Bussiness Desk

Slack, the productivity and collaboration platform from Salesforce, the world’s leading CRM company, has made a major expansion to its platform. As a result, developers and customer organizations will now be able to build secure and relevant AI apps and agents from workplace conversation data. The new upgrade includes a Real-Time Search (RTS) API, Model Context Protocol (MCP) server, and new developer tools, which allow AI systems to access Slack’s customer-owned data with full security and appropriate permissions. As a result, AI agents can now directly provide relevant, accurate, and customized answers, which increases productivity and team effectiveness.

Leading companies like Enthropic, Google, Perplexity, Writer, Dropbox, Notion, Cognition Labs, Vercell, and Cursor have already started building AI apps and agents using Slack. These apps are available on the Slack Marketplace and can be easily used in everyday tasks. Not only that, they unify disparate systems and reduce the time wasted by switching apps frequently. There are over 200,000 SaaS service providers worldwide, and on average, each organization uses over 1,000 SaaS apps. This results in about 40 percent productivity loss and half of the purchased SaaS licenses go unused. Slack aims to ensure the highest return on the remaining 98 percent of the investment by using just 2 percent of the organizations’ IT budget.

Using Slack, organizations can easily and securely access important, messy data from team conversations, saving an average of 97 minutes per week per user. By combining conversation data with tools like AgentForce Sales or Workday, organizations can make decisions 37 percent faster and provide customer service 36 percent faster than before. Businesses that have effectively used AI have 3x higher organizational profits per employee than organizations that have not used AI. More than 1.7 million apps are used on Slack every week, and 95 percent of users say that Slack integrations enhance the effectiveness of their tools.

“The future of work is undoubtedly agentic, and AI’s success depends on its seamless integration into human work,” said Dennis Dresser, CEO of Slack. “Our latest innovations create a safe and information-rich environment for AI agents to become trusted companions. We’re opening the door for our customers and partners to easily build AI solutions directly in Slack, increasing speed, smart tooling, and productivity.”

The RTS API provides secure access to discussion threads, files, and channels in real-time, delivering specific, relevant information without the need for bulk data downloads. The MCP Server helps AI models, apps, and agents find context and deliver quality work, making work easier and more reliable. Together, these systems make it easier for developers to build smarter and more secure agents that can automate complex workflows and deliver more accurate results.

Developers can use Slack Work Objects to connect app data directly into conversations, where file descriptions, images, and document previews are available. Users can complete tasks like Asana tasks without leaving Slack.

Slack is still considered the hub for marketplace partner integration, with central security, control, and distribution for third-party apps and agents. Enthropic, Google, Dropbox, Perplexity, and Notion are all using this new tool, among others.

“The Google AgentSpace and Slack RTS API connections provide seamless data flow, allowing users to gain deeper insights through AgentSpace agents using Slack or through AgentSpace powered by live Slack data,” said Maryam Gholami, Google Cloud’s lead.

The RTS API and MCP Server are still in beta and are expected to be available to all customers in early 2026. Third-party AI agents that use these features are available on the Slack Marketplace. Slack Work Objects will be available to all developers in late October, and the new agentic developer tools are available now.

What is Slack:

Slack is owned by Salesforce, the world's leading CRM company. It is primarily a productivity and collaboration platform that connects people, information, and applications in the same workplace. Since its acquisition by Salesforce in 2021, it has been serving as a business operating system that integrates communication, workflow, and AI-powered automation.