I realized something recently, I don’t actually work in my inbox anymore.

Most of my day happens in Slack. That’s where decisions get made, where things move, where I’m actually operating.

But email still exists. And for some reason, it still pulls you in.

You check it “just in case.” You scan threads, you lose context.

And before you know it, you’ve spent 20 minutes in something that didn’t need your attention in the first place. So I stopped checking my inbox.

Instead, I built a system that sends me a Slack message the second I receive an external email, with a summary, urgency level, and a suggested reply.

Here’s exactly how to set it up.

What this system does

When a new external email comes in, you’ll get a Slack message that includes:

  • Who it’s from

  • What it’s about (clean summary)

  • How urgent it is

  • A suggested reply you can use or tweak

So instead of reacting to your inbox, everything comes to you, already processed.

What you’ll need

Before we set this up, you’ll need a few tools:

  • A Gmail account

  • Slack (where the messages will go)

  • Zapier or Make (this connects everything together)

  • An AI tool like ChatGPT or Claude

Quick note on the “AI setup”

This is the part that sounds technical, but it’s actually simple.

In order for Zapier to “read” your emails and summarize them, you need to connect it to an AI tool (like ChatGPT or Claude).

That connection is done using something called an API key.

All that means in practice:

  • You create an account (if you don’t already have one)

  • Click a button to generate a key

  • Copy and paste it into Zapier

That’s it. No coding, no engineering, just copy + paste.

Step 1 — Create a Gmail filter (external emails only)

You don’t want every email hitting Slack.

Start by filtering for external emails only.

In Gmail:

  1. Click the search bar → “Show search options”

  2. In “From,” leave blank

  3. In “Doesn’t include,” add your company domain (example: @yourcompany.com)

  4. Click “Create filter”

  5. Choose:

    • Apply label → “External” (or whatever you want to call it)

This keeps things clean and focused.

Step 2 — Set up your Zap (or Make scenario)

Inside Zapier:

  1. Trigger: Gmail → New Email Matching Search

    • Search: label:External

  2. Test the trigger to make sure it’s pulling the right emails

Step 3 — Add the AI step (this is the magic)

Add an action:

  • OpenAI (ChatGPT) or Claude (depending on what you use)

You’ll pass in:

  • Subject

  • Email body

  • Sender

In Zapier (or Make), this step will have a field where you tell the AI what to do. It’s usually labeled:

  • “Prompt”

  • “Instructions”

  • or “Message”

This is where you’ll paste the prompt below.

You’ll also map in your email data (subject, sender, body) using the fields Zapier provides.

Use this prompt:

You are an Executive Assistant supporting a senior leader.

Analyze the following email and return a structured summary.

Include:

  • Sender and context (who they are, if relevant)

  • A concise summary of the email

  • Urgency level (Low, Medium, High) with a short reason

  • A suggested reply written in a professional, concise tone

Keep everything clear and actionable.

Email:
Subject: {{Subject}}
From: {{From}}
Body: {{Body}}

This is what turns a basic notification into something actually useful.

Step 4 — Send it to Slack

Add another step:

  • Action: Send Channel Message in Slack

Choose where you want the message to go:

  • a private channel (I named mine inbound-email)

  • or your DMs

Then build your message using the AI output.

For example:

New External Email

From: {{sender}}
Summary: {{summary}}
Urgency: {{urgency}}

Suggested Reply:
{{reply}}

That’s it. Now every time an email comes in, you’ll see a clean, structured version of it in Slack.

Step 5 — Test and refine

Run a few test emails through.

Adjust:

  • your Gmail filter (too many emails? tighten it)

  • your prompt (too long? simplify it)

  • your Slack format (make it easier to scan)

This is where you make it feel like your system.

Bonus: make it even better

Once this is running, you can tweak it based on how you actually work.

A few simple upgrades:

  • Only send emails from VIPs
    Add specific people (your exec, key clients, leadership) so you’re only seeing what really matters

  • Flag anything that needs a same-day response
    Update your prompt to call out urgency more aggressively so nothing slips

  • Add context for recurring contacts
    For example: “This is a long-time client” or “Investor — prioritize response”

  • Route different emails to different channels
    Clients → one channel
    Internal → another
    Personal → ignored

The goal isn’t to send everything to Slack.

It’s to design a system where the right things show up, already clear and ready to act on.

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