Meet Channel Expert: Your Always-On Agent in Slack

Key Takeaways:

• Channel Expert, available to Agentforce in Slack customers, is a pre-built, always-on agent in every Slack channel that delivers instant, context-aware answers from day one.

• Slack is where AI agents work alongside teams, and that begins with Channel Expert. 

We've all been there: Juggling priorities, answering the same questions again and again, and trying to keep things moving. But the busier we get, the more questions pile up, and the more work stalls until the right person comes online to respond. With the new Channel Expert, that’s no longer a problem.

Your Slack channel's dedicated AI agent

Channel Expert is Slack's first pre-built AI agent, powered by Agentforce. It gives every Slack channel an always-on teammate that can answer FAQs, surface relevant information, and escalate to a human when needed.

Channel Expert lives right where collaboration already happens - Slack. For Agentforce users, its pre-built, native Slack intergration offers the quickest and simplest path to deploying agentic AI, eliminating extra costs or technical hurdles.

By meeting employees where thay work, Channel Expert keeps teams moving, relieves subject matter experts of repetitive requests, and scales institutional knowledge.

Why Slack is the best place for agents

AI agents are only as powerful as the context they're given. With its wealth of conversational data and up-to-date information from your CRM and integrated apps, this makes Slack the ideal platform for them to live.

By combining the con text of Slack conversations with the data from your connected apps, tools and CRM, Slack gives agents something no other platform can: the full picture of what's happening right now. With that context, agents don't just provide generic answers - they deliver personalized, precise, and timely suppport in the flow of work.

Slack Channels are dedicated spaces that bring order and clarity to work communication. Channel Expert uses the history and context of a channel along with specified information from connected files to respond with relevance, deflect repetitive requests, and proactively suggest next steps. Every channel becomes a place where humans and agents come together to collaborate, share information, align, act, and move work forward - unlocking a new level of agentic productivity.

How Channel Expert works

Channel Expert is available out-of-the-box and is ready to deploy in seconds. Any channel manager can add and configure it with a few clicks, so teams can start interacting with the agent immediately. As the channel manager, you can connect your agent to channel conversations, PDFs, canvases, lists, and text files without having to tap IT on the shoulder.

Once deployed, Channel Expert can:

• Find answers from your conversations: It searches through your channel history and connected data sources to answer FAQs.

• Escalate to a human when needed: If it can’t find the answer, Channel Expert routes the question to the right person or channel so nothing gets lost.

• Stay up to date: Channel Expert learns and improves as conversations evolve, keeping responses fresh and accurate.

This lightweight setup makes Channel Expert perfect for teams wanting to add AI teammates withou taking on additonal complexity.

Real-world success stories

Here at Salesforce, we’re seeing first-hand how Channel Expert is transforming how teams get answers, share knowledge, and keep projects moving. With an always-on agent in every channel, questions that used to slow teams down are resolved instantly, freeing up experts, reducing bottlenecks, and keeping work flowing.

Here’s how we’re seeing teams at Salesforce use Channel Expert to drive work forward, faster:

• IT Help Desk channels automatically handle routine questions such as password resets or VPN support, dramatically cutting down on new ticket volume.

• HR policy channels now function as 24/7 self-service hubs, offering employees immediate access to policies such as expense reimbursement or time off, eliminating the need to await a human to respond.

• Sales team channels get always-on enablement, with easy access to the latest pricing sheets, product decks, and competitive intel in seconds — shrinking time-to-response from hours to moments.

• Onboarding channels can provide new hires with around-the-clock support with instant answers to common questions, helping them ramp faster and start contributing sooner.

• Project channels surface status updates, resources, and next steps instantly, keeping everyone aligned and momentum high.

• Customer success channels speed up internal collaboration, helping teams surface solutions to common issues and serve customers faster.

Get started with Channel Expert today

Channel Expert isn't just a cool, new feature - it's the fastest way to introduce your teams to working side by side with AI agents. By giving every channel an always-on digital teammate, you're building toward a future where people and AI work together naturally.

Set up Channel Expert in a chennel

Now that Channel Expert is enabled in Slack, you’re ready to add it to channels. Complete the following steps for each channel you'd like to add Channel Expert to. 

Step 1: Add Channel Expert to a channel

Owners and admins can add a Channel Expert Agent to any channel they’re a member of, and Channel Managers can add one to any channel they’re assigned. 

1. From your desktop, open a channel.

2. Click the channel name in the conversation header.

3. Select the Agents tab.

4. Click Add.

5. Search for and select the Channel Expert Agent.

Step 2: Configure your Channel Expert

Now choose what sources Channel Expert uses to generate responses, as well as a channel to use when people request human help. You can pick between the following options for what content to use:

• All channel content: The Channel Expert will use the most relevant channel messages, as well as canvases, lists, and files to generate responses. 

• Specific channel content: Choose specific canvases, lists, or other files to generate responses. 

1. From the Channel Expert setup page, choose an option for what sources Channel Expert will use to answer questions.

2. If you select Specific channel content, click  Add a Source, then select a format and follow the prompts to upload your source. 

3. If you’d like, select a channel to send requests for more help..

4. Click Save to finish.

As you add sources for Channel Expert, you’ll see a Source limit displayed. If you reach the source limit, responses provided by Channel Expert may be less accurate. 

About Nimbus Consulting

At Nimbus Consulting, we empower businesses to grow smarter through technology. As a trusted partner in software consulting and implementation, we specialize in helping organizations streamline operations, improve productivity, and accelerate digital transformation.