Slack is where modern companies think out loud. Decisions get argued, problems get escalated, and plans change. That messy, real-time reasoning is hard to find anywhere else, which is why AI buyers want it.
In 2026, reporting on startups licensing their old Slack chats and emails (Gizmodo) brought this market into the open.
What makes Slack data valuable
- Real coordination: hand-offs, blockers, escalations
- Decision trails: proposals, pushback, final calls
- Cross-functional context: sales, product, support and ops in one place
- Long history: how processes evolved over the years
Polyshares lists Slack (and Teams) as operational data it licenses. One example on its site shows 100,000 Slack messages as part of a sample record.
What to include
- Public project, team and functional channels
- Incident and on-call channels (with credentials removed)
- Customer-facing team channels, with customer identities masked
Not sure if your data qualifies? The intake takes a few minutes.
What to exclude
- Direct messages and group DMs
- Private channels unless clearly work-only and cleared
- HR, legal, finance-sensitive and leadership channels
- Social channels (#random, #pets): low value and personal
- Shared Slack Connect channels with external companies, which are subject to their rights too
Preparing Slack data
- Export workspace history (admin export options depend on your Slack plan).
- Produce a channel list and mark each one include or exclude.
- List names, client names and codenames to mask.
- Agree the anonymization method with the buyer. See anonymization.
- Tell your team.
Who to talk to
Polyshares explicitly names Slack as a data source, states it charges no fee, and makes offers within one to two weeks. Read our Polyshares review.
Frequently asked questions
Does Slack allow companies to license their workspace data?
Your workspace content is generally your company’s data, but check your Slack plan’s terms, your internal policies and employee agreements with counsel before licensing.
Should DMs be included?
We recommend excluding direct messages and private channels by default. They carry the highest privacy risk and the most personal content.
How much history do I need?
There’s no fixed minimum, but buyers say depth of history increases value. Several years of active public channels is a strong record.
What about Microsoft Teams?
The same principles apply. Polyshares lists Slack and Teams among the operational data it licenses.