Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Slack is changing how people work — and it isn’t slowing down

Stewart Butterfield and April Underwood are No. 36 on the Recode 100.

Horacio Villalobos - Corbis / Getty

Slack is changing how people work — and it isn’t slowing down

Stewart Butterfield and April Underwood are No. 36 on the Recode 100.

Slack — nearing its fourth anniversary since launching to the public — is not a passing fad. The communications service for companies and groups is now a tool that six million people use every day, up from about four million a year prior — despite increased competition from much larger rivals like Microsoft and Facebook.

This year, Slack — represented on the Recode 100 by CEO Stewart Butterfield and VP of Product April Underwood — launched a new version of its service tailored for big corporate customers. And it debuted a new — potentially very useful! — feature that lets teams in different companies chat within a shared Slack channel. (It also raised another $250 million and passed $200 million in annual recurring revenue this past summer.)

One big question is whether Slack will mature into an interface for more of your work life — or if will remain mostly a chat room. For now, it seems Slack is still mostly counting on other companies to integrate those features. Slack says 90 percent of its paid teams actively use add-on apps. And the company has an $80 million fund to invest in companies building promising apps for its ecosystem.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh