What this automation does
When someone books a meeting through Calendly, this automation immediately researches the attendee. It looks up their company, role, LinkedIn presence, and any previous interactions with your business. Thirty minutes before the meeting, it sends you a briefing email or Slack message with a summary.
No more scrambling to Google someone five minutes before a call. You walk into every meeting knowing who you're talking to, what their company does, what they might need, and suggested talking points. This is especially valuable for sales calls, investor meetings, and partnership discussions.
Tools you need
- Calendly: Your scheduling tool — triggers the workflow when meetings are booked
- OpenAI API (GPT-4): Researches attendees and generates briefing summaries ($0.03-0.08 per meeting)
- Zapier or Make: Connects Calendly to AI and delivers the briefing via email or Slack
How to set it up
Step 1: Create a Zapier zap triggered by new Calendly events. Extract the attendee's name, email, and any custom questions you collect during booking (company name, role, meeting purpose).
Step 2: Use the attendee's email domain to fetch their company website. Send the company homepage content plus the attendee's name and role to OpenAI. Ask for: company overview, attendee's likely responsibilities, potential pain points, and 3 suggested talking points.
Step 3: If you use a CRM, add a step to check if this person exists in HubSpot or Salesforce. Pull any previous interaction history and include it in the briefing.
Step 4: Schedule the briefing delivery for 30 minutes before the meeting time using Zapier's delay feature. Send it as a formatted email or Slack DM with clear sections: Company, Attendee, Talking Points, and Previous Interactions.
Cost breakdown
| Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Zapier | $20/mo | Starter plan — handles scheduling and delays |
| OpenAI API | $3-$10/mo | ~$0.05 per meeting at 50-200 meetings/mo |
| Calendly | $0 (existing) | Uses your current Calendly plan |
| Setup time | 30-45 min | One-time configuration |
| Total monthly | $23-$30/mo | Saves 15 min of research per meeting |
Frequently asked questions
Yes, but Calendly gives you richer data because attendees fill in details during booking. For Google Calendar-only setups, the automation can still extract attendee names and emails, but you'll have less context to work with unless attendees include details in the calendar invite.
Even better. The automation can pull CRM data, previous meeting notes, support tickets, and purchase history. The briefing becomes a full relationship summary, not just a cold research report. This is particularly useful for account managers with large client portfolios.