Slackforce Surfaces launch brings AI-built reports and dashboards into chats
Slack says its new Surfaces feature can turn Slackbot prompts into shareable tools, though live-data use is scheduled for October.
By James Whitfield · Staff Writer
2 min read
The Slackforce Surfaces launch introduces a way for Slack users to ask Slackbot to make interactive reports, dashboards and other tools inside a chat. Slack says the feature could keep data work and team discussion in the same place, while live-data use is not due to start until October.
Slackforce Surfaces is available to customers, including free users, whose workspaces have Slackbot enabled, according to The Verge. The timing needs a distinction: the report describes the feature as available, but says its live-data capability will arrive later.
What can Slackforce Surfaces create?
Users describe what they need to Slackbot rather than build the item manually. The Verge reported that the AI can produce interactive reports, polls, dashboards, presentations, microsites and other tools, using information from relevant Slack conversations and connected applications such as Google Drive or Salesforce.
Slack offered an example of a request for an arcade-themed view of AI token usage. In that example, Slackbot generated an interactive dashboard that sorted usage among teams including sales, design and engineering. The example is a company demonstration, rather than independent evidence of how the tool will perform in every workspace.
The resulting item, called a Surface, can be shared with coworkers and pinned in channels, The Verge reported. Colleagues can view it, interact with it and add comments, allowing the output to become a shared item alongside the conversation that prompted it.
What data can Slackbot use?
Slack says Surfaces will draw only on information that a user has allowed its AI tools to access. That permission boundary applies to material in Slack and in connected apps, according to The Verge, so access settings remain central to what Slackbot can include in a generated tool.
Ryan Gavin, Slack's chief marketing officer, told The Verge that the aim is to let teams request a dashboard, presentation or report without exporting information to another product. That is Slack's description of the intended workflow.
How does this fit with Slackbot?
Slack already presents Slackbot as an AI work assistant that can search and summarize workplace conversations. On its website, Slack also promotes Slack Code, a separate collaborative coding feature. Surfaces extends that broader push by producing an interactive artifact from a chat request instead of only returning an answer or summary.
For teams considering the feature, the immediate question is whether their workspace has Slackbot switched on and which sources Slack AI has permission to reach. The Verge reported that live-data support is expected in October; it did not specify a date within the month.
This story draws on original reporting from The Verge.