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How I AIHow I AI

How this PM uses MCPs to automate his meeting prep, CRM updates, and customer feedback synthesis

Reid Robinson, Principal AI Product Strategist at Zapier, shares how he uses Model Context Protocols (MCPs) to automate tedious tasks and create powerful workflows. He demonstrates practical workflows that combine Zapier’s more than 8,000 app connections with AI tools like Claude to create systems that work while he sleeps. *What you’ll learn:* 1. How to use Zapier’s MCP server to create custom collections of tools that work seamlessly with Claude, ChatGPT, and other AI assistants 2. A workflow for using Claude Projects to provide detailed instructions for tool usage, improving reliability and consistency 3. How to automate CRM updates and meeting preparation by connecting AI to your calendar, notes, and internal knowledge bases 4. A system for creating a virtuous cycle of customer feedback by automatically analyzing support tickets and updating knowledge bases 5. Why thinking about “what your AI could do while you sleep” is a powerful framework for identifying high-impact automation opportunities 6. Personal use cases, including family calendar management and creating custom songs that demonstrate AI’s ability to bring joy beyond work *Brought to you by:* WorkOS—Make your app enterprise-ready today: https://workos.com?utm_source=lennys_howiai&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=q22025 Vanta—Automate compliance and simplify security: https://www.vanta.com/howiai *Detailed workflow walkthroughs from this episode:* • How I AI: Reid Robinson's Zapier Workflows for CRM Automation, Meeting Prep, and Feedback Loops: https://www.chatprd.ai/how-i-ai/zapier-workflows-for-crm-automation-meeting-prep • Automate CRM Updates with Claude Projects and Zapier MCPs: https://www.chatprd.ai/how-i-ai/workflows/automate-crm-updates-with-claude-projects-and-zapier-mcps • Create an Automated AI Meeting Prep Assistant with Zapier: https://www.chatprd.ai/how-i-ai/workflows/create-an-automated-ai-meeting-prep-assistant-with-zapier • Build a Self-Improving Customer Feedback Knowledge Base: https://www.chatprd.ai/how-i-ai/workflows/build-a-self-improving-customer-feedback-knowledge-base *In this episode, we cover:* (00:00) Introduction to Reid Robinson and his role at Zapier (02:41) Understanding MCPs as app integrations for AI tools (04:05) How Zapier’s approach to MCPs works with over 8,000 apps (09:00) Using Claude Projects to improve tool usage instructions (12:05) Post-meeting notes management (15:25) Comparing deterministic workflows vs. agentic instructions (18:15) Reid’s idea jammer (20:04) Building a customer interview preparation workflow (23:10) Using Gemini for processing file-based data (25:05) Creating a virtuous cycle of customer feedback analysis (29:16) The “if you could run ChatGPT in your sleep” framework (31:48) Quick recap (33:03) Personal use cases (37:16) Using Notebook AI to prepare personalized interview prep *Tools referenced:* • Reid’s Resources for How I AI: https://how-i-ai-reid.zapier.app/resources • Claude: https://claude.ai/ • Zapier: https://zapier.com/ • Zapier MCP: https://zapier.com/mcp • Granola: https://www.granola.ai/ • Coda: https://coda.io/ • Suno: https://suno.ai/ • Notebook AI: https://www.notebook.ai/ • Gemini: https://gemini.google.com/ *Other references:* • HubSpot: https://www.hubspot.com/ • Databricks: https://www.databricks.com/ *Where to find Reid Robinson:* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reidtrobinson/ *Where to find Claire Vo:* ChatPRD: https://www.chatprd.ai/ Website: https://clairevo.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/clairevo/ X: https://x.com/clairevo _Production and marketing by https://penname.co/._ _For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email jordan@penname.co._

Claire VohostReid Robinsonguest
Feb 2, 202640mWatch on YouTube ↗

At a glance

WHAT IT’S REALLY ABOUT

Zapier PM shows MCP connectors for faster, smarter customer workflows

  1. This episode demystifies MCPs by reframing them as “app integrations for your AI tools,” enabling an AI client to both read knowledge from your apps and take actions inside them.
  2. Reid demonstrates Zapier’s MCP approach: build custom tool collections from 8,000+ apps/30,000+ actions, then connect a single server URL to tools like Claude, ChatGPT, or Cursor.
  3. He shares practical workflows: daily meeting research, post-meeting note logging into Coda/HubSpot, and deterministic automations for longer-running data lookups (e.g., Databricks → Gemini → Coda).
  4. The conversation emphasizes a “virtuous cycle” where support and chatbot transcripts are synthesized into new FAQ entries, keeping internal and external knowledge bases continuously up to date.

IDEAS WORTH REMEMBERING

5 ideas

Think of MCPs as “connectors,” not a new abstract framework.

Reid suggests ignoring the term and focusing on outcomes: give your AI access to knowledge in your apps and the ability to take actions in those apps—those are the two core jobs MCPs enable.

Custom tool bundles reduce chaos and improve reliability.

Rather than adding many separate MCPs with overlapping capabilities, Zapier lets you build purpose-specific “collections of tools” (per client or per use case) and restrict them (e.g., only certain Coda docs or Evernote notebooks).

Claude Projects can act as a tool-usage playbook, not just a knowledge vault.

Reid encodes step-by-step instructions for which tools to call, in what sequence, and where fields should map—making multi-tool execution noticeably more accurate and repeatable.

Use agentic MCP interactions for “in-the-moment” work; use deterministic workflows for long-running steps.

MCP tool calls inside chat clients are time-bounded and can struggle with multi-minute research. For slow lookups (e.g., Databricks enrichment), Reid uses a Zapier workflow that runs asynchronously and writes results back to a doc for later consumption.

Automate meeting prep to eliminate ‘showing up cold’ to customer calls.

His workflow looks up the attendee/company, product usage, prior interactions, and internal context (e.g., Slack or Glean), producing a concise daily plan so he enters interviews informed even when leads arrive via referrals/Calendly spread.

WORDS WORTH SAVING

5 quotes

Definitely don’t think about the word. It really just is like app integrations for your AI tools.

— Reid Robinson

The two things we see people wanting to do is… giving their favorite AI tool the access to knowledge that lives in their apps, as well as giving them the ability to actually do things in those apps.

— Reid Robinson

Check out Claude Projects… [you can] provide very detailed instructions… how it should use tools, in which order it should use tools, what data should go where.

— Reid Robinson

If you could run ChatGPT in your sleep, what would you do?

— Reid Robinson

Let’s say you had the perfect team with infinite time… your perfect support team… would look at every support question and go see, do we have the right help desk content here?

— Claire Vo

MCPs reframed as AI app connectorsZapier MCP custom tool collectionsClaude Projects for tool-order instructionsMeeting prep with CRM + internal searchPost-meeting notes to Coda/HubSpotDeterministic workflows vs agentic tool useCustomer feedback → FAQ/KB virtuous cycleGemini for file/PDF/HTML processingPersonal automations: family calendar, NotebookLM interview prep

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