Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff told the All — In podcast that he uses AI to analyze conversations on Slack to surface employee complaints, management priorities and other business signals that can help leaders decide what to focus on. He framed the capability as a way to extract “business‑relevant signals” from internal channels and direct interactions, saying the assistant can reveal issues and opportunities managers might otherwise miss. This approach could change how leaders identify problems and prioritize deals while raising questions about workplace privacy and culture.
Benioff described interacting with the system through “Slackbot,” calling it an AI interface that reads Slack content to summarize priorities. “Because you run your company on Slack, all your DMs, all your channels, we’re reading that now through the AI and we can tell you more about your business than you know,” he said, adding that he can prompt the assistant with questions such as “What are my top five deals?” and “What are my employees upset about?
A Salesforce spokesperson later told another publication that Benioff was referring to public, companywide Slack channels rather than private employee messages or conversations. Slack has also said its AI features only use Slack data that members already have access to at the time of a request and will not display or use data from private channels or direct messages they are not part of.
The practice of scanning workplace communications with AI is already widespread. Microsoft’s Copilot and Google’s Gemini scan company data across platforms, and third‑party vendors that analyze employee messages are used by major firms. Reporting in 2024 cited companies including Walmart, Delta, T‑Mobile, Chevron and Starbucks using software from Aware to analyze employee communications, illustrating how common such monitoring tools have become in large organizations.
Independent research and surveys document broad adoption of monitoring and mixed worker responses. A 2025 StandOutCV study found 78% of monitoring tools take “productivity” screenshots at employers’ request and 34% track employee locations; a separate 2026 report estimated roughly 74% of companies use some form of digital tracking. A 2023 survey found 56% of employees feel anxious about being watched and 43% regard monitoring as a violation of trust, signaling significant employee concern even as employers deploy these systems.
Experts warn of wider rights and cultural impacts. Amba Kak, executive director of the AI Now Institute at NYU, has said message surveillance creates a “chilling effect” on workplace speech and raises worker‑rights concerns beyond privacy alone. Reporters reached out to Salesforce before publication but did not receive a response by the article’s deadline.
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