AI Assistants: Everything You Need to Know

Organizations that embed AI assistants directly into their workflows are working smarter — not harder.

On average, workers save 97 minutes per week by using available AI features, according to an internal analysis of the Slack AI pilot. Meanwhile, a Slack survey of 5,000 global desk workers in June 2025 found that daily AI use had skyrocketed 233 percent in just six months. 

The evidence is clear: AI assistants boost productivity and efficiency, allowing teams to focus on more meaningful and strategic work. As technology continues to evolve, it’s crucial to understand the potential benefits your organization could gain from implementing AI. Here’s what you need to know about AI assistants and how they can benefit your workplace.

What is an AI assistant?

AI assistants are software tools that use artificial intelligence technology to perform digital tasks. They are designed to automate repetitive workflows, organize and analyze data, summarize insights, and answer rules-based, predefined questions using machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP).

AI assistants expand on the rules-based ML and NLP that allow AI chatbots to simulate human-like conversations and handle high-volume tasks, such as those in customer service. While AI chatbots are reactive and need prompting to act, AI agents and assistants are powered by large language models (LLMs), which make them proactive, fully digital teammates. LLM technology uses data, pattern recognition, and prediction to generate responses and insights grounded in your organization’s information and context.

AI assistants are often built into or easily integrated with AI-powered work operating systems like Slack. Tools like Agentforce enable you to build custom AI assistants designed for specific tasks and use cases, such as automating tasks and reminders. Agentforce integrates with the tools you already use, like Slack, and lets companies build and deploy autonomous AI agents across all business areas, including sales, marketing, IT, finance, and commerce.

How to use AI assistants to increase productivity and efficiency

AI assistants help teams improve productivity and efficiency in many ways. Here are a few examples:

• Streamline daily tasks. Teams can use AI assistants to simplify everyday tasks such as scheduling meetings and organizing information. Slack AI assistants can quickly create concise meeting summaries, highlighting key information and next steps. They also can summarize long conversations from channels and threads and highlight action items.
• Automate routine processes. Automating workflows with AI saves time and helps ensure important details don’t get overlooked. Automation tools can handle routine and repetitive tasks, preventing teams from being overwhelmed by administrative duties. For example, workflow automation with an AI assistant like Slack’s built-in Workflow Builder allows teams to create custom, AI-powered processes for everything from sorting emails to sending reminders, generating summaries, and updating reports and task lists.
• Customize workflows. An AI assistant for workflows can learn about individual or team preferences over time using ML and NLP to provide better assistance in certain areas. For example, if you always schedule an all-hands meeting on the second Tuesday of each month, an AI assistant can schedule the meetings for you and invite the necessary team members (accounting for time zone variances), send reminder notifications, and even summarize and send meeting notes to missing team members.
• Deliver context-aware insights. AI assistants can surface insights using your organization’s data. This capability is twofold. First, AI uses retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) to access data. That information is then filtered through the LLM, which views the data through the lens of your organization by predicting and recognizing patterns based on previous actions. For example, AI can take various customer data points — including purchase history and CTR — to generate cohesive summary reports, often uncovering deep correlations or subtle patterns.

How businesses use AI assistants

In addition to using AI assistants to improve internal administrative processes, businesses often use these tools for other key areas, including project management, data entry and analysis, customer service support, marketing personalization, employee onboarding and training, and IT and technical support. Here are several of the most common use cases:

Team collaboration

AI assistants can streamline processes that often slow teams down, such as coordinating schedules or accessing data. Slack AI’s search feature uses natural language prompts to scan entire channels and threads for key insights. This quick data surfacing capability enables teams to find the information they need faster to make important decisions.

With AI summaries, non-essential information is filtered out, and long conversations are quickly distilled into action items teams can use immediately. AI assistants can provide instant access to relevant files and documents to keep projects on track. They also can assist with complex scheduling and meeting coordination, helping teams across time zones collaborate when it’s convenient for everyone.

Project management

Virtual AI assistants can really help with project management by automating things like task assignments, keeping track of progress, and managing resources more efficiently. For example, Slack AI can support project managers by summarizing task lists or meeting notes. Managers can then tag team members in project channels or set up automated workflows that remind individuals about upcoming tasks and deadlines, such as: “Project A is 80 percent complete, with two remaining tasks due this week,” or, “Task X is overdue by two days — please confirm status.”

Agentforce integrates with Slack to pull CRM data into workflows. That lets managers assign and follow up on tasks based on triggers, such as lead progression or a new project phase. AI agents can track project milestones and provide real-time updates to stakeholders via external channels like Slack Connect, keeping them informed between meetings.

Customer service

AI assistants are transforming the way customer service teams operate. By automating responses and directing customer queries to the right representatives, surfacing information in real time, and personalizing customer interactions, AI assistants  (also known as AI agents) help teams deliver faster and more efficient customer service. This has a direct impact on customer satisfaction and loyalty.

AI agents can address common customer questions, such as checking order status, and troubleshoot basic problems like password resets. But increasingly they can resolve complex issues on their own, freeing service reps to focus on more situations that require patience, empathy, and problem-solving skills. 

Self-service options facilitated by AI can even enhance customer experiences. In fact, Salesforce research found that 61 percent of customers would rather use self-service options for simple issues.

AI assistants can tag high-priority customer service tickets, escalate them to human reps, and resolve urgent issues faster. When a customer ticket is passed to a human rep, that rep has the customer’s history in front of them, so they can pick up where the AI agent left off, creating a seamless experience.

How to use AI assistants in the workplace

There’s no shortage of AI assistants available today. Before adding a digital worker to your team, consider your overall goals and needs. Use the following as a general guide for selecting and adopting an AI assistant.

Step 1: Evaluate your needs

What does your team need from an AI assistant? Some groups may need administrative support, such as managing email correspondence or sending meeting reminders. Others might need project management help through data analysis or report generation.

Beyond your needs, set goals that the right AI assistant can help you reach. For example, many organizations integrate AI-powered tools to save time on repetitive tasks and boost efficiency. In a recent Workforce Lab at Slack study, 81 percent of desk workers who use AI say it has made them more productive.

Step 2: Choose the right tools

After you’ve established your needs, consider your current tech stack — not just your communication and meeting apps, but also where your organizational data, CRM, and institutional knowledge are hosted. It’s important to select an AI assistant that’s compatible with the tools you already use.

Finally, assess how easy it is to use the tools you’re considering, taking into account your team’s familiarity with AI and technology.

For simplicity, Agentforce works directly in Slack to complete automated, multistep actions and provide insights. It enables seamless AI assistant integration by leveraging prebuilt Slack actions, including the ability to DM or @-mention your assistant in channels.

Step 3: Train your team

One of the biggest challenges for AI assistants in business is the knowledge gap about the technology. According to a 2024 global survey of desk workers from the Workforce Lab at Slack, only 15 percent of respondents feel they have the skills needed to use AI effectively.

Offer multiple training sessions in various formats to address the diverse needs of your team — including in-person and remote meetings, asynchronous trainings for remote workers, walkthroughs for hands-on learners, and written SOPs for AI best practices. 

When developing training sessions, revisit your original goals for AI assistant integration to ensure you cover key features, capabilities, and objectives. Training should be conducted in conjunction with a robust implementation plan, featuring a pilot launch to test core capabilities before a full-scale rollout.

The more employees are trained in AI, the more likely they are to use it. The same Workforce Lab at Slack study found that those who are well-versed in AI are 19 times more likely to use it compared to those who lack training or education on the subject.

Step 4: Measure results

Early insights into the return on investment (ROI) of AI are still emerging, but they are optimistic. Metrigy’s AI for Business Success study found that 90 percent of respondents reported actual or potential positive ROI, citing the implementation of time-saving AI automations.

But efficient, automated processes are only as effective as the teams managing them. Organizations should monitor AI usage and measure results to understand how the technology affects their business. Consider identifying key performance indicators (KPIs), such as time spent on tasks, application downloads, sales, customer service tickets, and meeting attendance, to track adoption, success rates, accuracy, productivity, efficiency, revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and employee morale.

Collect employee feedback through surveys regularly to ensure that any common concerns or successes are addressed. Be ready to modify your approach as you track these KPIs, adjusting based on real-time data.

Best practices for using an AI assistant

Integrating an AI assistant into your team needs oversight and planning, just like onboarding a human teammate. Here are five best practices for using an AI assistant:

1. Start with high-impact use cases. Just as you might develop a new employee’s 90-day plan, identify key use cases for your AI assistant. Focus on meeting those critical business needs first.
2. Ensure transparency and oversight. Leaders should help employees feel comfortable by emphasizing the importance of collaborative intelligence, the process where humans work together with AI to be more efficient. Leaders also should set clear guidelines for AI use.
3. Continuously monitor and optimize. Establish and track KPIs related to your AI assistant. Measuring results will help you determine the impact AI has on your business, including ROI, productivity, and overall efficiency.
4. Prioritize security and compliance. Security and privacy features should also be top of mind. Select a tool that aligns with your organization’s standards and safeguards your data.
5. Integrate with existing tools and workflows. An AI assistant should simplify your workflow — not make it more complex. Best practices for workflow automation include selecting a tool that easily integrates with your existing technology, like Agentforce in Slack.

The future of work is powered by AI assistants

AI assistants are driving significant change in the workplace by automating tasks, streamlining workflows, and improving team collaboration. When manual and repetitive tasks are taken off employees’ plates, they can apply their skills elsewhere, which can lead to more fulfilled teams and more satisfied customers. AI’s ability to improve decision-making, productivity, and collaboration makes it a valuable choice for businesses looking to streamline operations and achieve better results that drive growth and customer satisfaction.

Learn more about how Agentforce can optimize your workflows and supercharge your team.

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