Future of collaboration technology: More Slack and AI, less email

Somewhere between live chat and email, team collaboration tools began to grow. Enterprise teams needed more than email threads -- but not necessarily instant messaging -- to stay on top of projects and share files. As artificial intelligence evolves, experts remain bullish on its prospects to enhance productivity as enterprises set a course for the future of collaboration technology. Chat tools like Slack and Teams let employees carve out productive time on their terms, according to Tim Banting, principal analyst at Global Data PLC. While all parties need to be online to chat with instant messaging, collaboration tools let participants respond asynchronously as they toggle between tasks. Other key functions include real-time communications like video or online meetings as well as shared calendars and task management, he added.