Build an AI-assisted creative operations platform to replace spreadsheet chaos.
Creative agencies bleed money when their content planning and approval processes run through manual spreadsheets and endless email chains. An intelligent, automated system centralizes this workflow, reducing errors and saving hours of admin overhead. Building this demonstrates you understand how to design no-code architecture that solves real business friction for non-technical users.
The Brief
You are tasked with replacing a broken, manual creative operations workflow. The current process relies on a shared Excel file with approvals happening over email, which are then copy-pasted back into the sheet. Leadership, PR, and legal teams are entirely disconnected, relying on weekly email updates. Your goal is to design and build a working prototype in Airtable that solves this core operational problem using the provided sample dataset.
The challenge is structural, not just technical. You must identify all user personas, differentiate between types of approvals, and map the flow of content before touching the software. You will need to implement at least one automation, choosing between native Airtable logic and external AI tools (like Make or n8n), and thoroughly document why you made that architectural choice. The final product must be a resilient system that a real team could adopt immediately without breaking it.
The Idea Behind It
This social media agency needs someone to rescue them from operational quicksand by centralizing their content planning, PR approvals, and community engagement workflows into a single automated source of truth.
This project prepares you for operations and automation roles by forcing you to evaluate business risk, design data models, and justify your tooling choices rather than just writing code in a vacuum.
What You Will Build
- A structured relational database in Airtable based on real-world creative operations data.
- Customized views and interfaces designed specifically for different stakeholders (creatives, PR, legal, leadership).
- A documented workflow map detailing the lifecycle of content from ideation to final approval.
- At least one functional automation (native or external) that eliminates a manual bottleneck.
- A written architectural defense explaining your tool choices and how the system degrades if an automation fails.
Focuses heavily on workflow logic, data modeling, and no-code automation rather than complex software engineering.
Join the AI Native Builder cohort to build real operational systems that companies actually need.
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