Let’s be honest, Slack is probably the heart of your team’s day-to-day. It’s where everyone talks, decisions get made, and information flies around (sometimes maybe a little too much information, right?). Trying to keep up with everything, especially in busy channels or long threads, can feel like a job all by itself. That’s where bringing AI into the picture can really help.
Think of AI in Slack like having a super-smart helper who cuts through the noise so you can get to what matters faster. It’s built to make finding stuff easier, catching up on chats quicker, and even automating some of those tasks that just eat up your time. This guide is all about showing you how to use Slack AI’s built-in tools to make your work life a bit smoother. Plus, we’ll touch on how connecting Slack to all your company’s knowledge, not just the stuff in Slack, can make things even more efficient.
How to use Slack AI’s core features
Once Slack AI is enabled for your workspace, you can start using its tools right away, directly within the Slack you already know. These features are designed to help you handle information and communication more effectively without leaving your familiar environment. Let’s look at some of the most useful ones.
- Summarize conversations instantly
Slack AI helps you catch up fast by summarizing long threads, channels, or direct messages. Instead of reading hundreds of messages, you get a quick overview of the key points.
Click the Summarize icon in any conversation to get started. You can choose to summarize unread messages, specific dates, or recent activity. It also works on shared files like PDFs or Word docs, showing previews without opening the file.
This makes it easier to decide what to read in full and what to skip.
The biggest win here is saving a ton of time. You can get the main points of a discussion in seconds, which helps you figure out which conversations actually need you to read every single message.
- Find answers fast with AI-powered search
Slack AI improves search by giving you clear, direct answers instead of endless message results. It scans relevant messages and files to respond to your question right away.
Type your question into the search bar just like you would ask a teammate. For example, “How do I request time off” or “What was the final budget decision.” Slack AI shows a short answer at the top, along with links to the original sources so you can verify the info.
If your team uses Enterprise Grid with enterprise search, Slack AI can also pull answers from tools like Google Drive or GitHub.
This feature is perfect for quickly finding policies, past decisions, project details, or anything else that might be hidden away in your team’s chat history, without having to scroll through endless lists of messages.
- Get daily recaps of unread channels
Slack AI can send you a summary of selected channels every morning, helping you stay informed without checking every message.
You choose which channels to include, and Slack may suggest ones you follow but rarely engage in. Your recaps show up under the “Recap” tab in the sidebar, where you can review updates and adjust your channel list anytime.
This helps you stay in the loop on projects, teams, or topics you’re interested in without your sidebar getting cluttered with huge unread counts all the time. It’s a great way to manage the flow of information and lets you focus on your most active conversations during the day.
- Automate tasks by building workflows with AI
Slack AI helps you create workflows without needing to map out every step manually. Just describe what you want in plain language, and it generates a draft for you.
Go to “More,” select “Automations,” then “New Workflow.” Choose the option to get help from Slack AI, and type something like “Send a welcome message when someone joins a channel.” Slack will generate a workflow you can edit before publishing. You can also add steps like summarizing public channels on a schedule.
This makes it easier to automate repetitive tasks and keep your workspace running smoothly.
Using Slack AI to build workflows makes automation much easier to get into. It helps you quickly set up automations for things you do over and over, giving you more time back for bigger picture work.
- Take notes during huddles
Slack AI can take notes for you during huddles, so you can stay focused on the conversation.
Anyone on the call can turn on AI notes using the icon. Everyone will see a notification when notes are being recorded. After the huddle, Slack AI creates a summary with key points and action items, shared directly in the huddle thread. You can edit the notes afterward if needed.
It’s a simple way to capture what matters without multitasking.
This feature means you can be completely present and focused on the huddle itself, trusting that the important stuff will be automatically captured for you to look at later.
Tips, limitations, and going further with AI
Putting these Slack AI features to work can really give your productivity a lift and help you handle all that information. But, just like any tool, it’s good to know how it works best and think about how you might want to make it even more powerful.
Pro tips for using Slack AI
- Be clear in your requests: When you’re using search or building workflows with AI, the more specific you are when you ask for something, the better the AI can understand and give you what you need.
- Double-check important stuff: While summaries and search answers are helpful shortcuts, always click on the original sources (the citations) if the information is really important or sensitive.
- Make those workflows your own: The workflow draft the AI creates is just a starting point. Take a moment to adjust it exactly to how your team works to get the most out of it.
- Play around with daily recaps: Don’t just stick with the channels Slack suggests. Add any channels where you want to quietly stay informed without getting pulled into every conversation.
Limitations of Slack AI
Slack AI is pretty powerful when it comes to things inside Slack, but there are a few limitations to keep in mind:
- Data Silos: By default, Slack AI mainly uses information from within Slack (messages, files, canvases, lists). If your company’s crucial knowledge, like product guides, internal wikis, customer info, lives in other tools like Confluence, Google Docs, Notion, or a helpdesk like Zendesk or Freshdesk, Slack AI won’t be able to directly access or use that info for summaries, search, or workflows unless you’re on Enterprise Grid with specific integrations set up.
- Cost: Since it’s a paid add-on, Slack AI adds to your Slack bill, which is something to consider for some teams or companies.
- Limited Actions: While you can build workflows, Slack AI can’t easily do complex things based on information (like checking a customer’s order in Shopify or updating a record in a CRM) without more custom integration work.
Going further: Connecting Slack to all your knowledge
This is where you can really kick things up a notch with AI in your daily work. Imagine being able to ask questions in Slack and get answers not just from your team’s chats, but from all your company’s documents, help articles, past customer conversations, and internal systems.
Tools like eesel AI are built specifically to help break down these knowledge barriers. eesel AI connects to over 100+ sources, including popular helpdesks, documentation platforms, cloud storage, and lots more. Its Teammate AI feature can integrate directly into collaboration platforms like Slack or Microsoft Teams. This means you can ask questions right inside Slack and get accurate answers with full context drawn from all your connected company knowledge, no matter if the info is in Slack messages or somewhere else entirely. It makes finding information even faster and makes sure you’re getting the best possible answer, regardless of where the information lives.
Streamline your day with AI in Slack
Using Slack AI’s built-in features is a really smart way to start making your daily workflows better. Getting instant summaries helps you catch up fast, AI search makes finding information simple, daily recaps keep you informed without feeling swamped, workflows automate routine tasks, and huddle notes let you focus on the conversation itself.
These tools save you time, help you manage information overload, and ultimately make you more productive right within Slack. However, for truly smooth workflows and super-fast access to all your company’s knowledge, connecting your communication hub to your external documents and systems is the next logical step.
Looking into how tools like eesel AI can connect with Slack to bring context from across your whole organization right into your conversations makes your AI assistant even smarter and more helpful. It’s all about making Slack the central spot for getting all the information you need to do your job well.
Ready to see how connecting Slack to all your company knowledge can change the way you work? Head over to the eesel AI Slack integration page or check out the main eesel AI website to learn more.
