AI Pick

Last updated: September 14, 2026

AI Pick reviews a contact’s conversation and decides whether to send one of the message options you provide. Use it when you want a workflow to choose a relevant follow-up based on the conversation.

This guide covers standard AI Pick with Use SDR brain turned off.

How AI Pick works

When a contact reaches an AI Pick step, it reviews the available conversation history, message timestamps, your message options, and the custom prompt. It then makes one of two decisions:

  • Send: Select a message and attempt to send it. If successful, the workflow continues.

  • Do not send: Send nothing and stop that workflow attempt.

AI Pick can decide not to send even when the contact meets your workflow conditions. Your custom prompt helps explain when a follow-up is appropriate.

Set up your message options

  1. Add an AI Pick action to your workflow.

  2. Write each message option and click + to add it.

  3. Add instructions in Custom Prompt (Optional).

  4. Configure your workflow conditions and delays to control who qualifies and when the follow-up runs.

Example message options:

  • You get my message?

  • Any thoughts on what I shared?

  • Is this still something you’re looking into?

Choose options that fit the conversations entering this workflow. Keep instructions in the custom prompt, separate from the messages customers will receive.

Example prompt for scheduled follow-ups

Use this when your workflow conditions and delays already determine follow-up eligibility. Copy the following into Custom Prompt (Optional):

This contact has qualified for a scheduled follow-up. No reply to our previous message is the reason for following up.


Choose an unused message from MESSAGE OPTIONS. Do not invent additional waiting periods or reject a follow-up solely because the prospect hasn’t replied, we previously asked questions, or following up might feel pushy.


Return not_send only if the prospect has replied and awaits our response, explicitly declined or opted out, the conversation’s objective is already completed, or every available message would repeat previous outreach.

Why prompt wording matters

Avoid broad instructions such as “Do not send if the prospect is unresponsive” or “Return not_send if there is any uncertainty.” These can prevent the very follow-ups your workflow is intended to send.

Specify the situations that should stop outreach, such as an opt-out, a reply awaiting your response, or a completed objective.

If AI Pick does not send

Check the workflow attempt’s recorded reason. Currently, an AI decision not to send can appear as Failed, with a message beginning “AI decided not to send message.” This means AI declined the follow-up; it does not mean the messaging provider rejected it.

Custom prompts guide AI Pick alongside its built-in instructions, so they do not guarantee a send. A prompt also cannot override a channel’s sending restrictions.

Other modes

For comment-triggered workflows, standard AI Pick randomly selects a supplied message rather than making the conversation-based decision described above.