Salesforce says half of Slack messages now come from apps and AI agents, not people. Here is what that means for teams that use Slack.
Half of all messages on Slack now come from apps and AI agents, according to Salesforce, which owns the workplace chat tool. Agents are software helpers that can take actions on their own. They are no longer just a test project at many companies. They are sitting in the same channels where employees already talk.
Slack was built more than a decade ago so engineers could coordinate code, log alerts and talk in one place. Now agents join those channels. Through an open standard called MCP, which lets software share information and act across tools, agents can pull context from Slack and from platforms like GitHub, Salesforce and Jira. Slack says it now handles 127 million of these automated actions every week, and the number is doubling each quarter.
At Anthropic, an AI company, 65% of all code changes ship through Slack. Salesforce says nine of 10 top AI companies run their operations on Slack. Vercel, a software company, says its inbound sales agent lets one rep handle lead qualification, research and outreach drafting that would otherwise take a team of 10. Rochester Electronics uses Slackbot to generate executive briefings and prepare for customer meetings.
Salesforce also points to its own use. It says 83% of its employees use Slackbot weekly, and 90% of its sellers use it to update Salesforce records.
These figures come from Salesforce, which sells Slack, so they show the company's own view. The material does not explain how messages from apps and agents are counted. It also does not say how much of that half is AI agents and how much is older automated tools like alerts. Salesforce cites a 312% return on investment for Slack customers, but does not say how that was measured.
If your team uses Slack, expect AI helpers to show up in your channels and take over routine tasks. Before that happens, check what each agent can see and do. Ask who approved it, which channels it can read, and which other tools, such as your customer records, it can change.
If your team uses Slack, expect AI helpers in your channels and check what each one can access before it takes over routine tasks.
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