Automate a recurring task
Situation
The situation
A trigger, an AI step, a human check, an action.
You work at an SME selling farm equipment in Chartres. Every Monday, you spend an hour summarising the week’s sales for the sales team. You want to automate this report.
Idea 1 of 3
What is automation?
An automation does a task on its own, every time an event happens. Tools such as n8n or Make connect your software without code, and can add an AI step.
Idea 2 of 3
Four building blocks
A trigger (every Monday at 8 am), an AI step (summarise the sales table), a human check (you read it), an action (send the email to the team).
Idea 3 of 3
A person before sending
Keep a human approval before anything goes outside or to the whole team, at least at first. Also note what data passes through each step, and who keeps an eye on the automation.
Example
Before and after
Automate my report.
I want to automate the sales report with n8n. Trigger: every Monday at 8 am. AI step: summarise the sales table in 5 points. Check: I read the summary. Action: email it to the sales team. Describe the steps to build.
Why? All four building blocks are there: the automation can be built step by step, with you in control.
Question 1 of 3
In “every Monday at 8 am, summarise sales, then send the email”, what is the trigger?
See the answer
Every Monday at 8 am The trigger is the event that starts everything else.
Question 2 of 3
Which task should you automate first?
See the answer
A frequent, simple task with no sensitive data A frequent, simple task saves time quickly, with little risk.
Question 3 of 3
Why keep a human check at first?
See the answer
To catch a mistake before it goes to the whole team An automation repeats its mistakes every time. A review stops them.
Exercise
Your turn
Describe to the AI the automation to build: the trigger, the AI step, the human check and the action.
Ctrl + Enter to check your request.
Checklist
- The trigger: when it all starts, to do
- The AI step: what it does, to do
- The human check, to do
- The final action, to do
A suggestion
I want to automate our sales report with n8n. Trigger: every Monday at 8 am. AI step: summarise the week’s sales table in 5 points. Check: I read and approve the summary. Action: email it to the sales team. Describe the steps to build and the data that passes through each step.
Each try and each coach feedback counts as 1 message from your daily quota (10 without an account, 100 with an account).
AI answer
You are chatting with an AI. It can make mistakes: check important information.
Coach feedback
End of the lesson
Lesson complete
An automation: a trigger, an AI step, a human check, an action.