Key takeaways
- Slack is testing out a new conversational chat AI version of Slackbot.
- The tool will access users’ conversations and files to personalize its responses.
- The company plans to roll the new chatbot out for all users at the end of the year.
The team communication platform Slack will be adding another AI-centric update in the form of a revamped Slackbot, the company has just revealed.
Up until now, the Slackbot tool functioned was a simple reminder and suggestion service, giving users personalized but simple tips like pointing out that a Google Doc might need to be made publicly viewable. Now, it’ll be a full chatbot, with a range of AI abilities.
It’s just the latest example of the myriad of ways in which AI technology is seemingly inescapable in 2025.
What’s the New Slackbot Like?
The new version of Slackbot — currently still in the testing stage — will appear as a chat box on the right-hand side of Slack. Users can choose to open it by clicking the Slackbot icon, which will be beside the search bar at the top of the platform, according to The Verge.
Once activated, the AI Slackbot will work just like all the similar text-based generative AI chatbots you’re likely familiar with, from ChatGPT to Gemini.
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The big difference is the material that the bot is working with. Slackbot will have access to all your previous conversations and files and can personalize its responses using this data.
What Tasks Can Slackbot Do?
According to a Slack demo, the revamped Slackbot AI can help users with tasks like these:
- Organize a launch plan by collating information from specified Slack channels
- Help create a social media campaign that fits a brand’s tone
- Help users find a file even if they don’t know the name — e.g. “Show me all the files shared in our last standup”
The tool will also be able to integrate with Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar to help plan meetings.
It’s unclear what the extent of the tool’s capabilities are — for example, will it be able to track files sharing in a meeting that happens on Google Meet rather than Slack’s Huddle video meeting function?
Slack Says Your Data Will Stay Private
According to Rob Seaman, chief product officer of Slack at Salesforce, the new AI functions will be operating within Amazon Web Services’ virtual private cloud, “meaning that no data leaves the firewall, [and] no data is used in the training of the models at all.”
The companies using Slack can chose whether they want to opt in or opt out of the new Slackbot. However, individuals working within those companies won’t have the option to opt out (aside from simply choosing not to open the tool, should it be made available).
The new Slackbot is already in use internally at Salesforce, and the company plans to roll it out to all users at the end of 2025.
