How we automate stuff
Good automation feels like magic. It’s identifying a thing that you’re doing manually, and designing a workflow to make it happen in the background so you never have to think about it again. There are heaps of different ways to do this; it depends on the complexity of the task, your software stack and the level of intuition.
If you can explain how you do a task step-by-step, it can be automated. For example, keying a sales order. The email from the client arrives, then this happens:
Identify the client
Identify the order details (number, date, lines etc)
Open your sales order software
Click to add a new sales order
Enter the client and order details from the email
Save the sales order
Attach the order pdf
Email order confirmation to the client
Notify the warehouse for picking
See how every step in the process is literally just clicking your mouse a bunch of times? If you can get this granular when automating a task, you’re going to have a super robust and reliable automation. You can set this up using middleware like Zapier or Make, or an existing integration if your software supports it. If your software doesn’t natively integrate with middleware, you can set it up using webhooks triggers and API calls. There are very few bits of software these days that don’t have API - if you’re using something that doesn’t have API, you’ve likely got bigger problems (you are probably but a humble serf harvesting grain for your lord in the year 500).
If you can explain how you do the task step-by-step, but it requires human intuition to make a calculated decision at some point in the process, it probably requires AI to be automated. An example of this is drafting email replies. If you’ve got your money up and don’t need to do business anymore, you can email however you want. The rest of us have to observe email etiquette and make sure we’re coming across correctly. This requires human intuition to write in a way that expresses the correct tone and sentiment for the situation. You can say whatever you want if you’re emailing your work mate, but not if you’re trying to convince a CEO to commit to your tender application. That’s where AI comes in - it’s not human, but it’s generally intelligent enough to detect the sentiment and intent in an email chain, look at any prior correspondence with the victim, and draft a reply to match.
Almost any task on a computer can be automated. We’re experts at deciding the best way to do it.
-Fred