7 Best AI Automation Tools for Smartsheet in 2026
Smartsheet already automates a lot. A status flips to At Risk and the owner gets an alert, a date arrives and an update request goes out, and since June, Smart Assist answers questions about your sheets in plain English.
None of that touches where the changes come from. The vendor who pushes a delivery date does it by email. The client who moves the cutover call does it with a calendar invite. Someone still has to read it, open the grid, find the row and fix it. The seven tools below automate Smartsheet, ranked by how much of that work they take off your plate.
TL;DR: The best AI automation tool for Smartsheet for most people is Carly. It reads your email and calendars, updates the right Smartsheet row and handles the follow-up without being asked. Keep Smartsheet’s own workflows for alerts and approvals inside the sheet, and Zapier or Make for copying rows between apps.
1. Carly
Carly is an AI agent with its own real email address. It works in Smartsheet alongside all of your Gmail and Outlook mailboxes, your Google Calendar and Outlook calendars, and thousands of other apps.
Here is what that looks like for one project lead. Michael runs customer implementations at a 60-person software consultancy. Every rollout lives on one Smartsheet tracker, a row per workstream with an owner, a target date and a status. His day lives in Outlook.
At 7:15am, Claire, the IT lead at Ferguson, writes that their data export will be a week late and asks to push Thursday’s cutover call. Before Michael opens his laptop, Carly has:
- Found the Ferguson data-migration row on the tracker, moved its target date a week and set the status to At Risk
- Added a comment to the row with Claire’s reason, so anyone who opens the sheet sees why
- Checked every calendar Michael connected and moved the cutover call to the first slot open for him, Claire and his engineer Emily
- Sent Claire the new invite from Michael’s own mailbox
- Drafted a note to Ferguson’s project sponsor with the new timeline, waiting for Michael’s OK
Michael gets one text saying what changed. At 2pm, a row on another rollout flips to Blocked. Smartsheet’s own workflow emails that alert to Carly, and Carly books 15 minutes between Michael and the row’s owner, Josh, with the blocker in the invite. On Friday morning it reads the tracker and emails each owner a short list of their overdue rows.
What makes it different: Smartsheet’s automations start from a change inside the sheet. Carly starts from what arrives outside it: a new email, a calendar event or a form submission sets it going, and it works out which row, which owner and which meeting the change touches. It also reads the Smartsheet alerts you send to its address, so anything your workflows flag can become a booked meeting or a sent email. You give it instructions in plain language by email or text, the steps you repeat become free Zapier-style workflows, intake requests can get their own dedicated agent, and stakeholders get a booking page that checks every calendar you connect.
Best for: Project leads and PMO teams whose Smartsheet updates arrive by email.
Pricing: Free Zapier-style workflows; AI agents from $35/month
Paste your Smartsheet API key into Carly on the integrations page. You generate the token in Smartsheet under your profile, in Personal Settings, on the API Access tab. Or book a walkthrough on your own tracker.
2. Smartsheet automated workflows
Smartsheet’s built-in automation runs on four triggers: when rows are added, when rows are changed, when either happens, or when a date is reached. Actions include alerts, update requests, approval requests and cell changes, and a change-based workflow can run as changes happen or roll them up hourly, daily or weekly. Pro includes 250 automations a month, and the Business plan removes that monthly count. Enterprise customers can add Bridge, a low-code builder for longer event- or schedule-based workflows.
What makes it different from Carly: it is excellent at rules that live in the sheet, and every rule starts from something already typed into the grid. The email that should change a row still needs someone to read it. The two pair well: point a workflow’s alert at Carly and each flagged row turns into a booked meeting or a sent follow-up.
Best for: Status alerts, reminders and approvals that follow a fixed rule.
Pricing: Included; Pro $9/member/month, Business $19/member/month (billed yearly)
3. Smart Assist and Smartsheet’s AI
Smart Assist, generally available since June 3, 2026, is Smartsheet’s in-app AI assistant. It answers questions about your sheets and performs actions you ask for, from surfacing what is at risk to drafting a stakeholder update. Smart Columns summarize, translate or score sentiment on rows as data changes. Both come with every plan from Pro up. Smartsheet has also announced Smart Agents, starting with a Project Manager agent that flags project risks, through its early adopter program.
What makes it different from Carly: Smart Assist works when you open Smartsheet and ask. It is the fastest way to find out what slipped this week while you are in the grid, and the rescheduled call and the email to the client are still yours to do. Carly picks those up the moment the email lands.
Best for: Questions and quick edits while you are already in Smartsheet.
Pricing: Included on Pro, Business, Enterprise and Advanced Work Management
4. Claude or ChatGPT with Smartsheet’s connector
Smartsheet runs its own MCP server, and its official connectors for Claude (March 2026) and ChatGPT (June 2026) read and write. From a chat you can query sheets, create rows, sheets and reports, update data and, since a September 9 update, create and switch on Smartsheet automated workflows. Smartsheet’s help center lists a Business or Enterprise Smartsheet plan for both, and an Enterprise Claude account for the Claude connector.
What makes it different from Carly: both are strong for a portfolio question or a one-off cleanup across many sheets, and the work happens in a chat you start.
ChatGPT's Scheduled Tasks can start from an event now, as long as the event is a Gmail message, a Slack message, or GitHub pull request activity. That is the entire vocabulary, it cannot be combined with a schedule on the same task, and it does not run in the desktop app or the Codex CLI. Claude's Cowork tasks are still clock only. Neither one wakes up because a deal moved, a form came in, an invoice cleared, or a file landed. Carly watches all of them, across the thousands of apps it connects to.
See Claude + Smartsheet and ChatGPT + Smartsheet.
Best for: Portfolio analysis and one-off bulk changes you drive yourself.
5. Zapier
Zapier’s Smartsheet app triggers on a new row, an updated row, a new comment, a new attachment or a new or updated report row. Its actions add and update rows, send a row by email and share a sheet.
What makes it different from Carly: Zapier moves a field from one app to the next when an event fires. Each Zap is yours to map and to repair when a column gets renamed, and it does what you drew rather than working out what an email means. See Zapier alternatives.
Best for: Syncing Smartsheet rows with a long tail of other apps.
Pricing: Free plan (two-step Zaps); paid from $19.99/month billed yearly
6. Make
Make’s Smartsheet app has more than 30 modules, from creating rows and comments to copying sheets and workspaces, plus triggers that watch for new rows and events, all on a visual canvas with routers and filters.
What makes it different from Carly: it beats Zapier when a Smartsheet scenario branches, and every module run draws on your monthly credits. You still draw each path yourself, where Carly takes the request in a sentence. See Make alternatives.
Best for: Operators who want multi-step Smartsheet syncs with real branching.
Pricing: Free plan; paid from ~$12/month
7. Microsoft Power Automate
Microsoft publishes a Smartsheet connector for Power Automate, Logic Apps and Copilot Studio. It triggers when a new row is created, a sheet is updated or a comment is added, and it can insert rows, read sheets and add discussions. It is a standard connector, so Microsoft 365 licenses that include Power Automate can use it.
What makes it different from Carly: the connector’s action list stops at inserting rows, so changing an existing row takes a workaround, and its triggers poll for changes. Carly updates the row straight from the email. See Power Automate alternatives.
Best for: Microsoft 365 teams already building flows around Teams and SharePoint.
Pricing: Standard connector included with Microsoft 365; Premium $15/user/month billed yearly
Smartsheet Automation Tools Compared
| Tool | Acts on email and calendar changes | Starts work on its own | Writes to Smartsheet | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carly | Yes, all your inboxes and calendars | Yes, on new email, calendar events and forms | Yes | From $35/mo |
| Smartsheet workflows | No | Yes, on row changes and dates | Yes | Pro $9, Business $19/member/mo |
| Smart Assist | No | No, when you ask | Yes, when you ask | Included from Pro |
| Claude / ChatGPT + connector | Through separate connectors | Clock-based (Claude); Gmail, Slack, GitHub events (ChatGPT) | Yes | Smartsheet Business+ plus AI plan |
| Zapier | Only if you build it | Yes, on row events | Yes | Free; from $19.99/mo |
| Make | Only if you build it | Yes, on row events | Yes | Free; from ~$12/mo |
| Power Automate | Only if you build it | Yes, polling | Inserts rows | Microsoft 365; Premium $15/user/mo |
How to pick
If the rule lives entirely inside the sheet (a status change, a due date, an approval), Smartsheet’s own workflows are already paid for. For quick answers while you are in the grid, use Smart Assist. For a portfolio-wide analysis or a one-off cleanup, Claude or ChatGPT with Smartsheet’s connector will do it well. To copy rows between Smartsheet and other apps on a fixed rule, use Zapier or Make, or Power Automate if you are on Microsoft 365.
If your Smartsheet updates arrive as emails, invites and requests, and the grid is always a step behind, go with Carly. Keep Smartsheet’s workflows for alerts inside the sheet and let Carly handle the follow-through outside it. For the apps worth connecting, see best Smartsheet integrations. If you are still weighing the platform, see Smartsheet vs monday.com and Smartsheet alternatives.
FAQ
Does Smartsheet have built-in automation? Yes. Automated workflows trigger when rows are added or changed or when a date is reached, then send alerts, update requests and approval requests or change cells. Pro includes 250 automations a month, and Business removes that monthly count. They start from changes inside the sheet, so an email that should change a row still needs a person or Carly to act on it.
What is the best AI automation tool for Smartsheet? Carly, for project leads whose updates arrive by email and calendar invite. It reads every mailbox and calendar you connect, updates the right Smartsheet row, and books or sends the follow-up. Carly’s AI agents start at $35/month. Smart Assist is the best option for questions inside Smartsheet itself.
Can a Smartsheet automation trigger Carly? Yes. Add Carly’s email address as the recipient of an alert in a Smartsheet workflow and include the row’s fields in the message. Smartsheet only emails an address outside your Smartsheet account when the sheet’s automation permissions are set to Unrestricted, and a system admin can limit that across the plan. Carly reads each alert and acts on it, and the steps you repeat can run as free Zapier-style workflows.
How do I connect Smartsheet to Carly? Paste your Smartsheet API key into Carly on the integrations page. To get it, open your profile in Smartsheet, go to Personal Settings, then the API Access tab, and generate a new access token (Smartsheet shows it only once, and includes API access on Business and Enterprise plans). Add your mailboxes and calendars on the same page, then email or text Carly what you want done.
Do Carly and Smartsheet’s own automations work together? Yes. Carly writes to Smartsheet the way a teammate would, so your workflows, reports and Smart Assist all see its changes, and your workflows can send their alerts to Carly. Most teams keep Smartsheet’s rules for alerts inside the sheet and give Carly the inbox. To see it on your own tracker, book a call.
More: Smartsheet + Carly · Claude + Smartsheet · ChatGPT + Smartsheet · Best Smartsheet integrations · Smartsheet row limit · Best AI workflow automation tools
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"Before Carly, I relied on a Calendly link, but the whole process felt impersonal and not very professional. Carly changed that by handling all the back-and-forth, so I'm no longer stuck in endless email threads trying to line up schedules.
Now Carly reaches out to candidates, shares my real-time availability, lets them pick a slot, then sends a Zoom link and drops it straight into my calendar. She sends reminders to both of us before each call, which has significantly reduced no-shows and last-minute confusion.
On top of scheduling, Carly acts like a full executive assistant, sending me my schedule the night before so I can prepare for each call. It reminds me of the old x.ai assistant, but Carly is noticeably smarter, faster, and better suited to my healthcare recruitment business."
