Slack just announced new Gen AI features, including channel summaries and thread summaries

Ahead of Dreamforce next week — its big annual event in San Francisco — Salesforce announced a new set of features for its instant messaging platform Slack, with a major focus on implementing AI to help find and summarize content. easier.

The three core additions include Slack AI, new automation functionality, and Slack Lists.

Slack AI is a native synthetic AI engine integrated directly into the application, aimed at providing fast, useful solutions to users.

Its three main uses at launch will be:

• Channel summary: These will allow users to instantly get insights from any channel as well as provide status reports.
• Topic summary: With this, users can capture any topic discussion going on.
• Looking for answers: This feature helps users quickly extract information – such as messages or files. It can also identify which information is the most up-to-date.

Image: Slack

“I was a bit skeptical of this, so I actually tried it out like our real delay a few days ago for another product for our real UI redesign, “Slack VP of Product, Ali Rayl, said in a call with Smart company.

“I got a real answer and I’m really proud of that, because a week ago we actually changed the date. So not only did I get the right answer, but I also figured out how to give the most up-to-date answer.”

Slack is also adamant about making sure that trust is a factor here, especially as generative AI is still being rolled out across the entire industry and mistakes can happen.

“Summaries always have an attribution section to let you know who said it, and this is important for two reasons,” says Rayl.

“First, to build trust that these are real things that people have said. And second, that context really matters. I would interpret something differently if it came from one of our engineers, a designer, or an executive.”

Slack updates workflow builder for non-coders, adds Lists

Image: Slack

Slack is also introducing new automation capabilities, especially related to Workflow Builder, allowing non-coders to set up automated processes.

It comes with integrations from partners like Google, Atlassian, and Asana. There’s also a connection to Salesforce Flow for a more customized Slack workflow.

It also provides a more streamlined method for building custom Slack apps that can integrate with internal systems.

There’s also a central Automation Hub where users can access templates, explore the workflows used in their organization, and reuse automations from other teams.

Finally, the platform is introducing Slack Lists. This feature will help Slack users manage, track and solve work right in the app. This includes project tracking and approval requests.

Our perception:

With this new feature set, Slack seems to be continuing to cement its position as an all-round productivity platform.

We made this argument back in May when we first announced Slack GPT and the ability for users to integrate any chatbot into the platform they wanted. And it was further solidified last month, when the platform got a bit of a makeover, which we think makes it feel more like a social media platform.

This new set of features seems to reinforce the notion that Slack really wants to keep you in Slack.

“We want to help people get things done together as conveniently as possible. So when we figure out a way for people to work together that we can bring into Slack – we’ll try to figure out how to do that,” Rayl said.

It is worth noting that Slack Lists will be tested in the summer in Australia and will launch around 2024. Similarly, Slack AI will be tested at the same time.

It is currently unclear what plans they will attach at launch.

Workflow Builder is currently available on paid plans and is subject to platform pricing. Slack’s new automation hub will launch later this month.