Slack transforms Slackbot into a context-aware, personal AI agent with new capabilities

Slack has introduced a significant upgrade to its built-in assistant, Slackbot, transforming it into an artificial intelligence agent equipped to assist users in diverse workplace tasks. This update allows Slackbot to handle functions such as finding information, drafting emails, and scheduling meetings directly within the communication platform.

Building on these capabilities, Slackbot learns from user workflows and interactions, enabling it to help individuals stay organized, prepared, and focused. The tool uses accessible messages, files, and channels to tailor insights and responses to each user's role, ensuring that support is both relevant and context-aware.

In a single conversation, Slackbot merges native artificial intelligence for actions like thread summarization or message translation with enterprise search that retrieves files and data from linked applications and drives. Slack emphasizes that user interactions with Slackbot are private. The company deploys enterprise-level security standards and real-time safeguards to detect and neutralize issues such as prompt injection, unsafe content, or phishing, while strict permission controls guarantee that Slackbot only accesses authorized data.

The upgraded Slackbot will be available to Business+ and Enterprise+ customers through a phased rollout starting today and continuing into January and February.