Slack rolls out AI‑powered “Surfaces” for interactive charts and dashboards within chats
The new Slackforce Surfaces lets users ask Slackbot to generate live reports, polls and microsites that can be pinned and shared directly in channels.
Slack announced a new capability called Slackforce Surfaces, which lets users create interactive visualizations, polls, dashboards and even mini‑websites without leaving a conversation. According to The Verge, the feature is driven by Slack’s own AI assistant, Slackbot, which can translate natural‑language requests into fully‑fledged data displays.
When a user types a request—such as “show me an arcade‑styled chart of AI token usage”—Slackbot taps into the company’s connected ecosystem, pulling data from sources like Google Drive, Salesforce, or any app linked to the workspace. The AI then assembles the requested view and posts it back into the thread as a Surface. Team members can interact with the chart, filter results, or add comments, and the Surface can be pinned to a channel for ongoing reference.
The Verge highlighted a demo where a user asked for an “arcade‑themed visualization of AI token usage.” Slackbot produced a colorful, game‑style graphic that updated in real time as new data arrived. Once created, the Surface could be shared with anyone in the organization, allowing collaborators to explore the data together and leave feedback directly on the visual.
Slack’s move builds on a broader trend of embedding analytics and AI directly into collaboration platforms. Since its 2013 launch, Slack has added a suite of integrations—from simple file sharing to workflow automation—aimed at keeping work inside the chat environment. Competitors such as Microsoft Teams and Discord have begun offering similar AI‑enhanced features, but Slack’s focus on “no‑code” visual creation distinguishes it for product and data teams that lack dedicated BI resources. By turning conversational prompts into live reports, Slack hopes to reduce the friction of switching between messaging apps, spreadsheets, and dedicated dashboard tools, a pain point that remote and hybrid teams frequently cite.
The feature is currently in a limited rollout, with Slack inviting select workspaces to test the functionality before a wider public release later this year. Slack says developers will soon have an API to build custom Surface templates, opening the door for third‑party developers to extend the library of visual styles and interaction patterns.
This report is based on original reporting by The Verge. Read the original source →