Here’s a clear breakdown of Perplexity’s new “Email Assistant” (for Perplexity Max users), plus implications for you, and some straight talk on what to watch out for.
Perplexity’s new Email Assistant (for Max users) automates inbox tasks (drafts, scheduling, labeling, prioritization) for Gmail/Outlook with strong compliance claims. It promises efficiency and consistency. Risks: tone misalignments, privacy scope, cost. For productivity-hunters with high email loads, this is worth piloting—with caution.
What is Perplexity’s Email Assistant
Based on the two articles:
- The tool integrates with Gmail and Outlook. (MarkTechPost)
- Key features include: drafting replies in your voice/tone, prioritizing and labeling emails (e.g. “needs action,” “urgent,” etc.), organizing threads, helping with scheduling meetings end-to-end (reading availability, suggesting times, issuing invites). (MarkTechPost)
- You can cc this assistant in threads so it handles back-and-forth scheduling. (MarkTechPost)
- It also supports queries like “What should I prioritize before my board meeting?” or “Summarize all messages about the Q4 budget.” (Perplexity AI)
- Security / data handling: SOC 2 & GDPR compliant; Perplexity says user data is not used for training the model. (Perplexity AI)
- Rollout constraints: Only for Perplexity Max subscribers currently. Gmail & Outlook only. (MarkTechPost)
What this means (pros & cons)
Pros
- Time savings — A lot of your inbox gets automated: drafting, labeling, scheduling. Less busywork.
- Consistency in voice & priority — If it really learns your style, replies will sound like you; emails that matter get surfaced.
- Better organization — Having “action required” vs “FYI” labels, prioritization, summaries can reduce cognitive load.
- Delegation at scale — You can effectively delegate routine inbox negotiations (scheduling, follow-ups) to the assistant.
Cons / Risks
- Tone‐slip / misalignment — AI still occasionally misfires. If the “voice” or tone is wrong, it can send mixed signals.
- Over-trust — You’ll still need to verify scheduling, especially for important meetings or sensitive topics. The automation may miss context.
- Privacy/data risk — Even with SOC 2 / GDPR, hooking up email & calendar is high-risk. Make sure only necessary scopes are granted. In regulated industries (legal, healthcare, etc.), you’ll want to review carefully.
- Plan‐gatekeeping — It’s locked behind a more expensive plan (Max), so cost vs value matters.
Forward-Looking Take: Good Fit, Opportunities & Threats
Good Fit If You:
- Receive large volume of emails and want to offload routine ones (follow-ups, meeting scheduling).
- Want to scale your personal productivity without hiring more staff.
- Value consistency in communications (tone, priorities).
- Are comfortable with letting automation handle some initial drafts, with you reviewing/adjusting.
Threats & Competitive Angles
- This puts pressure on Google / Microsoft’s native assistants (e.g. Copilot, Gemini) to close gaps. Perplexity’s differentiation is handling the negotiation loop inside threads—not just summaries or suggestions. (MarkTechPost)
- Security / trust will be a significant factor in adoption. If any privacy breach or misstep, credibility suffers.
- For agencies or firms, clients might demand guarantees that no private or client-sensitive info is mishandled.
Bottom Line & What You Should Do
If I were you running a busy communication agency like me:
- Trial it: Sign up for Max and test the assistant with low-risk email threads first (team internal, scheduling, etc.). See how it handles tone, speed, accuracy.
- Set guardrails: Define what it must check with you vs what it can send automatically. E.g. all external client communications get a human review.
- Monitor data access: Make sure permissions are minimal and auditable. If necessary, involve your legal/privacy team.
- Assess cost vs gain: How many hours per week will this save you or your team? If you can reclaim more hours than the incremental cost, it’s a win.