Salesforce today pledged to give millions of UK students free access to Slack Enterprise through their higher and further education institutions, including the AI assistant Slackbot. The company wants students to gain practical experience with workplace collaboration software while using it for learning and campus activities. The pledge covers participating universities and colleges, but Salesforce has not specified a rollout date.
Slackbot is included with Slack Enterprise and can answer questions in everyday language by drawing on workspace discussions and files that users have permission to access, according to Salesforce. Institutions can also put AI agents into channels to answer questions about student services, organise study groups and help teams conducting academic research. Salesforce says campuses could use Slack to connect students with tutors and give distance learners a place to form communities.
According to the announcement, universities and colleges will keep administrative authority over their workspaces, with the ability to tailor permissions and safeguards to their requirements. Salesforce says student information will be protected in line with UK data rules and will never be used for training external AI models. The company describes Slack as a platform used by over 200,000 organisations worldwide.
The student pledge follows Salesforce's earlier expansion of Slackbot into an AI assistant for Business+ and Enterprise+ customers, whose rollout began on January 13 and was scheduled to continue through February. That version could draft material, summarise conversations, examine files and arrange meetings, using information available under each user's existing access permissions.
Salesforce places the education initiative within its $6 billion investment commitment to its UK business through 2030. The company says its effort addresses a training shortfall, citing a figure of 61% of UK workers receiving no AI training. It also points to 1 million young people in the UK classified as outside education, employment or training as part of its case for improving graduate employment prospects.
The company's other education work includes Future Trailblazers, an employee-led AI literacy programme operating across Ireland and the UK. Salesforce says it has trained 14,500 students since its launch earlier this year. Its expanded London Campus opened in May, linking Salesforce Tower and the new AI Centre at Devonshire Square, and has since hosted school pupils for AI workshops.
