Triage-Reply: inbox to Slack DM
by Sam Builder
Automation that classifies incoming Gmail in a label, drafts replies in my voice via Claude, and DMs me on Slack only for urgent threads. Runs every 5 minutes; logs to Sheets.
Open⚙️
AutomationIntermediate4h Job-Ready
AI Automation: Build Workflows That Actually Run
The boring, valuable craft of putting AI to work
About this course
Stop watching demos and start shipping real automations. We'll go from 'what is this' to deploying a workflow that triages your inbox and drafts replies, with the safety rails to keep it running on a Tuesday at 3am.
What you'll learn
- Distinguish workflow automation from AI agents — and pick the right tool
- Design a workflow with idempotency, logging, and graceful failure
- Ship an end-to-end email triage + draft-reply automation
- Know when to reach for an agent — and when not to
- Monitor cost, latency, and accuracy in production
Curriculum
1
What 'AI Automation' actually means
12 min
2
The automation toolkit (2026 edition)
16 min
3
Designing a useful workflow
18 min
4
Hands-on: a real workflow, end to end
22 min
5
AI agents: power, peril, and when to use them
16 min
6
Putting it in production: monitoring, cost, safety
14 min
Instructor · Rae Mendoza
FLAGSHIP · SHIP IT
JOB-READY
Ship Your First Running Automation
Build something real. Get it on the gallery. Put it on your resume.
The brief
Build an end-to-end AI automation that runs on a trigger you didn't manually press, has at least one LLM step, logs everything, and has a clearly defined kill switch. It can save you (or someone you know) at least 30 minutes per week. That's the bar.
Deliverable
A short submission with a live link or screenshot proving the automation works on real data.
Approved submissions appear in the public gallery and on the verify page for your certificate. Recruiters can click through.
Rubric · ship-readiness
- 1Runs on a trigger (schedule, webhook, or app event) — not just a manual button
- 2Includes at least one LLM step with a clear prompt and validation
- 3Logs every run to somewhere a human can read (Sheets, DB, dashboard)
- 4Has a documented kill switch (can be stopped in <5 seconds)
- 5Proves itself on at least 3 real inputs, not just toy data
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What graduates shipped.
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