Developers

AI assistants in Slack: how they help teams work faster

A look at whats changing and how developers can build assistant experiences

Jamie Developer
Jamie Developer
Platform Engineer · Aug 28, 2024 · 6 min read
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AI assistants are changing how teams get work done inside messaging platforms. From automating routine tasks to summarising conversations, assistants can save time and reduce context switching.

What makes an assistant helpful?

Helpful assistants are predictable, transparent, and give users control. They should respect user intent and integrate seamlessly with existing workflows.

The best assistants don't try to be everything; they focus on a few key tasks and do them exceptionally well.

Developer considerations

When building assistants, consider privacy, rate limits, error handling, and meaningful fallback behaviours. Use feature flags and staged rollouts to test with small user groups.

Illustration
An assistant helping coordinate a team.

Examples

  • Auto-summarise long threads
  • Draft messages and suggestions
  • Run automations from a simple prompt

Conclusion

Assistants represent a powerful way to reduce friction for teams. Start small, iterate fast, and measure impact.

Try it out

Build a lightweight assistant that performs one task well and invites feedback from real users.