AI Email Drafting System: Google Sheets-Triggered Response Generation with Human Approval & Auto-Send

Problem:

A business handling client email communications needed a system where AI could draft responses based on email context, team members could suggest edits before sending, and approved emails could be dispatched automatically, without building a custom app or leaving their existing Google Sheets workflow.

Solution:

Built a three-flow n8n system entirely driven by Google Sheets, Flow 1 triggers when a new row is added, passes the email and context to OpenAI to generate a draft response and writes it back to the sheet; Flow 2 triggers when a team member updates the Suggestion field, filters for valid suggestions, and uses OpenAI to revise the draft accordingly updating the Response field; Flow 3 triggers when the Status field is set to Send, checks the status filter, runs a final conditional to choose between the agent response or the human-suggested response, and dispatches the selected email via Gmail automatically.

Result:

Delivered a fully human-in-the-loop AI email system that generates drafts automatically, accepts team edits through a familiar spreadsheet interface, and sends only approved responses, combining AI speed with human oversight without requiring any new tools beyond Google Sheets.