Slack’s CEO: Tech is key to better hybrid collaboration
Communication is key, especially when your co-workers can work from anywhere.
The business communication platform, Slack, shows more than just messages from your boss and co-workers. It also offers a glimpse into what the future of work could look like.
Slack CEO Lidiane Jones said she believes technological innovation will be essential to unlock collaboration between those working from home and those in the office.
“Nobody’s kind of going back to a pre-pandemic way of working. There is more of us trying to connect in a hybrid way than ever before,” Jones said. “And so our focus certainly now is how do we embrace a different way of working? So it’s not about where, a lot more the how.”
Originally from São Paulo, Brazil, Jones graduated from the University of Michigan on scholarship with a degree in computer science. Before she worked at Slack, she served as the vice president of software project management at Sonos, a company that manufactures audio products. Jones lives in Cambridge and is this week’s guest on “Say More,” a Globe Opinion podcast hosted by columnist Shirley Leung.
“I don’t think a world of just putting people back in physical spaces is necessarily the most productive,” Jones said. “I think focusing on the jobs to be done that highlight the connection of people when it makes sense, where people really want to have connections with their colleagues and their work and learn from one another, that is the most effective.”
Not only is Slack working to increase hybrid productivity among its own employees, but its product aims to make work communication much easier for its users.
When she was an intern at Apple, Jones said, she learned from then-CEO Steve Jobs what it meant to care about your customers, a lesson that continues to influence her work as a leader.
Jones recounted a situation in which Apple released a new product, and protesters were camped outside in opposi---
tion. Instead of ignoring them, she said, Jobs embraced the protestors, buying them coffee and doughnuts, and talking with them.
Slack, which was acquired by the software company Salesforce in 2021, is updating its platform by using artificial intelligence to create “channel summaries” that help customers quickly catch up on conversations they’ve missed. Slack is also bolstering its search capabilities using generative AI.
“Our mission has always been to help our customers’ lives be easier, more pleasant, and more productive,” Jones said. “So what we are looking at with all of this incredible AI innovation that’s happening in the market is how do we advance this idea that we can unlock more productivity for you, and let AI do the things that are more mundane.”
Find the Globe Opinion podcast “Say More with Shirley Leung” on Apple, Spotify, and globe.com/saymore.