In this article
One switch per step, not one big autopilot
Lead to meeting is a chain of small steps, and each has its own mode. There is no single autopilot switch, on purpose. Teams trust steps at different speeds.
| Step | Starts in | The rail in both modes |
|---|---|---|
| Add a lead | A person chooses | Check identity and suppression |
| Research the company | Within access and budget | Keep sources and unknowns visible |
| Draft the message | Uses research and Brain | Check claims before approval |
| Send | Every message reviewed by default | Configured routes and review rules apply |
| Follow up | Configured playbook step | A reply stops that person |
| Answer a conversation | A person owns it | Read the context before replying |
| Agree a meeting | A person agrees the time | Do not infer unattended booking |
One lead, start to finish
A lead arrives from a search that says why it was kept. Mach researches the company and the person, then writes a draft based on both.
The draft waits at the review gate. A person approves, edits or kills it, and the choice is recorded.
A reply is filed under the held-mail rule and pauses that person's automation. In a company campaign, it pauses only that person, not the whole company.
Choose what happens after the planned tries run out. A call task for a person is our advice, not an automatic fallback for everyone.
Even clean-ups wait for their test
On 19 October, the first live run to merge duplicate people refused every group of three or more. The audit log needs one record per event.
A database test for a group of three failed first, then passed. The run then merged pairs only.
Nothing was deleted, and every touched row was backed up first. The rails bind our own housekeeping too. Scripts that change stored records run as test runs that change nothing, unless told otherwise.
The rule for flipping a switch
Set review for each step, within the actions the product supports. Start with every message reviewed.
'Until trusted' means review until a set number of approvals without edits, from 1 to 20, for each box. Some actions always need review.
There is no fixed rule of fifty approvals. A surprise should send the work back to a person. Do not assume any setting changes by itself.
A step drawn or saved on screen is not proof that its action can run. Check the route, and check that it is turned on, before you start.
Common questions
Why not start with automatic on, since it demos better?
Because the first week sets the habit. Review mode teaches the team what the system does. Then turning on automatic is an informed choice, not a surprise.
Where the numbers come from
Today's controls were checked against our Playbook notes on 24 October 2026. The 19 October merge is a past event from our own records.
