Central! Zapier's newest product

It’s not every week that Zapier has a full company retreat in Denver AND launches a new product. 

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Welcome to 2024, where Zapier becomes a Formula One racecar. 

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A hip-hip-hooray for Central (in preview), Zapier’s newest AI product!

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Central bots are your pit crew teammates ready to change your tires, give you stats, add your data, and do just about anything you could do with a Zap… and more.

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If you ever wanted to talk with a Zap… well now you can.

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Unlike Zapier Chatbots, they aren’t made to be customer-facing. You don’t put them on a website. They don’t anwer support questions from your clients. They are internal just like Zaps. 

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Here’s the thing: I’d rather create a Central bot than set up a Zap. It takes half the time and does more of the work.

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Is this just more AI-hype? Maybe. But it honestly feels different. I think it’s because Central is taking an already existing experience (creating a Zap) and iterating on it. It’s not reinventing something. It’s making something better. 

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Let me show you.

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Slack DM before Calendar Meetings with Zoom link (bot style)

If you’ve been around the Zapier block, you’ve likely set up a similar Zap: before a meeting starts, send me a Slack DM with the Zoom link.

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You create the Zap, but then realize you only want calendar events with multiple attendees. So you have to figure out the logic for that. Takes a minute…

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But not now. Oh, hey Central, wussup. 

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Type out what you want it to do, and it gets it all done for you. 

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Step one. Create a bot. 

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Step two. Click “Create behavior.” 

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Step three. Tell it what you want: “5 minutes before an event, send me a Slack DM with the Zoom link for each upcoming meeting that has multiple attendees.”

That’s all, folks. 

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It knows you want the DM 5 minutes before the event. It knows the event must have multiple attendees. Don’t even worry about the complex logic required to get that set up in a regular Zap.

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It does all the heavy lifting for you. Ready. Set. Let’s GOOO!

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Automation? Naw, it’s something else.

Zapier is redefining automation. Automation is no longer just about a process you set up once that happens automatically. Automation is too narrow of a term. 

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Zapier is in the action business. 

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Doesn’t matter if the action happens from a Zap you set up, a form you create, a bot you build, or a button you press. 

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Zapier moves. And this year, they’re moving quick. 

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Place your bets. 

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Here are some Central bot ideas you can try out right now.

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That’s all for this week!

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Happy Building,

Bryce