We are empowering organisations to use AI capabilities to the fullest, says Rahul Sharma of Slack

Modern workplaces have placed top priority on effective communication platforms given the multiple channels of how information is processed—be it voice, text, audio, or video. Added to this is the hybrid work culture, which brings additional challenges to communicating effectively. Slack, the messaging app for business, which is a part of Salesforce, has upped the game by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) features into its platform.

The integration of AI into Slack is helping organisations integrate both structured and unstructured data that provides an effective summary. There is also the channel recap feature, which captures the crucial themes and highlights of the discussion.

In an e-mail interview with Enterprise Story, Rahul Sharma, AVP - Platform, Service Cloud, Heroku and Slack, highlighted the AI developments.

“We want Slack to be a tool that is as useful on a laptop as it is on a mobile device. So, it truly can be used anywhere, which is why we place a premium on consistency of experience across devices,” he noted.

Edited excerpts from the interview:

Enterprise Story (ES): How is Slack bringing in AI-generated tools into its communication platform?

Rahul Sharma (RS): At Slack, we recognise the evolving demands of modern workplaces, and we want to be able to support that with AI tools that can have a positive impact on the average workday. Slack is an AI-powered platform for work that connects and synthesises insights and actions across all of your people, data, and apps. We recently rolled out Slack AI, a secure, trustworthy, and intuitive AI experience that puts employees a step ahead during their workday.

Traditional systems of record primarily focus on structured data, which can limit their utility in a dynamic business environment. Slack bridges this gap by effectively integrating both structured and unstructured data, enabling our AI to deliver comprehensive insights that drive smarter decision-making. As a warehouse of unstructured data, Slack can overcome these traditional data boundaries by treating unstructured data with the same importance as structured data, providing a more holistic view of information, and enhancing the AI's ability to respond to complex queries and generate valuable insights.

The Slack AI features we’ve launched this year include channel recaps that surface crucial themes and highlights in any channel so people can quickly review and absorb what matters most. In addition, we’ve launched thread summaries that increase efficiency by giving an overview of lengthy discussions with just one click. We’ve paired these with intelligent search results so users can get clear, concise, personalised answers with direct citations to relevant Slack messages, whether they use keywords or natural language.

In support of these new AI features, we have the rapidly growing workflow builder, a no-code automation tool that empowers all users to automate regular tasks, with 80% of users hailing from non-technical backgrounds, allowing teams to explore creative new ways to automate work in Slack.

ES: What are some of the benefits to enterprises and users witnessing the introduction of AI features on Slack?

RS: Slack has been intentionally built to support the fluid integration of structured and unstructured data, which is essential for developing contemporary AI applications and tools. Slack serves as a critical repository for this unstructured data, and as a platform of work for thousands of organisations around the world. By providing an AI-powered platform that can allow a business to utilise AI tools powered by their own data, Slack can help enhance ‌AI’s ability to generate truly actionable insights and help businesses unlock the value of their data. This is the basis on which Slack AI has been built.

The early results our customers are sharing after using Slack AI are very inspiring. On average, our customers are seeing each user save up to 97 minutes per week. Clearly, Slack AI is already empowering customers to access collective knowledge so that teams can work smarter, move faster, and spend their time on things that spark real innovation and growth.

We’re bringing AI to our core feature areas of search and summarisation because we know that quickly finding and making sense of large volumes of information is critical to getting even more value out of Slack.

ES: Do these AI tools bring all the elements of communication—text, voice, and video, into the Slack platform?

RS: Slack’s AI technologies encompass every facet of communication. Its AI-powered feature elevates text-based interactions by offering intelligent suggestions, facilitating smart searches, and streamlining workflows. It fosters inclusivity and accessibility for all users with AI-driven transcription services converting spoken messages into text.

Looking ahead, our vision involves extending Slack AI’s search and summarisation capabilities to incorporate additional data sources like files, Slack apps, canvases, clips, and beyond. This expansion will enrich the breadth and depth of contextual information available to Slack AI, thereby enhancing the overall user experience with greater relevance.

ES: How is the Slack platform enabling a digital culture given the hybrid nature of work today with a combination of both on-premise and work-from-home environments?

RS: Our commitment at Slack is to transform the way work is done. By making the unstructured data that exists on Slack—conversations, output of work, files and more—easily accessible and combinable with structured data, we are empowering organisations to use AI's capabilities to the fullest, ensuring smarter workflows and better outcomes.

For today’s hybrid work setup, Slack’s strength continues to be a digital centre for collaboration, linking onsite and remote workspaces. Our aim is for Slack to help foster a digital-first culture where employees feel connected and empowered, irrespective of their physical location. We want Slack to be a tool that is as useful on a laptop as it is on a mobile device, so it truly can be used anywhere, which is why we place a premium on consistency of experience across devices.

By combining communication, file sharing, and project management tools, Slack streamlines workflows and boosts productivity. As an AI-powered platform for work, with a user-friendly interface and smart teamwork features, Slack provides smooth communication and information exchange, regardless of where team members are located. Additionally, by integrating AI alongside Salesforce's own extensive platform, Slack's capabilities are enhanced, making it a smarter work companion.