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AI-tomation: How Zapier is using AI to make automation easy – Wrapping up and looking forward

by | Mar 18, 2024 | AI, No-code tools, Workflow, Zapier, Zapier Demo Videos

Decorative image - The featured image for the Solvaa blog post "AI-tomation: How Zapier is using AI to make automation easy Part 5 - Wrapping up and looking forward"
In this series about AI automation, we’ve been exploring how Zapier is weaving AI throughout it’s product to enhance user experience and power up automation.
 

If you missed our previous posts, you can find them here: 

 

It’s clear that Zapier is heavily investing in the AI space and it continues to build and improve new features at a blistering pace. Since we started this series, Zapier has already upgraded it’s AI offerings, including adding collaboration to Canvas, updating it’s previous AI Zap builder the new Zap ‘Co-pilot’.
A screenshot of the Zapier editor showing the new co-pilot builder.

Build your own AI Automation helper bot with Zapier Central

The biggest news is the introduction of Zapier Central. Zapier claim that Central lets you build AI automation bots that will work across it’s app ecosystem. At first glance, it looks similar to Zapier’s ChatGPT plugin, where you use ‘natural language’ to build automations.

Zapier Central is currently in Beta and is therefore subject to change

Where it has the opportunity to get interesting is connecting your own data for the bot to use. Currently, the only data sources that Zapier Central can connect to are Google Sheets, Google Docs and Notion – pretty limited in that sense right now. You can build bots that use Zapier’s existing triggers and apps, for example, I was able to quickly build a bot that lets me know if the weather is warm enough to wear a t-shirt.
It’s certainly faster than building a Zap manually, but it’s too early to tell whether Zapier Central will become your new favourite AI assistant. We’ll be keeping an eye on it so stay tuned for more updates as Zapier no doubt fine-tunes the newest addition to its ecosystem.

 

 

Summary

If you’ve been following this series, you’ll know that Zapier’s AI automation tools are in different stages of maturity. Some seem primed to help you save time straight out of the gate (e.g. chatbots), while others need a little more development before they live up to their full potential (e.g. building Zap actions using AI). What’s undeniable is that Zapier is all in when it comes to AI features and doesn’t look to be stopping any time soon!

Solvaa: Strategy, Solutions, Support, Education

UK-based Solvaa® is a systems, process and automation consultancy specialising in improving business workflows. Solvaa® works with SMEs worldwide to implement digital tools, better processes, use business process automation and generative AI to boost productivity, enhance lead management, and remove unnecessary time, costs and hassles from stretched business owners’ days.

We help you simplify and streamline existing processes, integrate your business tools to make data transfer more efficient, and automate manual tasks. Our business process automation specialists have extensive experience using multiple cloud-based business tools, including Zapier, Pipedrive CRM, SmartSuite, Xero, Google Suite, ClickUp, Asana, Airtable, Hubspot, Active Campaign, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Quickbooks and many more. We are Zapier Certified Experts, SmartSuite Certified Partners, Pipedrive Certified Partners and Xero Certified Advisors. We also educate teams about using AI in their daily roles, mindset, governance and strategy in our Solvaa AI Academy.

Solvaa® was founded in 2016 by Kelly Goss, a no-code solutions architect, business process automation specialist and author of Automate It with Zapier (first edition) and Automate It with Zapier and Generative AI (second edition).

A thought leader on business process automation and digital adoption, Kelly attended an invite-only Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the UK government at No.10 Downing Street, providing insights and recommendations on how SMEs can benefit from productivity gains by using digital technologies, automation and AI. She has also been invited to speak at the House of Lords and at many other events.

Contact us today to find out how Solvaa can help your business make big savings on operational costs and time, and significantly increase productivity.

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