🧠 Food for thought

Implications, context, and why it matters.

Salesforce is betting on AI agents as chatbots hit a wall

• Salesforce updated Slack as adoption of general-purpose AI chatbots and copilots slows after an early surge 1.
• A Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Slack found 78% of decision-makers struggle to get a return on investment (ROI) from genAI-enabled tools 2.
• Slack said many workers bounce between disconnected apps more than 10 times a day, then lose 100 minutes getting back on track 1.
• Salesforce plans to pitch Slack as a unified work operating system where autonomous agents handle workflows, instead of relying on basic chatbots 3.

The new AI features sharpen the case for agentic work

• The release feeds a wider race to become the main operating system for autonomous digital labor, not a chat layer 3.
• Slack expects jobs to shift from doing tasks to managing a “virtual staff of AI agents,” and one interviewee said strong prompt engineering skills will matter most 1.
• Slack’s survey found people working with agents were 72% more likely to say they feel “very productive,” and Deloitte’s greg vert said early adopters may gain an edge in attracting and retaining top talent 1.
• Slack said people who do not use agents spend nearly 40% more time on admin than agent users 1.