Salesforce Expands the Slack Platform
Salesforce today unveiled the next evolution of its Slack collaboration platform with tools to connect artificial intelligence with the rich corpus of conversational data in Slack, a real-time search API, a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, and enhanced developer tools like prebuilt Block Kit Tables.
"The future of work is undeniably agentic, and the success of AI depends on its seamless integration into human workflows," said Denise Dresser, CEO of Slack, in a statement. "Our latest Slack platform innovations create the secure, data-rich environment necessary for AI agents to become trusted companions. We make it simple for customers and partners to build their AI solutions directly into Slack so that work is more connected, intelligent, and productive than ever before."
The real-time search API and Model Context Protocol (MCP) server provide secure data access. The RTS API gives apps real-time access to the rich, contextual conversational data within Slack. The MCP server simplifies and standardizes how large language models, AI apps, and agents discover contextual information and execute tasks on behalf of Slack users. With its unified communication layer between the LLM and Slack, it establishes a universal way for AI systems to connect to data sources and tools.
Other innovations in the Slack platform include the following:
- Slack Work Objects: Developers can now build apps that deliver dynamic experiences by connecting app data directly to Slack conversations through rich app previews that include everything from file descriptions to embedded images. Slack Work Objects standardize how third-party data is displayed in Slack. Teams can also take action, like marking Asana tasks as complete, without ever having to leave the Slack workspace.
- Agentic Developer Tools, like AI best practices, prebuilt Block Kit Tables, and updated resources like the CLI for Bolt apps. These upgrades streamline the entire development lifecycle, from the first line of code to the finished end-user experience.