AI Email Automation Step
Table of Contents
Overview
The AI Email Automation Step is an automation action that writes a personalized email with AI and sends it to the contact that triggered the automation. The subject line and body are both written per recipient, at the moment the step runs.
Note: The email sends automatically. There is no draft, no approval step, and no chance to read it first — once the automation reaches this step, the message goes to the contact. Treat the prompt as the only control you have over what your contacts receive, and test an automation on a small audience before turning it loose on a large one.
Note: This step requires the AI content generation feature to be active for your account. Reach out to your Success Manager if you do not see it in the automation editor.
Adding the AI Email Step
- Open the automation you want to edit, or create a new one.
- Add an action and select the AI Email step.
- Enter a prompt describing what the email should say. See The Prompt Field below.
- Save the automation.
The step takes a prompt in place of a subject and body, because both are generated for each recipient when the automation runs.
The Prompt Field
The prompt tells the AI what kind of email to write. It is an instruction, not a template, and does not need to be a complete email. Examples:
- "Write a short follow-up email thanking this contact for their recent purchase and asking if they have any questions."
- "Compose a check-in email for a contact who hasn't heard from us in 90 days. Keep it brief and friendly."
- "Introduce our referral program and invite the contact to participate."
Because nobody reviews the result before it sends, be specific about tone, length, and anything the email must not say. A vague prompt produces a vague email, and it goes out either way.
FAQs
Q: Does the AI Email Step send automatically, without anyone reviewing the email?
A: Yes. The step generates the email and sends it in the same run. No draft is created and no approval is requested, so the prompt is where you control what gets said.
Q: Can I preview what the AI will write before the automation runs?
A: Not currently. The email is written per recipient at send time, so there is nothing to preview beforehand. Test on a small or internal audience first.
Q: Can I use contact merge fields in the prompt?
A: You don't need to. The AI receives the contact's details as context, so "thank the contact for their recent interaction" is enough — it fills in the name and other available details when it writes the email.