Shadowing Practice: Connect Slack to Salesforce with Hosted MCP Servers | Salesforce Headless 360 Decoded - Learn English Speaking with Video
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What if users could work on Salesforce records and trigger business processes all through a single Slack conversation without opening Salesforce?
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Today, I'll show you how to configure this in Slack and how to run it in Slack bot and Salesforce-sourced MCP servers.
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Hi, and welcome to this episode.
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My name is Philippe Ozil.
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I'm a developer advocate at Salesforce.
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We'll start with why Slack is the engagement layer for Salesforce,
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then we'll walk you through how to configure Slackbot to connect with Salesforce's MCP servers,
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and finally, we'll look at some real-world use cases.
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Slack is the work OS where most teams collaborate, so it feels natural to extend it to avoid context switching between apps.
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center of this experience is slackbot a single ai interface for every conversation file channel
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and apps across your organization slack could already integrate with third-party systems
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but what's new now is
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that slackbot can seamlessly work with any mcp server such as the sessos hosted mcp servers
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and this is precisely what we'll focus on in this video in case you missed the other episodes of this series, the Model Context Protocol or MCP is an open standard
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that lets AI agents interact with external tools and data sources from various vendors.
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Cessos exposes a set of hosted MCP servers giving any MCP compatible client secure governed access to work with records
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and execute actions directly from the Cessos orgs.
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With the standard servers, you can perform CRUD operations on Cessos records, Access Tableau, Data360 and much more.
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And beyond the standard servers, developers can also expose specific business logic by building custom MCP servers with custom tools such as Apex Actions,
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Flows, Apex REST Endpoints, Name Queries, Agent Force Agents, and Prompt Builder Templates.
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Setting up Slackbot to work with self-assisted MCP servers is very simple.
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There are no URLs to copy, no OAuth configuration, and no external client app to set up.
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This requires zero custom code.
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The entire setup lives in the Slack admin UI and it takes just a few steps as I will demo next.
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Before getting started, we'll need a few things that I won't demonstrate in this video for the sake of time.
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You need a paid Slack plan, at least one Salesforce org already connected to Slack,
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Slack org or workspace admin access, a Salesforce administrator access, one or more active Salesforce hosted MCP server.
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Now that we've cleared the prerequisites, let's get to the setup.
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First, I'll navigate to the MCP server configuration page in Slack.
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The path to this page depends on your plan.
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In this video, I'm using an enterprise grid.
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The layout is the same for enterprise plus.
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You navigate to your organization name, then tools and settings, organization settings,
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Salesforce, and then finally, MCP servers.
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For Business Plus and Enterprise Select, the flow is a bit different as you can see here.
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Once you're on the MCP server configuration page, let's add your server.
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You click Add MCP server.
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Choose the server you want to add from the list of active Salesforce hosted MCP servers, like for example, S-Objectall, Data360, or any other custom servers.
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Click add, then review the tools the server exposes.
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Click next.
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If you're on Enterprise Grid or Enterprise Plus, you'll need to select which workspaces the server will be available in before proceeding.
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Now that your servers are added, you can figure who can access them.
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Either everyone from your org, specific people or groups, or no one for now.
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This is useful if you want to enable the server later.
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Your MCP server is now active and Slackbot can use it on behalf of anyone with access.
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Salesforce MCP servers in Slackbot are permission-aware by design.
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Your Slack user is mapped to your Salesforce user.
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Your Salesforce user has a profile and possibly some permission sets and sharing rules that control your access.
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In particular, which MCP tools you have access to.
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Every action Slackbot takes respects the user access and adheres to the standard Salesforce security model.
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In other words, users only see and act on what they're allowed to in Salesforce.
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Slack admins can adjust access, update permissions, or remove the server entirely from the Slack organization admin UI at any time.
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Security is also handled at the Slack user level with prompts to prevent accidental use of MCP tools.
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must explicitly approve the use of a tool before slackbot can execute an action on their behalf now
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that you know how security works let's look at some practical examples
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for today's demo we'll use northern trail outfitters a fictitious outdoors gear vendor
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imagine a northern trail outfitters sales rep but has a call in an hour with one of their customers Alpine trackers.
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Instead of opening Salesforce, navigating to the account page and cross-referencing opportunities, cases, and activities to prepare the case,
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they just ask Slackbot one thing.
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Run a health check on the AlpineTracker's account.
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Slackbot uses a tool from the standard SObjectAlt MCP server to identify the account based on its name.
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It then calls a custom health check tool that uses a flow.
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The flow retrieves additional data from related cases,
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opportunities and activities to calculate a health score based on precise business rules
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The health check indicates that the Alpine Tracker's account is at risk because of an unresolved critical support case
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Once the sales rep reviews the Alpine Tracker's account health, they ask Slackbot to help plan for the customer meeting
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Slackbot uses another custom tool to identify the meeting stakeholders from the Salesforce contacts related to the account
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and creates an activity record to prepare for the meeting.
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All of this happened directly in Slack without contact switching or opening multiple tabs.
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That's it for today!
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You've seen how Slackbot uses Salesforce hosted NCP servers to interact
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with your Salesforce org directly from Slack where your team is already working.
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You've learned how to configure Slackbot and you saw some practical examples of running custom business processes directly from Slack.
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Now it's your turn to connect Slackbot to your Salesforce org.
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Try configuring MCP servers to power your own team's workflows and leverage Slack as your engagement layer.
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Thank you for watching, I hope that you've enjoyed this video.
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Make sure to like and subscribe to our channel and let us know in the comments if you found it useful.
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See you in the next episode!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 78 sentences and 1079 words to shadow. The speech runs for 7:21. The speaker talks at a steady 147 words per minute, a comfortable pace for shadowing. Only 73% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| server noun | /ˈsɝvɚ/ | A program that provides services to other programs or devices, either in the same computer or over a computer network. |
| slack adjective | /slæk/ | Lax; not tense; not firmly extended. |
| custom noun | /ˈkʌstəm/ | Frequent repetition of the same behavior; way of behavior common to many; ordinary manner; habitual practice; method of doing, living or behaving. |
| enterprise noun | /ˈɛntəˌpɹaɪz/ | A company, business, organization, or other purposeful endeavor. |
| admin noun | /ˈædˌmɪn/ | Administration, or administrative work. |
| connect verb | /kəˈnɛkt/ | To join (to another object): to attach, or to be intended to attach or capable of attaching, to another object. |
| expose verb | /ɪkˈspoʊz/ | To reveal; to uncover; to make visible; to bring to light. |
| configuration noun | /kənˌfɪɡ.əˈɹeɪ̯.ʃən/ | The form of a thing, as depending on the relative placement of the parts of a thing's shape. |
| navigate verb | /ˈnæv.ɪ.ɡeɪt/ | To plan, control and record the position and course of a vehicle, ship, aircraft, etc., on a journey; to follow a planned course. |
| practical adjective | /ˈpɹæk.tɪ.kəl/ | Relating to, or based on, practice or action rather than theory or hypothesis. |
| select verb | /sɪˈlɛkt/ | To choose one or more elements of a set, especially a set of options. |
| trail noun | /tɹeɪl/ | The track or indication marking the route followed by something that has passed, such as the footprints of animal on land or the contrail of an airplane in the… |
| behalf noun | /bɪˈhæf/ | The interest, benefit, or wellbeing of someone or something. |
| layer noun | /ˈleɪ̯ɚ/ | A single thickness of some material covering a surface. |
| engagement noun | /ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒ.mənt/ | An appointment, especially to speak or perform. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| set up verb | /ˌsɛt ˈʌp/ | To make ready for use. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | we've cleared · You've seen · You've learned |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are added · is mapped · is also handled |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 19 contractions and reduced forms, such as we'll, you've, I'll. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: configuration /kənˌfɪɡ.əˈɹeɪ̯.ʃən/, fictitious /fɪkˈtɪʃəs/
- Long words — get the stress right: configuration /kənˌfɪɡ.əˈɹeɪ̯.ʃən/, developer /dɪˈvɛləpɚ/, administrator /ədˈmɪn.ɪ.stɹeɪ.tɚ/, compatible /kəmˈpæt.ə.bəl/, collaborate /kəˈlæb.ə.ɹeɪt/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like server, slack, custom.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.