The main kinds of AI agents available in Slack—from built-in AI to custom agents—and what each is best at.
The short answer
Slack users can choose built-in Slack AI for summaries, general assistants like ChatGPT or Claude, self-serve AI employee products, automation bots, or custom agents for specific workflows.
Key takeaways
| Option | Best at |
|---|---|
| Slack AI | Channel and thread summaries, search |
| ChatGPT / Claude apps | Ad-hoc writing and Q&A |
| AI employee products | Broad tasks across common tools |
| Workflow bots | Rule-based automations |
| Custom agents (e.g. Switch) | Company-specific workflows with approval |
Slack AI covers catch-up and search. Add a general assistant for writing.
For workflows like follow-ups or product content, a named custom agent performs better. Switch builds these for Slack and Teams. More in AI agents in Slack.
Yes; give each a clear name and channel.
How this guide was made
Written and reviewed by our editors against vendor documentation, public regulation texts and practitioner interviews. We update guides when products or rules change. Tools mentioned may have a commercial relationship with this site; this never decides what we recommend.
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