- Salesforce unveils 30 new AI features for Slack, turning Slackbot into an autonomous workplace agent.
- Reusable AI skills let users define custom tasks that Slackbot can repeat across any context with a single command.
- Slackbot now works as an MCP client, connecting to Agentforce and any external tool in the enterprise stack.
- CEO Marc Benioff says Slack has delivered 2.5x revenue growth since Salesforce acquired it, with about one million businesses on the platform.
Slackbot Goes From Chat Assistant to Autonomous Agent
At a gathering in San Francisco on Tuesday, Salesforce revealed 30 new features for Slack that collectively push the platform far beyond its roots as an enterprise messaging tool. The centerpiece is a dramatically upgraded Slackbot, now capable of performing complex, multi-step tasks autonomously. The update builds on a January release that gave Slackbot agentic capabilities like drafting emails and scheduling meetings.
The most significant addition is what Salesforce calls reusable AI skills. Users can define specific tasks — say, “create a budget” for an upcoming event — and Slackbot will pull together relevant information from Slack channels, connected apps, and data sources to build an actionable plan. It then schedules a meeting and invites the right people based on their titles. Once created, these skills can be triggered by any team member with a simple command. Slackbot also now functions as an MCP client, meaning it can connect to outside services including Agentforce, Salesforce’s agent development platform, routing work to the most relevant tool without human intervention.
Beyond Slack: Desktop Monitoring and Meeting Recaps
The agent can now operate outside of Slack entirely. It monitors desktop activities — deals, conversations, calendars, habits — and makes actionable suggestions or drafts follow-ups for critical tasks. Rob Seaman, Slack’s interim CEO, said privacy protections are built into the design and users can adjust permissions. Slackbot can also transcribe and summarize meetings in real time, producing recaps with assigned action items for anyone who missed key details.
Salesforce is clearly positioning Slack as an indispensable layer of enterprise infrastructure, not just a chat app. Marc Benioff said the five years since the acquisition had been “an incredible journey” that delivered 2.5x revenue growth, with about one million businesses now running on Slack. The 30 features, rolling out in the coming months, are a bet that flooding Slack with AI turns it into something companies cannot live without — an orchestration layer for the entire digital workplace.
