Confessions of a Music Retail AI Addict

In a recent column, I tackled “contextual inertia,” or the trap of letting AI polish your bad ideas rather than helping you build better ones. As promised, I would like to move to “level four” — the workflow automator. But in order to do that, I have a confession to make: I’m an AI addict.

My gateway drug was a YouTube video by creator Nate Herk. He demonstrated how a PDF invoice could automatically download from Gmail, be read by AI and populate a database without any human hands required. He used n8n.io to do it. On the screen of my computer, I watched a static piece of paper turn into organized data like magic.

I had already been tinkering with Google Apps Script, so I turned to my AI assistant and asked: “Can you help me replicate this automation for free using Google Apps Script?” The answer was “yes.”

Together, we built a script that grabs PDF email attachments from Gmail, parses the data, converts it to columns in a Google Sheet and archives the old file. I didn’t pay for an automation platform. I built my own inside the software I was already paying for.

Without AI, I was overwhelmed by all the things I couldn’t do. With AI, I’m overwhelmed by all the things I can do.

Here are three workflows I built with AI that save me time and unlock capabilities I never had before.

1. CUSTOM EMAIL MARKETING ENGINE
Most email marketing platforms are a headache. The interfaces are clunky, the widgets are rigid and building those slick multi-product rows you see on big retailer sites is a manual nightmare. So, I fixed it by turning Google Sheets into my email builder.

I treat the spreadsheet like a layer cake. Each row is a distinct content block, like a header, a text section or a product grid. When I enter a SKU, the sheet instantly pulls the image, price and description from my Shopify data and wraps it in HTML. If I reference two SKUs in a row, the system automatically generates a double product card instead of a single one.

The magic happens in the background, where an AI-written script acts as the assembly line. It stacks those blocks into a clean email and shoots it directly to Mailchimp. To shift the layout, I just cut and paste cells. The system is fully modular.

I rarely log into Mailchimp anymore. I click a custom menu right inside Google Sheets to send a test, and, if it looks good, I click “send final.” With AI’s help, the result is a custom-built marketing engine for zero dollars. We never had time to create product emails before this, but last week, we sold a Martin Custom Shop guitar directly from one of them.

2. THE “HASSLE-FREE” OPERATIONS GUIDE
Does anyone actually read your Operations Guide? When was the last time you even reviewed it?

In the past, we tried setting calendar reminders to manually email sections of the guide to our staff. It was a mess. If the table of contents changed, the calendar system broke.

My fix was simple. I asked AI for a solution, and together we built a script that “reads” our Operations Guide to automate the process. I added the phrase “section break” throughout the document where it made sense. Now, the script grabs one section per week and emails it to the staff. When it reaches the end, it loops back to the beginning. It runs on autopilot. No one has to remember to send the email.

3. THE “POOR MAN’S API” FOR FINANCIAL REPORTING
Enterprise businesses have APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) connecting their inventory systems to reporting dashboards. That usually requires a developer, dedicated hardware and a large budget.

We built the “poor man’s version.”

We set our Windows Scheduler to auto-export reports from our inventory system — which is Tri-Tech — and email them to a Gmail account. From there, an AI-written script intercepts those attachments and pumps the raw data straight into Google Sheets.

Every morning, I wake up to a dashboard populated with inventory on hand, or what’s been received, sold, returned, and lost/stolen; purchasing targets, or POs needed to hit free freight minimums; cash requirements, or total outstanding dollars needed for those POs; and financial health, or accounts receivable, payable aging reports and aged inventory.

People used to manually populate these reports, which was a waste of time. Now, the data flows effortlessly.

YOU’RE THE ARCHITECT
I’m not a technical person. But I’m curious, and I’m persistent. If you want to reach “level four,” a great place to start is Google Apps Script. It’s free and sitting right there in the “extensions” menu of every Google Doc and Sheet. If you pay for Google Workspace, you already have pro-level access and run times.

You don’t need to know how to write the code — you just need to know how to ask for it. Talk to your favorite AI, tell it what you want to build and start with something simple. If the idea of coding feels intimidating, try Google Workspace Studio. It’s a free, no-code setup for Workspace users with a powerful hidden perk: it also allows you to use AI as an agent, moving beyond workflows.

It’s not always easy, and it requires patience. But the moment you watch your first automation run on its own, that’s when you’ll finally understand the addiction. What will you do with the time you save? MI