Slack lets you build interactive tools just by describing them
What's the story
Slack has announced a new feature called "Slackforce Surfaces" that is coming to Slack, enabling users to create interactive reports, polls, dashboards, presentations, microsites and other tools directly within a chat. The innovative tool leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to pull information from relevant conversations and connected apps like Google Drive or Salesforce. Once created by the AI assistant, these surfaces can be shared with colleagues and pinned to channels for viewing and interaction.
AI integration
Slack AI assistant revamped with new features
The new feature builds on the recent overhaul of Slackbot, which was transformed into an AI assistant capable of summarizing information across channels, sorting through messages, and scheduling meetings.
The latest update also introduced collaborative vibe coding channels.
"You're not exporting your data to some other tool to make sense of it," Ryan Gavin, Slack's Chief Marketing Officer, told The Verge in an email.
Feature versatility
How to use the new feature?
Slackforce Surfaces can be used for a variety of tasks, such as creating a live dashboard for a customer support queue or generating a weather-themed financial forecast using data from connected apps.
The feature only accesses information that users have granted permission to its AI tools.
It is available to all customers with Slackbot enabled in their workspace, including free-tier users.