diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 6167f86..bfb2ed2 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -22,3 +22,4 @@ videos/remotion-demo/out
 videos/remotion-demo/public/*.mov
 product/*.mov
 .gstack/
+.playwright-mcp/
diff --git a/src/index.ts b/src/index.ts
index 62ee8b8..b573b9d 100644
--- a/src/index.ts
+++ b/src/index.ts
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ import { recordUsage, getMonthlyUsage, getUsageBreakdown, checkLimit } from './b
 import { getCustomerInvoices, getInvoiceByNumber, markInvoiceSent, markInvoicePaid, generateMonthlyInvoice } from './billing/invoices.js';
 import { getAllPlatformHealth } from './multitenancy/platform-health.js';
 import { deliverWebhook, isValidWebhookUrl } from './webhooks/delivery.js';
+import { notifyNewPilotRequest } from './notifications/index.js';
 import redis from './redis.js';
 
 const app = express();
@@ -2041,6 +2042,10 @@ app.post('/api/pilot-request', async (req, res) => {
 
   try {
     await appendPilotRequestToVault(requestId, body, req);
+    // Fire-and-forget notification — don't block response
+    notifyNewPilotRequest(body, requestId, req).catch((err) =>
+      console.error(`[notification] requestId=${requestId} error:`, err)
+    );
     res.status(201).json({ ok: true, request_id: requestId });
   } catch (error) {
     console.error(`[squaremcp] pilot_request ERROR requestId=${requestId}:`, error);
diff --git a/src/notifications/index.ts b/src/notifications/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..97a7ec6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/notifications/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,59 @@
+import { sendSlackAlert, type PilotAlertPayload } from './slack.js';
+
+const TEST_PATTERNS = {
+  email: [/@example\.com$/i],
+  name: [/e2e/i, /smoke test/i, /qa test/i, /browser test/i],
+  company: [/qa check/i, /qa corp/i, /^squaremcp\s*(e2e|test|browser)/i],
+};
+
+function isTestSubmission(body: {
+  name: string;
+  email: string;
+  company: string;
+}): boolean {
+  if (TEST_PATTERNS.email.some((p) => p.test(body.email))) return true;
+  if (TEST_PATTERNS.name.some((p) => p.test(body.name))) return true;
+  if (TEST_PATTERNS.company.some((p) => p.test(body.company))) return true;
+  return false;
+}
+
+interface PilotRequestBody {
+  name: string;
+  email: string;
+  company: string;
+  role: string;
+  use_case: string;
+  timeline: string;
+  systems: string;
+  requirements: string;
+}
+
+export async function notifyNewPilotRequest(
+  body: PilotRequestBody,
+  requestId: string,
+  req: { get: (header: string) => string | undefined; ip?: string; socket?: { remoteAddress?: string } }
+): Promise<void> {
+  if (isTestSubmission(body)) {
+    console.log(`[notification] skipped test submission: ${body.email}`);
+    return;
+  }
+
+  const payload: PilotAlertPayload = {
+    requestId,
+    name: body.name,
+    email: body.email,
+    company: body.company,
+    role: body.role,
+    use_case: body.use_case,
+    timeline: body.timeline,
+    systems: body.systems,
+    requirements: body.requirements,
+    source: req.get('origin') || req.get('host') || 'unknown',
+    ipAddress: req.ip || req.socket?.remoteAddress || 'unknown',
+  };
+
+  // Fire-and-forget — don't block the HTTP response
+  sendSlackAlert(payload).catch((err) =>
+    console.error('[notification] slack error:', err)
+  );
+}
diff --git a/src/notifications/slack.ts b/src/notifications/slack.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b8b0bef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/notifications/slack.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+const SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL = process.env['SLACK_PILOT_WEBHOOK_URL'] ?? '';
+
+export interface PilotAlertPayload {
+  requestId: string;
+  name: string;
+  email: string;
+  company: string;
+  role: string;
+  use_case: string;
+  timeline: string;
+  systems: string;
+  requirements: string;
+  source: string;
+  ipAddress: string;
+}
+
+export async function sendSlackAlert(payload: PilotAlertPayload): Promise<boolean> {
+  if (!SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL) {
+    console.warn('[notification:slack] SLACK_PILOT_WEBHOOK_URL not set, skipping');
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  const blocks = [
+    {
+      type: 'header',
+      text: {
+        type: 'plain_text',
+        text: '🚨 New SquareMCP Pilot Request',
+        emoji: true,
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      type: 'section',
+      fields: [
+        { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Name:*\n${payload.name}` },
+        { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Company:*\n${payload.company}` },
+        { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Email:*\n${payload.email}` },
+        { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Role:*\n${payload.role}` },
+        { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Timeline:*\n${payload.timeline}` },
+        { type: 'mrkdwn', text: `*Source:*\n${payload.source}` },
+      ],
+    },
+    {
+      type: 'section',
+      text: {
+        type: 'mrkdwn',
+        text: `*Use Case:*\n${payload.use_case}`,
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      type: 'section',
+      text: {
+        type: 'mrkdwn',
+        text: `*Systems:*\n${payload.systems || '_None specified_'}`,
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      type: 'section',
+      text: {
+        type: 'mrkdwn',
+        text: `*Requirements:*\n${payload.requirements || '_None specified_'}`,
+      },
+    },
+    {
+      type: 'context',
+      elements: [
+        {
+          type: 'mrkdwn',
+          text: `Request ID: \`${payload.requestId}\` | IP: ${payload.ipAddress}`,
+        },
+      ],
+    },
+  ];
+
+  try {
+    const res = await fetch(SLACK_WEBHOOK_URL, {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/json' },
+      body: JSON.stringify({ blocks }),
+      signal: AbortSignal.timeout(10_000),
+    });
+
+    if (!res.ok) {
+      const text = await res.text();
+      console.error(`[notification:slack] HTTP ${res.status}: ${text}`);
+      return false;
+    }
+
+    console.log(`[notification:slack] alert sent for request ${payload.requestId}`);
+    return true;
+  } catch (err) {
+    console.error('[notification:slack] fetch error:', (err as Error).message);
+    return false;
+  }
+}