Work stalls on people. A missing detail on an order. A discount that needs a manager’s nod. A delivery date only the supplier knows.This capability lets your coworker go and ask. It emails the customer, or messages the manager in Slack, in its own words, with the context the moment needs. The person replies however they normally would. Your coworker reads the reply and keeps going.It isn’t a notification. Nobody has to log in to CogniAgent, learn anything, or click a special button. They just answer.
This is the outbound half — your coworker starting a conversation. For people reaching your coworker first, see Message channels.
This capability has two parts: the switch, and the channels it’s allowed to use. Without channels it has no way to reach anyone, so do both.
1
Turn on the capability
Open your coworker, choose Capabilities, and find Talk to people in the Built-in tools list. It’s on by default.
The Talk to people row carries a Set up channels button, which opens the panel inline.
2
Open the channel settings
On that same row, click Set up channels. A panel opens inline — you don’t leave the tab.
3
Pick a platform
Each row starts with a chip: Slack or Gmail. Choose which one this channel is.
4
Choose a connection
Pick from the connections your workspace already has. If there isn’t one yet, Connect adds it right here without leaving the page.
5
Label it, so your coworker can tell them apart
The optional label is what your coworker knows the channel by — “Support Gmail”, “Acme Slack”. Worth filling in the moment you have more than one.
6
Save
Add channel for another row, then Save channels.
Two channels configured. The label is what your coworker knows each one by — worth filling in the moment you have more than one.
The panel prints the standing rule underneath:
The worker starts conversations only over the channels listed here, and every launch still waits for your approval. Recipients are set per conversation.
That’s the whole safety model in one sentence. Your coworker can only use channels you’ve listed, it asks you before starting any conversation, and who it talks to is decided per conversation rather than fixed in advance.
An email or a Slack message from a real address on your side, written for the situation. The person replies normally — in their inbox, in the thread — and that reply comes back into the task.Nothing about it looks like a form. That’s why people actually answer.
Give it the label. A coworker with two channels and no labels has to guess which is which. “Support Gmail” and “Sales Gmail” takes ten seconds and removes the ambiguity.
Email and Slack only. A conversation has to start somewhere the recipient can be addressed, and those are the two places your coworker can reliably reach someone who hasn’t messaged it first.
No. They get an ordinary email or Slack message and reply the way they always do. They never see CogniAgent at all.
Can my coworker email anyone it likes?
No. It can only use the channels you’ve listed, and every conversation it wants to start waits for your approval first. You see who it wants to contact and what it wants to say.
What if nobody replies?
Your coworker waits, and can chase or move on depending on what you asked for. Pair it with Self-scheduling so it follows up on its own instead of sitting idle.
Can it talk to several people at once?
Yes — collecting sign-off from three people is a normal use. It tracks each conversation separately and carries on when it has what it needs.
How is this different from just sending an email with a Gmail connection?
An email action sends and forgets. This holds a conversation: it waits for the reply, reads it, and continues the work based on what the person said.
