AI agents on complex tasks.

For example, during Tuesday's presentation, an AI agent helped an Accenture executive returning from vacation quickly catch up on client activity, prepare for upcoming meetings and draft a proposal—tasks that would normally take hours of human effort.

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While Salesforce provides template agents for common business functions, Seaman expects most organizations to customize their AI workers for specific needs.

“We provide ready-to-use templates that meet about 80% of most needs, but we expect organizations to customize their AI agents for specific purposes,” he said. “We've already seen this pattern with Slack—companies tend to customize the platform a lot to fit their needs.”

The company has built extensive safety measures into the system. “The agents perform on your behalf without permission more than what you have,” explained Seaman. “They don't have God's permissions or administrative permissions…we don't create any loopholes for the AI ​​to see things it shouldn't be able to. “

The human-AI partnership: Redefining collaboration in the workplace

For many workers, the prospect of AI colleagues raises concerns about job displacement. But Salesforce executives consider it an extension of human capabilities rather than an alternative.

“It's not about providing the data,” said Claire Cheng, vice president of machine learning and engineering at Salesforce. “It's about unlocking the full potential of data to enable it Task force to deeply understand your business and your customer and empower the agents to take more effective actions.”

Looking ahead, Salesforce envisions even more sophisticated collaboration between human workers and AI. Future versions will allow multiple AI agents to work together on complex tasks, with specific agents handling different aspects of projects.

“Right now one is waking up different agents,” Silvio Savarese, who heads Salesforce's AI research, told VentureBeat. “The agent of the future will be an orchestra that calls different special agents that talk, work together, perform tasks.”

This vision of the workplace – where humans and AI agents collaborate quickly through platforms like Slack – represents a fundamental shift in how office work is done. And while the full implications remain to be seen, one thing is clear: The office chat app where you've been sharing cat GIFs is about to get a lot more powerful.

“We're at the beginning of the beginning,” said Marc Benioff, Salesforce's chief executive. “When you're at the beginning, you see these little things, and then you try to figure out what this is going to be. This is an amazing time. “