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Salesforce Launches Trusted Generative AI for Customers in Slack

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Salesforce today announced the rollout of Slack AI, a trusted and intuitive generative AI experience available natively in Slack, where work happens. Customers can easily tap into the collective knowledge shared in Slack through guided experiences for AI-powered search, channel recaps, thread summaries, and soon, a digests feature. These capabilities will enable customers to find answers, distill knowledge, and spark ideas faster.
Why it matters: Nearly half of digital workers struggle to find the information they need to efficiently do their jobs, according to Gartner. This, paired with an increasing number of tools and ways to exchange ideas, adds to workers’ cognitive load and makes it difficult to catch up quickly and feel on top of the work day. AI holds enormous potential to make internal knowledge more contextual, relevant, and easier to find and prioritise.
The Slack CEO perspective: “For the past decade, Slack has revolutionised the way we work, bringing people, apps, and systems together in one place,” said Denise Dresser, CEO of Slack. “With Slack AI, we’re excited to take this transformation to the next level. These new AI capabilities empower our customers to access the collective knowledge within Slack so they can work smarter, move faster, and spend their time on things that spark real innovation and growth. In the era of generative AI, Slack is the trusted, conversational platform that connects every part of a business to supercharge team productivity.”
Innovation in action: Starting today, Slack AI’s search and summarisation capabilities can help customers easily find and consume large volumes of information quickly. These features are trustworthy, easy to use, and require no training. Users initiate them through guided, contextual interactions, ensuring they don’t have to learn brand new skills to enjoy the benefits. And each output is secure, cited, and personalised to the user. With Slack AI, customers can access:

  • AI-powered search that delivers personalised, intelligent responses to any question: Users can ask a question conversationally and get a concise answer based on relevant Slack messages. Users can find what they need faster, whether they want to learn about a new marketing campaign, get up to speed on company policies, glean insights about past decisions from historical context, or define unfamiliar acronyms.
  • Channel recaps that generate key highlights from accessible channels: Users can catch up on unread messages, summarise the last seven days, or set a custom date range to summarise. Users can quickly catch up after time away from work, get up to speed on a new project, or jump in quickly to help resolve time-sensitive issues.
  • Thread summaries that catch users up on long conversations: Users can get the gist of a long conversation in one click, and clear sources are included in each summary, allowing users to dive deeper into a highlight. Users can instantly summarise key decisions and next steps from a thread with a lot of back and forth, get up to speed on a customer support ticket, or catch up on a team stand-up to get a bird’s eye view of priorities.
Sales spotlight: Sales teams are under pressure to streamline their operations and maximize team effectiveness. With Slack AI, sales reps can”
  • Easily identify and bring in the right subject matter expert when a customer has a specific question or concern during a deal cycle.
  • Summarise an account channel and get the context they need to prepare for a customer meeting more effectively.
  • Generate key takeaways from a long discussion about deal progress to help keep the team on track.
Engineering spotlight: The incident management process can be time consuming and complex. With Slack AI, engineering teams can:
  • Find answers in past incident channels to uncover potential solutions and apply learnings.
  • Get the right information they need so they can quickly get situated and jump in to help find a resolution.
  • Recap an incident channel and use it as a starting point to draft a root-cause analysis faster.

Slack’s trusted and secure AI experience: Trust is the number one value at Salesforce, and Slack is committed to building AI products safely, responsibly, and ethically.

  • Slack AI runs on Slack’s infrastructure and upholds the same security practices and compliance standards that customers expect.
  • Slack AI’s large language models (LLMs) are hosted directly within Slack, ensuring customer data remains in-house and exclusively for that organisation’s use.
  • Customer data remains siloed and will not be used to serve other clients, directly or indirectly.
  • Slack AI does not use customer data for LLM training purposes.

The future of native generative AI in Slack: More features that help users summarise and prioritise information are on the horizon. Soon, Slack AI will create digests summarising key highlights from channels that users want to stay informed on but may not require immediate attention, enabling them to stay up to speed on what they could otherwise miss while focusing on their top priorities. Additionally, Slack is building a native AI integration with Einstein Copilot, a new conversational AI assistant for Salesforce CRM, that will provide answers to questions directly in Slack that are grounded in trusted customer data.

These new search and summarisation features are just the beginning of how Slack will enable people to work smarter and faster. In the future, Slack will be the command center for work and the conversational interface for generative AI.
Slack’s AI-ready platform: In addition to these native AI capabilities, partners are bringing additional AI functionality into their Slack apps. Available today, upgraded AI-powered apps from Slack’s partner ecosystem allow users to ask PagerDuty Copilot for help resolving incidents, automatically summarise Notion documents in link previews, and more. And coming soon, a brand new AI integration with Perplexity will allow users to subscribe to AI-powered insights and pipe them into Slack.
What they’re saying:

  • “Slack AI is not only a huge productivity boost — it’s easy to use, right where we already work in Slack. Our team loves how quickly they can find answers, which translates to faster decision-making and a greater focus on work that really drives an impact.” – Kate Earle Jensen, Head of Sales and Partnerships, Anthropic
  • “During the pilot program, we experienced firsthand the major productivity gains that Slack AI could drive for our business. Slack AI has helped speed up our employees’ work exponentially.” – Zach Hyman, Co-CEO, SpotOn
  • “At Perplexity, we’re building the next generation answer engine, applying the most advanced LLMs to make knowledge instant and accessible. Now with Perplexity Push, we’re delivering an enterprise integration that brings AI-powered insights directly into Slack. Teams can easily stay in-the-know on topics they care about where conversations and collaboration already happens.” – Aravind Srinivas, CEO, Perplexity
  • “Slack AI helps users unlock the full potential of company knowledge in Slack, all while supporting existing security, privacy, and compliance controls.” — Irwin Lazar, President and Principal Analyst, Metrigy

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Ugo Onwuaso is an ICT enthusiast. He believes technology should be used for general good. He holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Lagos state University. Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

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Airtel Africa-UNICEF Partnership Connects 1,200 Schools, 1M Africa Children to Digital Education

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Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services across 14 African countries, has today announced that its five-year partnership with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), aimed at transforming education across the continent, has connected over 1,500 schools to the internet, trained 17,000 teachers, and reached nearly a million learners with quality digital education resources across 13 African countries.

The partnership was launched in 2021 as part of Airtel Africa’s $57 million commitment to support the development of education and bridge the digital divide for vulnerable children in remote communities in collaboration with African governments.

Since the commencement of the partnership, Airtel Africa has prioritised the accessibility of online learning resources, including zero-rated educational platforms and teacher training, to support equitable learning opportunities for Africa’s children.

Airtel Africa CEO, Sunil Taldar, speaking on the success of the partnership while marking this year’s World’s Children’s Day said: “Our mission is to transform lives, and through our collaboration with UNICEF, we are witnessing the profound impact that connectivity and digital resources can have on Africa’s children and teachers.

For every school we have connected and for each teacher trained on using these digital tools, we are taking tangible steps toward realizing our commitment to bridging the digital divide, advancing educational equality and restating our commitment to the relentless pursuit of a better future for African children on the continent.

According to Mr. Taldar, “by equipping these schools with internet connectivity and training teachers on how to use the digital tools, Airtel Africa and UNICEF are providing Africa’s children, particularly those in underserved and remote regions, with the digital tools and skills they need to thrive in a technology-driven world.

This is why we are celebrating with the children on this special occasion of World Children’s Day, specially dedicated to them and all the effort aimed at securing and improving their future.

The partnership has expanded digital learning to learners in 13 countries since its launch. The countries include Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia.

 


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Galaxy Backbone, Bauchi State Government Sign Landmark MOU to Enhance Digital Infrastructure and ICT Capacity

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In a significant step towards advancing digital transformation and fostering economic development, Galaxy Backbone (GBB) and the Bauchi State Government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to collaborate on deploying digital infrastructure and ICT-related services across the state.

The signing ceremony, held at the Government House of the Bauchi State Government, was graced by the Managing Director/CEO of Galaxy Backbone, Professor Ibrahim A. Adeyanju, and the Governor of Bauchi State, His Excellency, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Muhammed.

This MOU establishes a collaborative framework between Galaxy Backbone and the Bauchi State Government, leveraging GBB’s world-class data center infrastructures in Abuja and Kano. The partnership is designed to enhance connectivity, build ICT capacity, provide consultancy services, and deliver hosted ICT services to improve governance and service delivery in Bauchi State.

The agreement was formalized by Professor Ibrahim A. Adeyanju and His Excellency, Governor Bala Abdulkadir Muhammed, symbolizing a shared commitment to transforming Bauchi State through ICT. It is expected that through this, it would lead to an enhancement of Bauchi State’s ICT Infrastructure, through GBB’s resources and expertise, deepen training and consultancy services, while, enhancing economic growth to attract investments, create jobs, and drive economic opportunities through improved digital connectivity and service delivery within the state.

Speaking at the event, Professor Ibrahim A. Adeyanju, MD/CEO of Galaxy Backbone, said: “This MOU underscores Galaxy Backbone’s commitment to supporting state governments in building resilient digital infrastructure and services ecosystems. Through this partnership, we aim to deliver cutting-edge ICT services that will drive digital transformation and economic growth in Bauchi State.”

His Excellency, Governor Bala Abdulkadir Muhammed, expressed his optimism for the collaboration, noting: “This partnership with Galaxy Backbone marks a pivotal moment for Bauchi State. By leveraging advanced ICT infrastructure and expertise, we are poised to transform our state into a hub of digital innovation, ensuring efficient governance and improved service delivery for our citizens.”

This collaboration aligns with Galaxy Backbone’s mission to extend its digital infrastructure footprint across Nigeria, providing state governments with the tools they need to thrive in the digital economy.


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Treepz Embarks on Global Expansion Journey with Trade Accelerator Program

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Treepz, a leading corporate mobility startup in sub-Saharan Africa renowned for its safe and convenient transport solutions, has been selected by the World Trade Center for the 2024 Trade Accelerator Program (TAP) in Toronto, Canada.

L-R: John Shaibu, Cofounder & Senior VP, Customer Engagement, Treepz, Johnny Enagwolor, Cofounder & President, Treepz & Onyeka Akumah, Founder & CEO, Treepz

This prestigious opportunity is in line with Treepz’s ongoing global expansion strategy to export its indigenous and innovative mobility solutions to new international markets.

The Trade Accelerator Program (TAP), organized in partnership with the Black Entrepreneurship Alliance, is designed to help high-potential small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) strategically scale their operations globally through personalized mentorship series, workshops and an unrivalled network of export advisors and world-class resources.

The program is expected to last for three months, with selected brands, including Treepz, undergoing various networking and mentorship programs.

Since its launch in 2019, Treepz has gathered momentum in the African mobility industry by providing cutting-edge solutions to address the prevalent transportation challenges across Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana and Kenya.

The startup has served over 5 million people with on-demand tech-enabled vehicle rental solutions such as guest transportation, school bus shuttling, and airport transfers, and currently operates in 16 cities across the continent.

Speaking on the program, Onyeka Akumah, Founder & CEO of Treepz, attributed the honours of the invitation to the team’s dedicated effort at Treepz to provide innovative solutions that meet the growing needs of diverse customers.

He noted that “The TAP Tech Toronto program is an invaluable opportunity for Treepz to further showcase new indigenous ideas we have for our customers on a global scale.” said Onyeka Akumah, Founder & CEO of Treepz.

“Additionally, this is a testament to our vision and goal to build a world-class mobility company. It is our time to say we are taking solutions built in Africa to the world. The solutions to transportation needs we’ve built in Africa have a global use case and we are set to take advantage of this opportunity to export African-grown solutions globally”.

“We would like to thank the World Trade Centre in Toronto for believing in our vision and selecting us for this prestigious program.

“We are confident that the experience from this program will be transformative for our startup, and we can’t wait to see where it takes us”, Onyeka added.

Recall that earlier this year, Treepz achieved significant milestones, including winning Best Startup Pitch in Africa at the 2024 African Union Conference in Zambia and becoming the first corporate mobility startup in Africa to complete an international cross-border rental trip.

The company has also secured key partnerships with many corporates to provide close to 10,000 daily employee transportation to companies like KingMakers (owners of BetKings) and Parallex Bank in Nigeria, SamaSource in Kenya, BrighterMonday in Uganda and several schools in Ghana.

This push continues to cement Treepz’s position as a leader in the African mobility landscape with more than 5 million customers served on the continent, reflecting Treepz’s commitment to driving innovative, scalable and indigenous solutions that meet the evolving transportation needs of Africa and beyond.


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