Slack logo

Slack(CRM)

Leader#2 in Productivity & Collaboration

Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) team messaging platform at $27.7B acquisition processing 1.5B weekly messages; competing with Microsoft Teams for enterprise collaboration through Salesforce integration and developer-first experience.

Best for: Team CommunicationMarket leader
93
AI Score
Grade A↑ Trending
AI Visibility Score (Beta)
Productivity & CollaborationTeam CommunicationCRMWebsiteUpdated October 2026

Company Overview

About Slack

Slack is a San Francisco-based team collaboration and communication platform — acquired by Salesforce (NYSE: CRM) in 2021 for $27.7 billion — providing organizations with channel-based messaging, direct messaging, file sharing, video calls (Slack Huddles), and a 2,600+ app integration ecosystem that connects team communication with the business tools (Salesforce, Jira, GitHub, Google Drive) teams use daily. Used by 200,000+ organizations including IBM, Airbnb, and Target, Slack processes 1.5 billion+ messages weekly and serves as the communication backbone for technology companies, knowledge work organizations, and enterprises worldwide.

Business Model & Competitive Advantage

Slack's channel-based organization model (persistent, searchable message history organized by topic, project, or team rather than email threads) creates institutional knowledge infrastructure: a new team member can search a project channel's history to understand decisions, context, and relevant files without requiring a handoff document. The Slack Connect feature enables secure external collaboration with clients, partners, and vendors in shared channels — replacing email threads for ongoing external business relationships. Salesforce's ownership has integrated Slack as the work operating system for Salesforce's 150,000+ customers — Slack channels can display Salesforce CRM records, trigger Salesforce workflows, and receive Salesforce Einstein AI notifications directly.

Competitive Landscape 2025–2026

In 2025, Slack (NYSE: CRM) competes in the team communication and collaboration market with Microsoft Teams (NASDAQ: MSFT, the dominant enterprise collaboration platform with 320M+ users), Google Chat (GOOGL, integrated into Workspace), and Zoom Team Chat (ZM, expanding into asynchronous communication) for enterprise collaboration platform share. Microsoft Teams' inclusion in Microsoft 365 at no incremental cost has driven mass adoption at enterprises already on Microsoft, making Teams the default for Microsoft shops. Slack's differentiation focuses on developer integrations and workflow automation (Workflow Builder), Slack AI (summary and answer features that process conversation context), and the premium user experience that developer-heavy and startup organizations prefer. The 2025 strategy focuses on Salesforce AI integration (Agentforce alerts and actions in Slack), growing Enterprise Grid for large organization management, and building the Slack platform for third-party application development.

Founded
2013
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
Curated content • Fact-checked and verified

The Slack Story

Founded in 2013
San Francisco, California
Founded by Stewart Butterfield, Eric Costello and 2 others

The Breakthrough Moment

Slack originated as internal communication tool at Tiny Speck when Glitch online game shut down in 2012. Team pivoted to develop communication platform. Public launch in August 2013 generated 8,000+ signups in first 24 hours.

Original Mission

"Make work life simpler, more pleasant, and more productive by bringing all communication together in one place with real-time messaging, archiving and search for modern teams."

Founders

Stewart ButterfieldEric CostelloCal HendersonSerguei Mourachov

Recent Activity

View all →
blog_post
What Is a SWOT Analysis?

Learn how to run a SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to keep your team aligned.

blog_post
What Is a Scrum Master?

A scrum master leads agile teams, removes blockers, and keeps sprints on track. Learn how Slack makes the role easier.

blog_post
Build a Scalable Agentic Work Operating System in Slack
blog_post
Slack Feature Drop: It’s Officially Fall, But Innovations Are Still in Bloom
blog_post
What Is Lean Methodology?

Learn what lean methodology is, how the five principles work, and how Slack supports lean teams every day.

blog_post
What Is a PMO?

A PMO standardizes projects, governs portfolios, and drives strategy. Learn the types, functions, and how Slack helps.

blog_post
What Are Soft Skills? Definition, Examples, and Why They Matter at Work

Soft skills are the abilities that shape how you communicate, lead, and collaborate. Here's how to develop them.

blog_post
What Is a Stakeholder? Definition, Types, and Examples

A stakeholder is anyone who affects or is affected by your project. Learn the types and how to communicate with them.

blog_post
What Is Time Blocking? How to Schedule Your Way to Deeper Focus

Time blocking helps you protect focus time, reduce context switching, and get more done. Here's how it works.

blog_post
What Are SMART Goals?

SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. Learn to write them with Slack.

blog_post
How conversational AI chatbots work in 2026

Learn what conversational AI chatbots are, how they work, where they fall short, and how context-aware chatbots like Slackbot improve workplace efficiency.

blog_post
Comparing the Best AI Chatbots for Work in 2026

Compare the best AI chatbots of 2026, including Slackbot, ChatGPT, and more. Find the right AI chatbot for productivity and automation for your team.

Company Timeline

Major milestones in Slack's journey

5
Total Events
1
Acquisitions
1
Product Launches

Leadership Team

Meet the leaders behind Slack

Denise Dresser

Chief Executive Officer

Salesforce executive with 12+ years tenure. Appointed Slack CEO in late 2023.

Sarah Walker

Chief Operating Officer

Nearly five years with Slack.

Peter Doolan

Chief Customer Officer

10-year Salesforce veteran; formerly EVP of digital transformation and innovation.

Key Differentiators

Market Leader

Slack is recognized as a market leader in the Productivity & Collaboration sector, demonstrating strong industry presence and customer trust.

Top 3 Ranked

Ranked #2 in the Productivity & Collaboration category, consistently recognized for excellence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Estimated Visibility Trend (Beta)

Simulated 8-week rolling score

93
↑ Trending

Based on estimated brand signals. Historical tracking coming soon.

Compare Slack with Competitors

Side-by-side AI visibility scores, platform breakdown, and market position.

For Slack

Claim This Profile

Are you from Slack? Claim your profile to see full AI mention excerpts, get weekly visibility change alerts, and optimize how AI systems describe your brand.

Claim Slack Profile →
For competitors & analysts

Track AI Visibility in Real Time

Monitor how ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude mention Slack vs competitors. Get alerts when AI recommendations shift.

Start Free Tracking →