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What Is the AI Extract Data Workflow Action?

The AI Extract Data action is a powerful tool within your CRM's workflow system that automatically identifies and pulls specific pieces of information from unstructured text. When a workflow triggers, this action can scan content like an email body, SMS message, or webhook data, find the details you need—such as a name, phone number, or order ID—and save them as structured data for use later in the workflow.

This automation eliminates the need for manual data entry or complex filtering rules, allowing you to build smarter automations that react to information hidden in free-form text.

Note: This is a premium action. Using it will incur additional charges per execution. Please refer to the AI Product Pricing information for details.

Key Benefits

Transform Unstructured Text: Convert messy text from emails, SMS, or other sources into clean, usable data fields.
All-in-One Platform: Perform data extraction directly within your CRM workflows without needing external tools or custom code.
Customizable Data Fields: Define exactly what information you want to extract, choosing from data types like Text, Email, Phone, Number, and Date.
Improved Accuracy with Context: Provide optional background information to help the AI better understand the text and interpret ambiguous terms.
Pre-Built Templates: Get started quickly with templates for common scenarios like extracting contact details or order information.
Seamless Integration: Use the extracted data in subsequent workflow actions to update contact records, send personalized messages, create opportunities, and more.

How to Configure the Action

Step 1: Add the Action to Your Workflow

Within the workflow builder, add the "AI Extract Data" action to your desired trigger point.

Step 2: Configure the Action Settings

You will need to configure the following settings for the action:

Action Name: Give the action a descriptive name for easy identification. The default is "AI extract data."
Extract From (Required): Select the source of the unstructured text. This can be a custom value from a previous step, such as an email body, an SMS message content, or a webhook payload.
Additional Context (Optional): Provide any helpful background information. For example, "This text is a lead notification from a real estate website. Phone numbers might be formatted differently." This helps the AI parse the data more accurately.
Templates: You can choose a pre-built template to automatically populate common data fields. Options include:
- Contact Info: Pre-defines fields for full name, email, and phone number.
- Opportunity Info: Pre-defines fields for company name, job title, budget, and timeline.
- Order Info: Pre-defines fields for order ID, items, total amount, and order date.
- Appointment Info: Pre-defines fields for appointment-related details like date, time, and location.
You can modify the fields in any template after selecting it.
Data Fields: Define the specific pieces of information you want to extract. For each field, you specify a Name (which becomes the variable name), a Type (Text, Email, Phone, Number, or Date), and an optional Description to guide the AI.

Using the Extracted Data

Once the AI Extract Data action runs successfully, the information it finds becomes available as custom variables for any actions that follow it in the workflow.

To use an extracted value in a downstream action (like updating a contact or sending an email):

Open the configuration for the subsequent action.
Click on the field where you want to insert the data.
Open the custom value picker and navigate to the section for the AI Extract Data action.
Select the specific variable you want to use (e.g., full_name or phone).

Common Use Cases

Lead Capture from Emails: Automatically extract a lead's name, email, and phone number from a notification email sent by a third-party website and use that data to create a new contact record.
Order Processing from SMS: Parse a text message containing an order confirmation to capture the order ID and total amount, then update a deal or send a confirmation email.
Appointment Scheduling: Extract date, time, and service details from a message to automatically create a calendar event.