Preparing for Google's AI inbox

Google announced “AI inbox” for Gmail.

It's not live yet. But LinkedIn is already flooded with posts showing you how to turn it off AI features in the inbox.

But many subscribers won't bother.

I’m predicting 60-70% acceptance of the AI inbox when it rolls out. That's higher than the roughly 50% who currently turn off Gmail's smart labels (promotional, social, etc.).

Why? Google won't make it easy to disable. They’ll build in friction, multiple steps, and most people will just adapt to the new view rather than fight it. Plus, AI could make managing the inbox much easier.

If you're a CMO or marketing director, this prediction should change your strategy now, before the rollout hits.

I sat down with Joe Cunningham, email marketing consultant working with B2B and SaaS clients, to break down what's coming with the AI inbox and what brands should do to prepare.

Now, keep in mind - the AI inbox won't be a separate inbox. It's a tab. A new way to view your existing inbox, similar to the promotional or social tabs. Personal Gmail accounts will get it first, with business accounts coming later.

And if 60-70% of your subscribers are going to use it when it arrives, you need to prepare now for how it will change engagement signals.

The biggest opportunity before the rollout? Lifecycle marketing.

When you connect your emails directly to subscriber behavior and intent, you survive algorithm changes.

Welcome flows tied to signup actions.
Webinar reminders that reinforce what they'll get out of attending.
Follow-up sequences for booked meetings that affirm their decision before the meeting happens.

These emails get prioritized because they're directly relevant to what the contact just did. The AI in the inbox will recognize the context + relevance and make sure your email gets surfaced.

The second move: stop treating email like a distribution channel. Start treating it like a relationship channel.

Build a brand point of view in the inbox. Which means strategies that invest in the relationship with readers who matter to your pipeline.

Joe also flagged something most people aren't discussing: false positives.

When the AI inbox rolls out, it might mark your emails as "not engaging" simply because subscribers don't see them, not because they don't want them.

Engagement rates are about to get messier. You'll need to prepare to adjust your expectations and stop taking them at face value.

Email isn't going anywhere. It's stable. But a major shift is coming.

We recorded a full 35-minute conversation covering subscriber behavior predictions, lifecycle marketing tactics you can implement now, brand positioning strategies for an AI-filtered world, and the engagement rate problem nobody's preparing for yet.

Watch the full conversation here

Tyler