Salesforce Introduces New Low-Code Developer Tools to Bring Salesforce Apps and Automations into Slack

• New capabilities enable 11 million+ Salesforce developers to build Slack-first automations powered by Salesforce data. 
• Apex SDK for Slack makes building Slack apps on Salesforce Platform easy using familiar Apex code, without the need for middleware.
• Multiple Salesforce for Slack apps across Sales, Service, and Marketing are now available in Beta.

Today at TrailblazerDX ’22, Salesforce and Slack introduced Salesforce Platform for Slack, a new toolkit that empowers developers to build custom Slack apps that pull key functionalities – like actions, automations, and business insights – directly from Salesforce into Slack. The Salesforce Platform for Slack toolkit enables developers to easily build Slack apps that connect people across the business, producing powerful digital HQs that empower employees to thrive in a work-from-anywhere world.

Developers are critical drivers of the digital transformations occurring across every industry — a fact that has put them under more pressure than ever and encouraged many to join the “Great Resignation.” Tasked with bigger projects and tighter timelines, 93% of organizations are having difficulties retaining skilled developers, while 76% say the mental strain experienced by developers to learn new software architectures directly contributes to lower productivity.

Salesforce Platform for Slack, a key component of Salesforce’s newly expanded automation capabilities, empowers the more than 11 million Salesforce developers to build time-saving Slack apps natively on Salesforce Platform across the entirety of the Customer 360 portfolio — using familiar tools and coding languages.

“Salesforce Platform for Slack is a toolkit that empowers developers to quickly contribute to their digital HQs using the coding languages and tools they already know and love,” said Rob Seaman, SVP of Product, Slack. “By making it easier than ever for Salesforce developers to bring their unique apps, data and automations built on Customer 360 to Slack, where collaboration is already happening, Salesforce Platform for Slack helps make every conversation more insightful, customer-centric, and action-oriented.”

Salesforce Platform for Slack is a toolkit that empowers developers to quickly contribute to their digital HQs using the coding languages and tools they already know and love

Rob Seaman, SVP of Product, Slack

“Salesforce Platform for Slack will empower our developers to build apps that make Slack interactions more meaningful and actionable than ever before,” said Stuart Thomson, Solutions Architect, Kimble. “This toolkit will not only save our developers valuable time, but make it possible to surface key product features within Slack to encourage collaboration, both internally and for our customers.”

New features bring Salesforce automation to any Slack conversation

Flow in Slack enables developers to build Slack-first automations with full support for Salesforce data and actions using low-code capabilities. With Flow in Slack developers can:

• Turn manual tasks – like creating Slack channels to collaborate with colleagues and partners or sending account status updates to teams – into fully automated processes using low-code tools. 
• Build multi-step, guided automations in Salesforce that can be reused within Slack, all with just clicks.

Empowering developers with Flow in Slack enables organizations to not only collaborate efficiently on complex processes across teams, but also insert automations into larger business process orchestrations.

Developers can now build Slack Apps on Salesforce with no middleware or integration required

Apex SDK for Slack allows developers to write in Apex code they’re already familiar with, and automatically generate Block Kit. Salesforce developers can now build for Slack by bringing context to any custom Slack UI, effortlessly infusing Slack with Salesforce data and metadata, using Apex to fetch Salesforce records, creating reusable views, and routing events between Salesforce and Slack – all without middleware. And, these experiences respect Salesforce data security policies, ensuring teams can focus on new conversational apps, with authorization, user mappings, and trust baked in.

Salesforce is also announcing Beta availability of multiple Salesforce for Slack apps — all built with Salesforce Platform for Slack — that enable teams to collaborate quickly, use real-time data insights to make better decisions faster, and simplify tasks with automations.

• Sales Cloud for Slack automates deal status updates to sales teams, maintains up-to-date records in Salesforce to feed pipeline analytics, and makes it easy to collaborate in real time across teams to close deals faster. 
• Service Cloud for Slack automatically assigns swarm invitations to cross-functional experts as they come in, and makes it simple to bring in the right experts to solve customer cases efficiently.
• Marketing Cloud for Slack enables teams to quickly collaborate and execute on marketing campaigns. With Account Engagement for Slack, sales teams are automatically alerted in Slack when leads are generated, helping sales teams quickly engage prospects and close more deals.

Additional Information

• Register and tune into TrailblazerDX Wednesday, April 27 and Thursday, April 28 to learn how Salesforce is empowering organizations to succeed from anywhere. 
• Learn how Salesforce Platform enables diverse teams to innovate together and ship enterprise-ready apps with confidence here.

Pricing and Availability 

• Flow in Slack is expected to be available in beta in June 2022, and generally available in October 2022.
• Apex SDK for Slack is expected to be available in pilot in June 2022 and generally available in February 2023.
• Sales Cloud for Slack, Service Cloud for Slack and Marketing Cloud for Slack are now in Beta and expected to become generally available in June 2022.

About TrailblazerDX

TrailblazerDX ’22 is the premier Salesforce developer conference — bringing together developers, admins, architects, partners, entrepreneurs, and students for a world class learning experience. Trailblazers from around the world will come together in-person and online to connect with a vibrant community, and learn how to integrate, analyze, collaborate, build and automate apps with the Salesforce Customer 360.

About Salesforce Platform

The Salesforce Platform enables organizations to innovate fast, scale with confidence, and empower everyone at the company to succeed. With built-in services such as integrated security and AI that span no code to code, the Salesforce Platform provides all of the building blocks to build incredible customer and employee experiences.

About Slack

Slack is your Digital HQ – a place where work flows between your people, systems, partners and customers. Slack breaks down communication silos inside and beyond your organization by bringing teams and tools together around common goals, projects and processes in channels and in Slack Connect. It removes the limits of physical walls, giving people the flexibility to do their best work where, when and how they prefer with huddles and clips. And it empowers everyone to automate common tasks with apps and workflows. In the digital-first era, Slack makes work simpler, more pleasant and more productive.

Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase Salesforce applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “CRM.” For more information please visit https://www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.