Building Your Own AI Agent

A Step-by-Step Guide for PMs

Keeping up with AI trends is important. But real impact? That starts when you create something of your own. After curating the top AI newsletters every PM should follow, it's time to shift gears — from reading to building.

Today, we'll show you how to build your own AI agent that automatically reads, summarizes, and delivers insights from those newsletters directly to your inbox. This practical guide will take you from concept to working solution with multiple implementation options, from no-code approaches to light coding solutions using Replit*. (*Note: Replit has not sponsored us to write this post :))

What Is an AI Agent?

Before we dive into building, let's clarify what we mean by an "agent":

An AI agent is an autonomous or semi-autonomous system that performs specific tasks with minimal human intervention. Unlike basic AI tools that only respond to direct prompts, agents can:

• Work independently – Complete assigned tasks without constant guidance

• Maintain memory – Retain context about your preferences and past interactions

• Take initiative – Make appropriate decisions within defined parameters

• Integrate with workflows – Connect with your existing tools and processes

For our newsletter agent, this means a system that automatically collects content, applies your preferences for what's important, summarizes it effectively, and delivers it to you on schedule.

Building Your Newsletter Summarization Agent: Step-by-Step

Step 1: Define Your Agent's Exact Job

First, let's specify what our agent should do:

Primary objective: Regularly collect, filter, and summarize content from the five newsletters we recommended (The Rundown AI, The Superhuman, Mindstream, The Neuron, and Ben's Bites), delivering only the most relevant insights based on your interests.

Success criteria:

• Consistently captures the most important updates across all newsletters

• Provides summaries that are concise yet complete (no more than 5 bullet points per newsletter)

• Accurately identifies articles matching your specific interests

• Delivers insights when and where you need them

Step 2: Choose Your Technology Stack

You have several options for building your agent, depending on your comfort with coding:

No-Code Option:

• Email forwarding – To collect newsletter content

• Claude – As the cognitive engine for summarization and filtering

• Zapier or Make – For orchestration and connecting components

• Personal email – For delivery of insights

Light-Code Option with Replit:

• Replit – A browser-based development environment that requires minimal setup

• RSS feeds – For reliable newsletter content collection

• Claude API – For advanced summarization capabilities

• Basic Python – For customization and control

The no-code approach requires no programming while the Replit option gives you more flexibility and control with minimal coding requirements.

Step 3: Set Up Your Content Collection System

You have two main options for collecting newsletter content:

Option A: Email Collection (No-Code)

1. Create a dedicated email address for your agent (e.g., newsletter-agent@gmail.com)

2. Subscribe to all five newsletters using this address

3. Set up email forwarding rules to automatically send these newsletters to your processing system

For enhanced organization:

• Add a label or folder called "Newsletters" to keep these separate from other content

• Configure your forwarding to only include emails with this label

Option B: RSS Feed Collection (Replit)

RSS feeds provide several advantages over email collection:

• Cleaner content – No email signatures, footers, or formatting issues

• More reliable parsing – Structured data that's easier to process

• No authentication issues – No need to store email credentials

• Historical access – Many RSS feeds maintain past entries

• Direct links – Easy access to original articles

Step 4: Build Your Summarization Engine

Now, let's create the intelligence behind your agent:

No-Code Approach:

1. Create a Zapier account (or Make/n8n if you prefer)

2. Set up a new "Zap" with this trigger: "When a new email arrives in Gmail with label 'Newsletters'"

3. Add a Claude step using their official integrations

4. Create your prompt template:

You are a specialized AI agent for a product manager who needs to stay informed about AI trends and tools. Your job is to read the following newsletter and extract only the most valuable insights relevant to product management, focusing particularly on:

• New AI tools that could enhance product development

• Case studies of successful AI implementation

• Emerging trends that may affect product strategy

• Practical techniques for applying AI to PM workflows

The newsletter content is below:

{newsletter_content}

Create a concise summary with these components:

• The 3-5 most important insights for a product manager

• One specific action item the PM could take based on this content

• Any tools mentioned that are worth investigating

5. Add a final step to send the output to your personal email

Replit Approach:

1. Create a Replit account at replit.com

2. Start a new Python project named "newsletter-agent"

3. Connect to the Claude API by storing your API key securely in Replit's Secrets

4. Create a simple script that fetches RSS feeds, processes content, and calls Claude

5. Schedule regular execution using Replit's "Always On" feature

The Replit approach gives you more control over processing and allows integration with additional tools and services.

Step 5: Enhance With Personal Relevance Filtering

To make your summaries truly valuable, add personalization:

1. Create a "preferences document" listing your specific interests, current projects, and knowledge gaps

2. Modify your prompt to include the preferences:

3. Store this in your system (Zapier for no-code, Replit variables for code)

This simple addition dramatically improves relevance, essentially teaching your agent what matters to you specifically.

Step 6: Set Up Delivery On Your Terms

Configure how and when you receive insights:

1. Schedule consolidation – Have your agent collect newsletters throughout the week but only send summaries on Friday mornings

2. Format for readability – Structure the email with clear headings, bullet points, and emphasis on key points

3. Include metadata – Add links to original sources and publish dates for reference

For advanced delivery (easier with Replit):

• Send summaries to your task management tool (like Notion or Asana) instead of email

• Create different delivery schedules for different topics

• Generate weekly trend reports across all newsletters

Step 7: Implement Feedback Mechanisms

Create a simple way to improve your agent over time:

1. Add a rating system at the bottom of each summary email (1-5 stars)

2. Create a quick feedback capture ("What could be improved about this summary?")

3. Include the feedback in the next processing cycle by storing it in a database or file

With Replit, you can build a more sophisticated feedback system that automatically adjusts your agent's behavior based on your ratings and comments.

Expanding Your Agent Ecosystem

Once your newsletter agent is running smoothly, consider these extensions:

Extension 1: Cross-Newsletter Insight Mining

Modify your agent to identify connections across different newsletters:

1. Collect all newsletters for the week before processing

2. Add a "Trending Topics" section to identify themes appearing in multiple sources

3. Create a "Contradictory Perspectives" flag when newsletters have opposing viewpoints on the same topic

This meta-analysis often reveals insights individual newsletter authors miss.

Extension 2: Automated Resource Library

Have your agent maintain a personal knowledge base:

1. Set up a Notion database for tools, techniques, and concepts

2. Add a step to your workflow that extracts these elements from newsletters

3. Configure auto-categorization based on your defined taxonomy

Over time, this builds a searchable repository of AI resources tailored to your needs.

Why Replit Is Ideal to Build Agents

For product managers looking to go beyond no-code solutions, Replit offers several advantages:

• Browser-based development – No need to install anything locally

• Persistent environment – Your agent runs 24/7 in the cloud

• Built-in database – Store preferences and past summaries without additional services

• Easy monitoring – See logs and troubleshoot issues in real-time

• Gradual customization – Start simple and add features as your skills grow

Even if you've never coded before, Replit's interactive environment makes it easy to start small and learn as you go.

The Bottom Line: From Consumer to Creator

In our initial AI article, we emphasized that AI-fluent PMs will replace those who don't adapt. Building your own agents takes this to the next level—transforming you from a consumer of AI tools to a creator of AI systems that amplify your capabilities.

Your newsletter agent isn't just a time-saver; it's your first step toward building a personalized AI support team that works exactly the way you need it to. Whether you choose the no-code approach or dive into Replit, you're developing an essential skill.

💬 What other tasks would you like to automate with an agent? Share in the comments!

This Week's Featured Job Openings

1. Associate Product Manager

   1. Company: Visa, Inc

   2. Location: Foster City, CA

2. Product Manager

   1. Company: Instacart

   2. Location: Multiple locations, USA

3. Senior Product Manager

   1. Company: Dropbox

   2. Location: Remote, USA

4. Principal Product Manager

   1. Company: Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

   2. Location: San Jose, CA

5. Director of Product Management

   1. Company: Robinhood

   2. Location: Multiple locations, USA

Stay tuned each week as we bring you new opportunities. Happy job hunting.