How to Use Maia to Build Automations in Make

A practical field guide from Automation Ace.

Short answer: Maia is Make's AI assistant in the Scenario Builder. Describe what you want in plain language (trigger, apps, steps, rules, and failure handling), let Maia plan and build the scenario or agent, review every module and mapping, test with real data, and then activate it yourself. Maia can also modify existing scenarios and help debug errors.

Short answer

1. Plan the automation first.
2. Describe it to Maia with trigger, apps, rules, and failures.
3. Review the plan and the generated scenario.
4. Test, then activate it yourself.

What Maia is

Make describes Maia as an AI and automation co-worker that turns ideas into scenarios or AI agents through conversation, and that can create, modify, and debug scenarios. At Waves '26, Make said Maia gained the ability to plan before building, remember user preferences, and help resolve errors. Check the Make Help Center for current capabilities, since Maia has been in active development.

What Maia can and cannot do

Step 1: Plan the automation before you prompt

Maia builds what you describe. Spend five minutes writing the trigger, apps and accounts, rules, edge cases, and what should happen on failure. If the process is unclear, map it first; see process mapping.

Step 2: Write a clear request

Build a scenario that:
- Triggers when a new row is added to the "Leads" Google Sheet
- Skips rows where Email is empty
- Searches HubSpot for a contact by email
- If found: updates Lead Source and Last Inquiry Date
- If not found: creates the contact with First name, Last name, Email,
  Company, Lead Source
- Posts to Slack #sales: "New lead: {name} from {company}"
- If any HubSpot step fails: send the row to an "Errors" sheet and
  continue
Use my existing Google, HubSpot, and Slack connections.
Explain your plan before building.

Asking Maia to explain its plan first lets you correct misunderstandings before modules are added.

Step 3: Review the plan and the build

• Check every module: right app, right connection, right action.
• Check mappings and filters, especially data types and empty values.
• Check routers have a fallback route.
• Check error handling exists where you asked for it; see Make error handling.

Step 4: Test before activating

Make's own guidance notes that Maia's output can include bugs or logic errors and suggests testing and reverting to an earlier version if needed. Run once with realistic data, test each route and edge case, and only then activate the scenario yourself. See how to test and debug Make scenarios.

Using Maia to change and fix scenarios

• “Add a filter so only orders over $500 continue.”
• “This HubSpot module fails with a DataError. What is wrong and how do I fix it?”
• “Add an error handler that logs failures to the Errors sheet.”

Keep scenario versions so you can roll back if a change goes wrong.

Credits, credentials, and safety

• Make's docs say chats with Maia consume credits from the same pool as scenarios.
• Never paste API keys or passwords into the chat; use Make connections.
• Review anything that sends messages, deletes data, or calls paid APIs before activating.

Tips for better results

• Build in small pieces: trigger and first steps, test, then extend.
• Name your connections clearly so you can tell Maia which to use.
• Upload a sketch or flow diagram for complex logic.
• Use Maia for AI agents too, then refine the prompt and tools yourself; see building AI agents in Make.
• Compare with AI-built workflows elsewhere; see how AI-built workflows change the builder role.

New to Make? Create a free Make account and try Maia on a small scenario.

Frequently asked questions

What is Maia in Make?

Maia is Make’s AI assistant in the Scenario Builder. Make describes it as an AI and automation co-worker that builds scenarios and AI agents from plain-language prompts and can modify and help debug existing scenarios.

How do I use Maia to build a scenario?

Plan the trigger, apps, rules, edge cases, and failure handling, describe them to Maia and ask it to explain its plan, review every module and mapping, test with realistic data, and then activate the scenario yourself.

Can Maia run or activate scenarios?

According to Make’s documentation at the time of writing, Maia cannot run, activate, or deactivate scenarios and asks you to perform those actions.

Does using Maia cost credits?

Make’s documentation says chats with Maia, including messages and scenario modifications, consume credits from the same pool used for scenarios.

Is Maia’s output always correct?

No. Make notes that Maia may produce scenarios with bugs or logic errors. Review modules and mappings, test before activating, and keep earlier versions to roll back to.