AI wears many hats at work, whether or not it’s a brainstorm associate, mentor, or doing the precise work itself. Nevertheless, it’s time so as to add a brand new one to the checklist: spy. In a recent episode of the “All-In” podcast, Salesforce CEO, Marc Benioff, mentioned he was utilizing AI to research worker slack messages to grasp what they’re complaining about. (Salesforce acquired Slack in 2021.)
“Since you run your organization on Slack, all of your DMs, all of your channels, we’re studying that now by means of the AI and we are able to inform you extra about your online business than you realize,” Benioff defined. “Slackbot is studying stuff that, you realize, no person knew what was occurring. I’m utilizing that myself.”
Benioff says, as a result of the platform leverages AI, he can discover out absolutely anything he needs about his personal firm by prompting it with questions. “So, once I’m on Slackbot, I can ask it any query about my firm,” Benioff mentioned, giving the examples of: “What are my high 5 offers? What are my staff upset about? What are the highest three issues I have to deal with?”
Quick Firm reached out to Salesforce however didn’t hear again by the point of publication. Nevertheless, a Salesforce consultant told Business Insider, Benioff “was referring to public, companywide Slack channels–not personal worker messages or conversations.” And according to Slack, “Slack’s AI options solely use Slack information that members have entry to on the time of request and gained’t show or use information from personal channels or direct messages (DMs) they aren’t part of.”
Whereas staff is likely to be startled to seek out out that their bosses are popping into their conversations on Slack through the use of AI, it’s not uncommon. Microsoft uses its Co-Pilot digital assistant to scan firm information throughout platforms, whereas Google uses Gemini. Based on 2024 reporting from CNBC, main firms like Walmart, Delta, T-Cellular, Chevron, and Starbucks are utilizing software program from Conscious, an AI agency that analyzes worker messages.
Monitoring has actually reached new heights. In 2025 analysis from StandOutCV discovered that staff are being monitored extensively and never simply on messaging platforms like Slack or Gmail. Over three-quarters (78%) of monitoring instruments take “productivity” screenshots of staff’ screens primarily based on the employers’ request and over a 3rd (34%) of instruments monitor staff’ areas. A special report from 2026 discovered around 74% of companies use some type of digital monitoring instruments to seek out out what staff are as much as.
However whereas employers clearly really feel that there are significant impacts to monitoring staff so intently, most staff don’t really feel the identical approach. One 2023 survey discovered that over 56% of staff really feel anxious about being watched, whereas 43% mentioned it’s a violation of belief. Nonetheless, the development isn’t slowing down. Market Research Future tasks worker monitoring will greater than double, changing into a $15.98 billion trade by 2035.
Amba Kak, govt director of the AI Now Institute at New York College, previously told CNBC that the rise in message monitoring is regarding, and never simply due to what staff may say, however due to how doing so infringes on their rights. “It leads to a chilling impact on what individuals are saying within the office,” Kak mentioned. “These are as a lot employee rights points as they’re privateness points.”
