Automating some of IANDS’ operational side…
IANDS has touched countless lives through its groundbreaking work on Near-Death Experiences. But as interest explodes globally, our dedicated team faces an impossible challenge: how to serve exponentially more people without exponentially more staff.
The answer isn't hiring more people—it's giving our existing team extreme leverage via intelligent automation.
This report outlines how two proven, low-cost platforms can eliminate 80% of our administrative burden, letting our team focus on what truly matters: supporting experiencers, advancing research, and expanding consciousness.
Think of Retool Agents as tireless, intelligent assistants that can:
Read and understand emails, documents, and forms
Make decisions based on your guidelines
Update databases and spreadsheets
Draft personalized responses
Work 24/7 without breaks
See Retool Agents in Action: Watch how AI agents are revolutionizing business process automation across industries: https://youtu.be/AfTctzh_nrk
Key Point: Retool Agents work independently—they don't need other systems to function.
n8n connects all your systems and orchestrates complex workflows:
Monitors multiple channels simultaneously
Routes information between systems
Triggers actions based on conditions
Maintains data consistency across platforms
The Magic: While each tool is powerful alone, together they create an operational transformation.
Current Pain: Manually monitoring multiple inboxes, routing messages, processing requests, tracking responses
The AI Solution - One Agent, Unlimited Capabilities:
Monitors all organizational inboxes in real-time (info@, support@, events@, etc.)
Instantly notifies the right person via their preferred channel (Slack, text, email)
Makes intelligent decisions with Human-in-the-Loop verification for sensitive actions
Processes complex requests autonomously, like refunds and registration changes
Sends comprehensive summaries to stakeholders after each action
Real Example in Action: "Find all volunteers who worked more than 4 hours per day at the conference but haven't received their registration refund yet. Process those refunds and send personalized thank-you emails acknowledging their contribution."
The Agent's Response:
Searches across unstructured data (emails, spreadsheets, registration forms)
Identifies 23 qualifying volunteers in 15 seconds
Calculates refund amounts based on registration type
Presents list for HITL (human-in-the-middle) approval
Processes all refunds through payment system
Sends personalized emails with contribution details
Notifies finance team with complete audit trail
Total time: Under 7 minutes (vs. 6+ hours manually)
Cost: Just $0.23 (7 minutes at $2/hour)
Monthly Impact:
Processes ~800 complex requests
Saves hundreds of annual hours of staff time
Total operational cost: Less than $40/month
Current Pain: Tracking renewals, sending reminders, updating records
Automated Solution:
n8n monitors payment systems and membership database
Automatically updates member status across all systems
Sends personalized renewal reminders at optimal times
Retool Agent handles renewal inquiries and processes updates
Creates weekly membership reports for leadership
Time Saved: 15 hours/week → 1 hour/week
Current Pain: Generic donor communications, missed cultivation opportunities, manual tracking of giving history
The AI Solution - Genuine Relationships at Scale:
Automatically extracts complete donor history from your database (amount, frequency, designated funds)
Writes truly personal emails that sound like they came from your development director
Runs on autopilot with intelligent scheduling - never too frequent, never forgotten
Incorporates real-time events into communications naturally
Example of AI-Generated Donor Email: "Hi Sarah, I was just thinking about your generous support of our conference scholarship fund last spring - thanks to you, three experiencers who couldn't afford to attend were able to join us. With our symposium coming up next month, I wanted to share how your past gift is still making an impact. We're featuring Dr. Bruce Greyson this year..."
The System's Capabilities:
Reviews each donor's giving patterns and interests
Crafts unique messages based on their history and preferences
Automatically mentions relevant upcoming events
Adjusts tone based on donor segment (major donors get different messaging than first-time givers)
Schedules optimal send times based on past engagement
Real Results:
Each donor receives 4-6 touchpoints per year
Zero repeated messages - each one is freshly written
Average email takes agent 90 seconds to research and write
Cost: $0.05 per personalized email
Automatic donation acknowledgment with tax receipts
Monthly Impact:
40 hours saved on donor communications
Total cost: $25/month for continuous engagement
Current Pain: Registration, conference check-in, communication, follow-up - all trapped in different data silos that don't communicate
The Hidden Time Drain: A walk-in attendee purchasing membership and registering currently takes up to 30 minutes of staff time at check-in, creating long lines and frustrated attendees.
The Challenge of Data Silos: Our conference data lives in multiple disconnected systems:
Registration platform
Payment processor
Email system
Check-in database
Attendee database
Two Powerful AI Solutions for Integration:
Option 1: n8n as Your Workflow Orchestrator n8n becomes the brain that connects all these systems, creating a unified intelligence layer that:
Makes every system speak the same language - no matter how different or complex
Syncs data in real-time across all platforms with error checking
Enables Human-in-the-Middle verification for critical changes
Sends live, persistent notifications to staff when issues arise
Maintains data integrity - if someone updates their email in registration, it updates everywhere
Option 2: Retool Agent as Your AI Coordinator A Retool Agent offers an equally powerful approach through intelligent automation:
Understands natural language requests like "Find Peter Panagore, send him the membership and conference registration links via email and text, then update his status in all systems after completion"
Navigates between disconnected databases using AI to find and update information
Handles complex multi-step processes like processing group registrations with special requirements
Makes intelligent decisions about data conflicts and notifies staff when needed
Learns from patterns to handle edge cases and improve over time
The Automated Check-In Revolution: Transform that 30-minute ordeal into a 30-second self-service experience:
Walk-in scans QR code or clicks check-in link at registration desk
Receives instant text/email with personalized membership and registration forms
Completes purchase on their phone while in line
Gets confirmation email with QR code ticket immediately
Staff simply scans their QR code at check-in
Badge prints automatically - they're done!
Both Solutions Deliver:
Integrated registration that updates all systems simultaneously
Smart check-in process that knows attendee history and preferences
Personalized pre-event communications based on attendee type
Real-time schedule changes pushed to attendees
Post-event surveys with intelligent follow-up
The Magic: When an attendee makes any change, either system:
Captures the change from any source
Validates the data
Notifies relevant staff if needed
Updates all connected systems
Confirms with the attendee
Logs everything for audit trail
What Automation Handles:
Data entry and management
Initial categorization and routing
Draft creation and formatting
Schedule coordination
Report generation
Routine communications
What The IANDS Team Focuses On:
Deep connections with experiencers
Strategic decisions and planning
Complex problem-solving
Creative initiatives
Research insights
Community building
The beauty of this approach is that nothing changes until you're ready:
Your current systems keep running exactly as they are today
Automation runs alongside your existing processes during testing
Staff can compare results and gain confidence before switching
Gradual transition only when everyone is comfortable
Full rollback capability at any point if needed
Demand is Exploding: NDEs are entering mainstream consciousness
Technology is Ready: These tools are proven, reliable, and affordable
Competition for Attention: Other organizations are already using these advantages
Mission Critical: Every hour spent on admin is an hour not spent on our core purpose
This isn't about replacing our team—it's about amplifying their impact. By removing administrative friction, we free our passionate experts to do what only they can do: advance the understanding of consciousness, support experiencers, and transform lives.
The question isn't whether to adopt these tools, but how quickly we can implement them to serve the growing global community seeking our unique wisdom.
Let's automate, and scale awareness.
Why not?