Salesforce has pledged free access to Slack Enterprise for millions of higher and further education students across the UK, in a global-first initiative aimed at closing the country’s digital skills gap.
The announcement, made at the company’s AIforce World Tour event in London today, gives students hands-on experience of AI-powered workplace collaboration — the same platform used by leading businesses across the UK and worldwide.
Participating colleges and universities will use Slack to unlock AI-powered experiences that boost learning and collaboration across campuses: connecting tutors and peers, streamlining campus services, and building communities for distance learners.
The pledge includes the AI assistant Slackbot, which can answer questions in everyday language by drawing on workspace discussions and files. Institutions can also put AI agents into channels to answer questions about student services, organise study groups and support academic research.
Closing the skills gap
The initiative is aimed squarely at the UK’s digital skills shortfall. In the UK today, 61 per cent of workers receive no AI training — and the pledge is designed to build digital fluency and boost graduate employability at a time when one million young people are classified as NEET, not in education, employment or training.
Zahra Bahrololoumi, president and chief executive of Salesforce UK and Ireland, said: “Young people will define the next decade of UK business, and it’s imperative that students across all disciplines are able to learn to use AI responsibly.
“By bringing Slack and AI-powered tools like Slackbot directly into further and higher education, we are giving young people hands-on experience with the exact technology and operating system used by organisations across the UK. Ultimately, this creates a stronger talent pipeline for UK employers and ensures that the benefits of technology can be felt across every postcode.”
She added: “We are giving young people hands-on experience with the exact technology and operating system used by organisations across the UK.”
Part of a $6bn UK commitment
The announcement marks a key milestone in Salesforce’s $6 billion commitment to its UK business through 2030, following the opening of its expanded London AI Campus.
The company describes Slack as a platform used by more than 200,000 organisations worldwide. Universities and colleges will keep administrative authority over their workspaces, with the ability to tailor permissions and safeguards. Salesforce says student information will be protected in line with UK data rules and will never be used for training external AI models.
Speaking at a recent briefing, Bahrololoumi said the company wants to help repatriate jobs to the UK using automation: “We need more talent. I feel so confident, and we’ve got the evidence and the proof points that this technology and our platform can work and automate jobs, and augment jobs and expand human capacity, that I would like to see more jobs being repatriated from offshore and low-cost locations and jobs being created back in the UK.”
What it means for students
For students, the practical benefit is straightforward: graduating with hands-on experience of an enterprise-grade AI platform used by a high percentage of the Fortune 100 and the FTSE index. In a job market where employers increasingly expect AI fluency, that familiarity could be a genuine edge.
As Bahrololoumi put it: any student can say they are working with consumer AI, but the ones who can work with a trusted enterprise-grade platform are the ones who will stand out.
The rollout date has not yet been specified, but the pledge covers participating universities and colleges across the UK. Institutions interested in taking part will work directly with Salesforce to set up their workspaces.
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