Instruct: AI Agent Platform for Workflow Automation
Describe your task in plain English, watch an AI agent execute it across your apps. Instruct is an emerging AI agent platform that replaces rigid workflow builders with autonomous agents that understand what you want and get it done—connecting to your CRM, email, spreadsheets, and more without manual configuration.
New & Emerging Tool
Instruct is a newer AI tool (or new to us). We recommend thorough evaluation and testing before full implementation.
We've researched this tool as thoroughly as possible, but some information may become outdated and/or incorrect as smaller/newer companies can evolve quickly, including changing prices and features. There may be some inaccurate and dated information here.
What It Does
If your nonprofit staff spends hours each week on repetitive tasks that span multiple applications—pulling data from one system to create reports in another, researching prospects and updating your CRM, filtering through applications and organizing candidates—Instruct aims to automate these workflows using AI agents instead of traditional automation tools.
Unlike traditional workflow automation platforms like Zapier or Make that require you to manually build trigger-action workflows, Instruct works differently: you describe what you want done in natural language, and an AI agent navigates your connected applications to complete the task. No workflow building, no variable mapping, no complex logic configuration.
The platform's latest version, Instruct 2.5, features "immediate execution"—meaning you see the AI agent working across your apps in real-time. You can iterate live through chat, correct course if something goes wrong, and once a task succeeds, save it as a recurring automated workflow with one click.
For nonprofits frustrated by the complexity of traditional automation tools or lacking technical staff to build sophisticated workflows, Instruct offers an intriguing alternative: automation through conversation rather than configuration. The question is whether this emerging approach delivers reliably enough for mission-critical work.
Best For
Ideal Organizations
- Small to mid-sized nonprofits (5-50 staff) with repetitive multi-app workflows
- Teams frustrated with traditional automation tools who found Zapier/Make too complex
- Organizations with variable, complex tasks that don't fit neat trigger-action patterns
- Marketing, operations, and program teams wanting AI to handle repetitive research and data work
- Early adopters comfortable experimenting with newer AI approaches
NOT Recommended For
- Large nonprofits requiring enterprise SLAs and guaranteed uptime
- Mission-critical workflows where errors would cause significant problems
- Organizations handling highly sensitive data without clear security requirements
- Teams wanting extensive documentation and established training resources
- Risk-averse organizations that only adopt established, proven platforms
What Makes Instruct Different from Established Alternatives
The Established Alternative: Most nonprofits use Zapier or Make for automation. These platforms excel at connecting 3,000-7,000+ applications through trigger-action workflows: "When X happens in App A, do Y in App B." They're reliable, well-documented, and widely adopted—but require understanding workflow logic, variable mapping, and can become complex for sophisticated use cases.
What Makes Instruct Different:
Innovative Approach: AI Agents vs. Workflow Builders
Instruct replaces the traditional "build loop" of automation with AI agents that execute tasks autonomously. Instead of configuring triggers, actions, and variables, you describe what you want in natural language: "Filter these grant applications for nonprofits serving rural communities with budgets over $1M and create a summary spreadsheet."
The AI agent then navigates your connected applications—opening documents, reading data, making decisions, and taking actions—the same way a human assistant would, but faster and without manual intervention.
Example: While Zapier would require you to build separate zaps for each application filter criteria, test variables, and configure multiple conditional paths, Instruct lets you describe the complete task and watch the agent execute it. If something's wrong, you guide it through chat rather than rebuilding the workflow.
1. Natural Language Task Description
Traditional automation requires understanding trigger-action logic and configuring each step manually. Instruct accepts plain English descriptions of what you want accomplished:
- No workflow building—describe the outcome, not the steps
- Multi-step reasoning—the AI figures out the logical sequence
- Context-aware execution—adapts to what it finds in your data
Practical impact: Non-technical staff can create automations by describing tasks in their own words rather than learning workflow builder interfaces.
2. Real-Time Execution Visibility
Instruct 2.5's "Watch it work" feature shows you exactly what the AI agent is doing as it navigates your applications. You see it accessing Salesforce, reading documents, writing to Gmail—in real time.
- Live visibility—see the agent work across your stack
- Iterate via chat—guide the agent if it goes off track
- Upload files mid-task—provide additional context as needed
Practical impact: Build trust and catch errors immediately rather than discovering problems after a workflow has run.
3. One-Click Workflow Conversion
Once a task executes successfully, Instruct's "Save as Workflow" feature converts that one-time task into a recurring automation—no additional configuration required. The AI learned what worked and can repeat it on schedule.
Practical impact: Build automations by doing the task once rather than planning and configuring workflows upfront.
The Trade-off
To achieve this innovation, Instruct makes different choices than established automation tools:
What You Gain:
- • Natural language task description
- • AI reasoning for complex, variable tasks
- • No workflow building required
- • Real-time execution visibility
- • Direct access to founding team
What You Give Up:
- • Fewer integrations than Zapier (7,000+)
- • Limited documentation and tutorials
- • Smaller user community
- • Less predictable than rule-based automation
- • Shorter track record as newer platform (or new to us)
Bottom Line: Choose Instruct if you need AI reasoning for complex, variable tasks and are comfortable with newer technology. Choose Zapier or Make if you need proven reliability, extensive integrations, and comprehensive documentation for straightforward trigger-action workflows.
Key Features for Nonprofits
Natural Language Task Input
Describe what you need done in plain English
Type what you want accomplished the same way you'd explain it to an assistant: "Go through my email, find messages from potential donors who mentioned our recent campaign, and add them to our follow-up spreadsheet with their contact info."
Nonprofit benefit: Any staff member can create automations without learning workflow builder interfaces or understanding trigger-action logic.
Cross-Application Execution
AI agents work across your connected apps
Instruct connects securely to applications like Salesforce, Gmail, Google Sheets, Slack, and more. The AI agent navigates between them to complete tasks—pulling data from one, processing it, and taking actions in another.
Nonprofit benefit: Automate workflows that span your CRM, email, spreadsheets, and communication tools without building separate connections for each step.
Live Iteration & Guidance
Correct course through conversation as the agent works
Watch the AI agent execute your task in real-time. If it misinterprets something or you need to adjust the approach, guide it through chat. Upload additional files or provide clarification mid-task.
Nonprofit benefit: Catch errors immediately and refine the approach interactively rather than discovering problems after completion.
One-Click Recurring Workflows
Convert successful tasks into scheduled automations
After a task runs successfully, save it as a permanent workflow with one click. The agent will execute the same process on your chosen schedule—daily, weekly, or triggered by events.
Nonprofit benefit: Build automations by doing tasks rather than planning workflows. If it worked once, it can work automatically.
Data Extraction & Processing
Pull data from documents, emails, and applications
Instruct can read PDFs, extract information from emails, analyze spreadsheet data, and organize findings. Ask it to "Extract all grant application data from these PDFs and create a summary spreadsheet."
Nonprofit benefit: Automate data entry, document processing, and reporting tasks that currently consume staff hours.
Document Generation
Create documents from data across your systems
Generate reports, emails, and documents that pull information from multiple sources. The AI can research, compile, and format information into the output you specify.
Nonprofit benefit: Create board reports, donor updates, or grant summaries that automatically incorporate the latest data from your systems.
How Instruct Uses AI
Instruct is built around the concept of "AI agents"—autonomous AI systems that can take actions in the real world rather than just generate text. Here's what that means in practice:
Agentic AI (Not Just Chatbot AI)
Unlike ChatGPT or Claude which primarily generate text responses, Instruct's AI agents can take actions: clicking buttons in applications, filling forms, navigating interfaces, reading documents, and executing multi-step processes. The AI doesn't just tell you what to do—it does it.
What this means: The AI makes decisions about how to accomplish your goal, adapts to what it finds, and executes across your actual applications rather than generating instructions for you to follow manually.
Multi-Step Reasoning
The AI breaks complex tasks into logical steps, determines what information it needs from each application, and chains actions together. "Filter grant applications by criteria X, then research each qualifying organization online, then compile findings into a spreadsheet" requires reasoning about sequence, criteria, and output format.
What this means: You describe the end goal, and the AI figures out the process—something traditional automation tools can't do because they require you to define each step explicitly.
AI Limitations to Understand
AI agents are less predictable than rule-based automation. The same instruction might execute slightly differently each time based on what the AI encounters. This flexibility is powerful but means you should:
- Start with low-risk tasks—don't automate critical workflows until you trust the system
- Review outputs initially—verify the AI is doing what you intended
- Use specific language—the more precise your instructions, the more consistent the results
Potential Nonprofit Use Cases
Based on Instruct's documented capabilities and department-specific workflows, here are scenarios where nonprofits might apply this tool. Note: These are potential applications based on platform features, not verified nonprofit case studies.
Education & Training Programs
Automating curriculum preparation and participant communication
Instruct explicitly targets education workflows on their website. A nonprofit running training programs could potentially instruct the AI to: "Generate a quiz from this week's training materials, format it appropriately, and email it to all participants in our current cohort spreadsheet."
Potential time savings: Automating quiz generation and distribution that might otherwise take 2-3 hours per week of manual work.
Volunteer & Application Management
Screening, filtering, and organizing candidate information
For nonprofits receiving volunteer applications or program participant applications: "Filter all applications from the past week for candidates with 3+ years of relevant experience who indicated availability on weekends, and organize them into a spreadsheet sorted by region."
Potential time savings: Reduce initial screening from hours to minutes by having the AI handle criteria-based filtering across application documents.
Donor Research & Outreach
Researching prospects and preparing personalized communications
Development teams could potentially use Instruct for prospect research: "For each donor in my major gift prospect list, research recent news about their company, check our CRM for interaction history, and draft a personalized follow-up email based on their interests and giving history."
Potential time savings: Compress prospect research that takes 30-60 minutes per donor into minutes of AI processing, though human review of outputs remains essential.
Operations & Reporting
Data extraction, compilation, and report generation
Operations teams dealing with multiple data sources: "Extract financial data from these invoice PDFs, organize by vendor and category, update our tracking spreadsheet, and flag any invoices over $5,000 that need director approval."
Potential time savings: Automate data entry and document processing that currently requires manual extraction from PDFs and emails.
Note: These are hypothetical use cases based on Instruct's stated capabilities. We could not find verified nonprofit case studies at the time of writing. Test any workflow thoroughly with non-sensitive data before deploying for mission-critical work.
Pricing
Instruct offers free signup to explore the platform. At the time of our research, specific pricing tiers were not publicly displayed on their website—users are directed to sign up or schedule a call with the team to discuss pricing.
What We Know About Pricing
- Free signup available—explore the platform without payment
- Schedule a call option—discuss custom pricing with the team
- No public pricing page—specific costs not advertised publicly
- No advertised nonprofit discounts—though worth inquiring directly
Pricing Notes for Nonprofits
Many emerging AI platforms offer nonprofit-friendly arrangements even when not publicly advertised. When speaking with Instruct's team:
- Ask specifically about nonprofit or education discounts
- Inquire about pilot programs for mission-driven organizations
- Request an extended trial period to thoroughly evaluate
Pricing Disclaimer: As a newer/emerging platform (or new to us), Instruct may adjust pricing or features more frequently than established tools. Pricing details were not publicly available at the time of our research. Always verify current pricing directly with the vendor before making decisions.
How Instruct Pricing Compares
Without specific Instruct pricing, here's context on what comparable AI automation tools cost:
Zapier
Free - $599+/mo
Free tier available; task-based pricing; 7,000+ integrations
Make
Free - $99+/mo
Free tier with 1,000 ops; credit-based pricing; visual builder
n8n
Free - €20+/mo
Free self-hosted; cloud from €20/mo; AI workflow nodes
Support & Community Resources
Official Support Channels
- Direct team access: Schedule calls with founders
- Social presence: Active on X (Twitter) and LinkedIn
- Response times: Unknown; expect founder-style responsiveness
- Nonprofit support: No specialized nonprofit team
Documentation & Learning
- Help center: Limited public documentation observed
- Video tutorials: Limited tutorials available
- Nonprofit guides: None currently
- Consultant ecosystem: No established consultant network
What This Means for Nonprofits
As a newer platform (or new to us), Instruct offers the advantages and challenges typical of early-stage companies:
- Positive: Direct access to founders who can provide personalized help
- Positive: Influence on product direction through feedback
- Challenge: More self-service troubleshooting required
- Challenge: Less community knowledge to search
Learning Curve
Learning Curve: Low to Intermediate
Natural language input lowers the barrier; understanding AI limitations takes time
Realistic Time Investment:
- Initial setup: 1-2 hours to connect apps and run first task
- First successful automation: 1-2 days of experimentation
- Proficiency: 2-3 weeks to understand what the AI can handle reliably
- Effective prompt engineering: 1-2 months to craft consistently effective instructions
Who Will Succeed
- Staff comfortable experimenting with new software
- Teams willing to iterate and refine AI instructions
- Organizations patient with occasional AI errors
- Users who can articulate tasks clearly in writing
Who Will Struggle
- Teams expecting perfect results immediately
- Staff who prefer extensive documentation
- Organizations needing guaranteed, predictable automation
- Users uncomfortable troubleshooting independently
Integration & Compatibility
Integration Status
Documented Integrations:
- Salesforce
- Gmail / Google Workspace
- Slack
- Google Sheets / Spreadsheets
Integration Approach:
- OAuth-based secure connections
- AI navigates app interfaces directly
- Fewer native integrations than Zapier/Make
Integration Maturity Note
Instruct's integration approach differs from traditional automation platforms. Rather than maintaining thousands of pre-built connectors, Instruct's AI agents interact with applications through their interfaces—similar to how a human would use them.
What this means: The platform may work with applications beyond those explicitly listed, but integration depth and reliability should be tested for your specific tools. If your nonprofit relies heavily on niche applications, verify compatibility before committing.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Natural language input: No workflow builder required
- AI reasoning: Handles complex, variable tasks
- Real-time visibility: Watch and guide agent execution
- Founder access: Direct communication with team
- Low barrier to start: Free signup available
Cons
- Newer platform: Limited track record and user base
- Less predictable: AI may execute differently each time
- Limited documentation: Fewer tutorials and guides
- Unclear pricing: No public pricing page
- No nonprofit discounts: Not publicly advertised
Critical Questions to Ask Yourself
- Are we comfortable with AI that may execute tasks slightly differently each time?
- Do we have technical capacity to troubleshoot when support resources are limited?
- Can we start with low-risk tasks and expand gradually?
- Is the potential time savings worth the learning curve for a newer tool?
Established Alternatives to Consider
Zapier with AI
Industry standard for trigger-action automation
Advantages:
- • 7,000+ app integrations
- • Proven reliability, extensive documentation
- • Large user community and consultant ecosystem
- • Free tier available
What you give up:
- • Natural language task description
- • AI reasoning for complex tasks
- • Must build workflows manually
Best for: Organizations wanting proven reliability and extensive integrations for straightforward trigger-action workflows.
Make (formerly Integromat)
Visual workflow builder with complex logic support
Advantages:
- • Visual drag-and-drop workflow builder
- • Better for complex branching logic than Zapier
- • More affordable at scale
- • Free tier with 1,000 operations
What you give up:
- • Steeper learning curve than Zapier
- • Fewer integrations (1,200+)
- • Still requires manual workflow building
Best for: Technical teams needing complex automation logic with visual interface.
n8n
Open-source automation with AI workflow capabilities
Advantages:
- • Free unlimited executions (self-hosted)
- • 70 LangChain AI nodes for intelligent workflows
- • Full control with self-hosting option
- • 500+ integrations
What you give up:
- • Technical setup required for self-hosting
- • More complex than Zapier
- • AI features require configuration
Best for: Technical nonprofits wanting cost-free automation with AI capabilities.
The Decision Framework
Choose Instruct if:
- • You need AI reasoning for complex, variable tasks
- • Natural language task description is important
- • You're comfortable with newer platforms
- • You want to influence product direction through feedback
Choose established alternatives if:
- • You need proven reliability for mission-critical workflows
- • Extensive documentation and community support matters
- • You prefer predictable, rule-based automation
- • You need specific integrations not yet supported
How to Evaluate Instruct Before Committing
Don't just trust our guide—test it yourself. Here's a structured evaluation approach for emerging AI tools:
Phase 1: Initial Exploration (1-2 hours)
- Sign up for free and connect one low-risk application
- Run a simple task to understand the interface
- Assess how natural the "natural language" input feels
- Note any friction or confusion points
Phase 2: Test Your Use Case (1-2 weeks)
- Identify one repetitive, non-critical workflow to test
- Run the task multiple times with the same instructions
- Assess consistency—does it produce similar results?
- Time yourself: How long does the AI take vs. manual work?
- Contact support with a question—gauge responsiveness
Phase 3: Go/No-Go Decision
Proceed if:
- • AI consistently accomplishes your test task
- • Time savings are meaningful
- • Team finds it usable
- • Support is responsive
- • Pricing fits budget
Don't proceed if:
- • Results are inconsistent or unreliable
- • Team is frustrated by the interface
- • Critical integrations don't work
- • Support is unresponsive
- • Pricing unclear or concerning
Getting Started (The Cautious Approach)
Step 1: Free Exploration
- Do: Sign up for free, connect one test application
- Don't: Connect systems with sensitive data immediately
- Goal: Understand the interface and basic capabilities
Step 2: Low-Risk Testing (Week 1-2)
- Do: Test with non-critical workflows using test data
- Don't: Automate anything mission-critical yet
- Goal: Validate reliability for your specific use cases
Step 3: Pricing Discussion
- Do: Schedule a call to discuss nonprofit pricing
- Don't: Commit to annual contracts before testing
- Goal: Understand total cost of ownership
Step 4: Limited Pilot (Month 1-2)
- Do: Deploy for one specific workflow with one team
- Don't: Roll out organization-wide immediately
- Goal: Validate value before full commitment
Step 5: Expansion Decision (Month 3)
- If working: Expand to additional use cases gradually
- If not working: Evaluate alternatives without significant sunk cost
- Goal: Make data-driven decision on full adoption
Key Principle:
With emerging AI tools, move slowly and validate at each step. The potential benefits are real, but so are the risks of adopting immature technology. A cautious approach protects your organization while giving promising tools a fair evaluation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Instruct reliable enough for nonprofit use?
Instruct is a newer platform (or new to us) with limited nonprofit adoption history. The platform recently launched Instruct 2.5 with immediate task execution and live iteration features. It's best suited for small to mid-sized nonprofits with technical capacity who want to automate repetitive cross-application tasks. Start with low-risk automations and expand gradually after validating reliability in your specific environment.
How does Instruct compare to Zapier?
Instruct takes a fundamentally different approach than Zapier. While Zapier requires you to build rigid, trigger-based workflows with defined variables and logic, Instruct uses AI agents that understand natural language instructions and execute tasks autonomously across your apps. Instruct is better for complex, variable tasks that would require extensive Zapier logic, while Zapier offers more integrations (7,000+), proven reliability, and extensive documentation. Choose Instruct if you need AI reasoning for complex tasks; choose Zapier if you need simple, reliable trigger-action workflows.
What kind of technical support can we expect?
As an emerging platform (or new to us), Instruct offers direct access to the founding team including CEO Matt and co-founder Alfie. The team has backgrounds from IBM AI teams and automation companies. Support is likely personalized but may have slower response times than enterprise tools. Documentation and community resources are limited compared to established platforms like Zapier or Make.
Can we trust Instruct with sensitive donor data?
Instruct connects to your applications through secure OAuth connections, which is a best practice that avoids storing your passwords. However, the platform doesn't publish detailed security certifications or compliance documentation publicly. For sensitive donor data, we recommend limiting Instruct's access to non-sensitive applications initially and reviewing their security practices directly with the team before expanding to systems containing PII or financial data.
Does Instruct offer nonprofit discounts?
Instruct does not currently advertise nonprofit-specific discounts on their website. The platform offers free signup to explore the tool. For nonprofit-specific pricing inquiries, we recommend scheduling a call with their team directly, as smaller companies often provide custom arrangements for mission-driven organizations even when not publicly advertised.
Need Help Evaluating AI Automation Tools?
Choosing the right automation platform—whether Instruct, Zapier, Make, or another option—depends on your nonprofit's specific workflows, technical capacity, and risk tolerance. We can help you evaluate options and implement the right solution.