What a chat-native AI assistant actually does
A chat assistant lives as a bot or app inside your workspace. People @-mention it or DM it, and it answers using the sources you connect — a knowledge base, tickets, docs, a database — instead of guessing.
Because it runs where conversations already happen, adoption tends to be higher than a separate portal nobody remembers to open.
- Slash commands and @-mentions in any channel or DM
- Answers grounded in your docs, wiki, or database via retrieval
- Thread-aware replies that keep the surrounding conversation as context
- Message shortcuts and buttons to trigger actions (create ticket, summarize thread)
- Per-channel scoping so finance answers stay in finance channels
- A home tab or app dashboard for settings and history
Slack vs. Teams: what's different under the hood
Both platforms support rich bots, but the plumbing differs. Slack uses its Events/Web API and Block Kit UI; Teams uses the Bot Framework, Microsoft Graph, and Adaptive Cards, usually inside a Microsoft 365 tenant with its own admin approval flow.
We build to whichever platform your team runs — or both — and handle the app manifest, permission scopes, and admin review each one requires.
- Slack: Block Kit UI, Events API, OAuth scopes, workspace or org install
- Teams: Bot Framework, Adaptive Cards, Graph API, tenant admin consent
- Single sign-on tie-in so the bot respects who's asking
- Message-level permissions so the bot only reads what it's allowed to
- An optional approval step before the bot posts anything externally
Keeping it safe and useful
An assistant that answers confidently but wrong is worse than none. We connect it to real sources, cite where answers come from, and let it say "I don't know" rather than invent.
Any action the bot can take — not just the answers it gives — is logged and rate-limited so mistakes stay visible and reversible.
- Source citations on answers so people can verify
- Rate limits and logging on any action the bot performs
- Redaction of sensitive fields before text leaves your systems
- A clear, documented boundary on what the bot can and can't do
More on ai integrations
Frequently asked questions
Do we have to give the AI access to all our Slack messages?
No. We scope it to the channels and data sources you choose. A common setup is a dedicated support or knowledge channel plus a connected doc library, with everything else off-limits.
Which is easier to set up, Slack or Teams?
Slack app installs tend to be faster for a single workspace. Teams often involves Microsoft 365 tenant admin consent, which is a governance step rather than a technical blocker. We handle either.
Can the bot do things, not just answer?
Yes — create a ticket, post a summary, look up an order. We put a confirmation or permission check in front of any action that changes data or reaches outside your workspace.