Your First AI Intern: Automating Email Sorting with Make.com

The Hook: The Inbox Avalanche

I want you to picture your Monday morning. You open your laptop, coffee in hand, ready to conquer the world. Then you see it: 247 unread emails.

It’s a digital tsunami. Somewhere in there is a $10,000 contract from a client, an urgent invoice from your accountant, and a newsletter about 10% off cat sweaters. Your brain starts to melt. You spend the next two hours playing “Digital Janitor”—deleting spam, forwarding invoices to accounting, and starring the important stuff. This is not strategy. This is survival mode.

What if I told you that you could hire an intern who works 24/7, never complains, and sorts your entire inbox before you even wake up? An intern who knows that invoices go to accounting, client emails get VIP treatment, and spam gets vaporized? You don’t need to code. You just need Make.com.

Why This Matters: Reclaim Your Brain

Let’s talk business impact. Your attention is your most valuable asset. Every minute you spend dragging emails into folders is a minute you aren’t closing deals or building product.

The Old Way: You, scrolling manually. Mistakes happen. Important emails get buried. You feel like a hamster on a wheel.
The Automated Way: A logical machine does the sorting. You open your inbox to a clean, prioritized list. It scales instantly from 10 emails a day to 10,000 without adding headcount.

We are replacing the role of a junior administrative assistant. This isn’t about firing people; it’s about making sure you and your team only do the high-value work that actually pays the bills.

What This Tool / Workflow Actually Is

Make.com (formerly Integromat) is the glue between your apps. Think of it as a visual assembly line for your data.

What it does: It watches your email. When a new message arrives, it analyzes the sender or subject line. Based on rules YOU set, it moves the email, sends a reply, or notifies a specific team member.

What it does NOT do: It cannot read your mind (yet). It won’t negotiate contracts. You still need to teach it the logic. It won’t brew your actual coffee.

Prerequisites

Here is the brutally honest checklist. If you can check these, you are ready to launch.

A free Make.com account: Go to Make.com and sign up. It connects to Gmail, Outlook, and almost any email provider.
5 minutes of focus: That’s it. No coding bootcamps required.
A specific problem: Like “I need invoices to go to my bookkeeper.” Specificity is key.

Step-by-Step Tutorial: Build the “Smart Inbox Router”

Let’s build a scenario that does the following: If an email contains the word “Invoice” in the subject line, move it to the “Accounting” folder. If it comes from your biggest client, “ClientCorp,” move it to “VIP” and send you a Slack notification.

Step 1: The Trigger (Watch that Inbox)

In Make.com, click “Create a new Scenario.” Search for and select Gmail (or Outlook). Choose the trigger called “Watch Emails.” This module polls your inbox every minute looking for new messages.

Step 2: The Filter (The Decision Maker)

We need to teach the robot to read. Click the plus button to add a module. Search for “Text Parser” and choose “Match Pattern.”

Set it up to scan the Subject of the email coming from the trigger. We will use a simple pattern: /invoice/i (The /i makes it case-insensitive).

Step 3: The Action (Move the Email)

If the pattern matches (it found “invoice”), we act. Add a Gmail module again, but this time choose “Move a Mail.”

Connect the Message ID from the trigger.
Set the Label ID to “Accounting” (or whatever folder name you use).

Step 4: The Routing (ClientCorp VIP Lane)

Click the small “dotted line” icon on the first filter (the one for invoices) and choose “Ignore.” This creates a parallel path.

Add a new Filter (or Router) that checks if the From email contains clientcorp.com.

If yes, add a Slack module to send a notification: “VIP Client just emailed!” Then add a Gmail “Move a Mail” to move it to the VIP folder.

Step 5: Turn it On

Save the scenario and slide the switch to ON. You have officially hired your first AI intern.

Complete Automation Example: The Client Onboarding Welcome

Let’s look at a real, revenue-generating workflow. You are a freelance designer. A new client sends an email with the subject “Project Kickoff – [Brand Name].”

The Workflow:

Trigger: Email arrives from newclient@gmail.com with subject containing “Kickoff.”
Router: Make.com splits the path.
Path A (Database): Adds the client’s email to a Google Sheet (your lead tracker).
Path B (Communication): Sends an automated reply: “Hi! I got your request. I’m reviewing the details now and will send a proposal within 24 hours.”
Path C (Project Mgt): Creates a card in Trello/Asana titled “New Project: [Brand Name].”

Result: The client feels acknowledged instantly. You have a record of the lead. Your task management is prepped. All while you were sleeping.

Real Business Use Cases

Real Estate Agents: When a lead emails “House at 123 Main St,” auto-reply with the listing sheet, create a follow-up task in the CRM for tomorrow.
E-commerce Stores: Identify emails with “Return Request” or “Refund.” Auto-create a ticket in Zendesk/HelpScout with the order number (extracted via regex) and priority status.
Recruiters: Scan incoming resumes. If the subject contains “Resume” and the body contains “Python,” save the PDF to a specific Google Drive folder and notify the hiring manager on Slack.
Consultants: Filter “Meeting Request” emails. Check your Google Calendar via Make.com. If you are free, propose a Calendly link. If busy, send a “Pick a time here” template.
Agencies: Client sends “Urgent Update,” automatically tag the email as red in your CRM and alert the account manager via SMS.

Common Mistakes & Gotchas

The Infinite Loop: If your automation moves an email to a folder that Make is also watching, it will trigger again. Watch out for cyclical loops. Always test with a specific filter first.
Not Testing Filters: Regex is case-sensitive by default. If you look for “Invoice” but the client sends “invoice,” it fails. Use case-insensitive flags /i.
Over-Automating: Don’t try to automate complex negotiations. Keep it simple: Sort, Reply, Notify. If it requires nuance, leave it for human eyes.

How This Fits Into a Bigger Automation System

This email sorter is the entry gate of your automation factory. It’s step one. Once the data is clean, look at the big picture:

CRM: The “Invoice” email moves to a folder, but Make also creates a deal in HubSpot/Salesforce.
AI Agents: A “Newsletter” email gets passed to an LLM (like GPT-4) to summarize the key points and email you a bulleted list of important news.
Voice Agents: An urgent email from a top client triggers a voice agent to call your phone and read you the email summary while you drive.

What to Learn Next

You’ve just built the sensory nervous system of your business. It feels good, doesn’t it? You took a chaotic inbox and forced it to obey logic.

But sorting emails is just handling text. What if you could handle voice? In the next lesson, we are going to build a 24/7 AI Phone Receptionist using Vapi.ai or Retell.ai. It will answer calls, qualify leads, and update your CRM—all without touching a phone.

See you in the next lesson.