AI can save your team hours of work in Optimove, but every team needs a different level of control. Some teams want AI limited to drafts. Others want it to make bulk changes to the templates and campaigns that are already running.
AI Permissions is a settings page where admins choose, for each role, what AI can do in your account. The settings apply to both the Optimove MCP (for AI assistants such as Claude and ChatGPT) and OptiGenie, Optimove's in-platform AI agent. With the new Edit in use permission, AI can now work on live campaigns and the building blocks they use, not just drafts.
This guide will walk you through how to set AI Permissions for each role, what each permission means, and how AI behaves when it edits something that's in use.
How to Set AI Permissions
Open the AI Permissions Page
Only admins can change AI Permissions.
- Navigate to Settings → AI → AI Permissions.
- Review the Permissions by role table. Each row is a role (Admin, Manager, Marketer, Analyst), and each column is something AI can do.
Choose What AI Can Do for Each Role
Select or clear the checkbox for each role and permission.
- Find the role you want to change.
- Select the checkbox for each permission you want to give AI for that role, or clear it to take the permission away.
- If you turn on a permission marked ⚠, a confirmation opens. Review it, then click Turn on, or click Cancel to keep it off.
Save Your Changes
- Check the footer. It shows Unsaved changes when you have edits that haven't been saved.
- Click Save changes to apply them, or Cancel to discard them.
Changes apply from the next AI request. Users don't need to reconnect their AI assistant or restart OptiGenie. The footer shows who last changed the settings and when.
The Permissions
These are the permissions on the page today. More permissions will appear on this page as they become available.
| Permission | What AI can do | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Create draft | Create campaigns as drafts, and create building blocks such as Target Groups, templates, triggers, and attributes. New building blocks aren't attached to any campaign. | On for all roles |
| Edit | Edit campaign drafts, and building blocks that no live campaign uses. | On for all roles |
| ⚠ Edit in use | Edit live campaigns and the building blocks they use. Turning this on also turns on Edit. | Off for all roles |
The defaults match how AI worked before AI Permissions: it could create drafts and edit things that weren't in use. Nothing changes for your account until an admin changes these settings.
How AI Permissions Works
Every time AI tries to do something, Optimove checks two things: your own role in Optimove, and the AI Permissions setting for that role. AI can act only if both allow it.
- Your role still applies: If your role can't edit campaigns in the Optimove UI, AI can't edit them for you, even if Edit in use is on.
- Both AI products follow the same setting: The Optimove MCP and OptiGenie use the same AI Permissions settings.
- Blocked actions change nothing: If AI isn't allowed to do something, nothing in your account changes and you see this message: "Your account doesn't allow AI to [action] for your role. You can still do this in the Optimove UI."
What does "in use" mean? A building block is in use when a live campaign uses it. Optimove uses the same check as the UI, so if the UI treats something as in use, so does AI.
Editing Live Campaigns and Building Blocks (Edit in use)
When Edit in use is on, AI follows the same rules as the Optimove UI. It can't do anything the UI wouldn't let you do.
| What AI edits | How it works |
|---|---|
| Scheduled campaigns | Can be edited until the campaign reaches Processing. Once a campaign is running, changes apply to future occurrences only. |
| Triggered campaigns | Can be edited. |
| Target Groups | Target Groups used by live campaigns can be edited. |
| Templates | Templates used by live campaigns can be edited. |
| Triggers | Triggers used by live campaigns can be edited. A change affects every campaign that uses the trigger, so AI warns you before making it. |
| Calculated attributes | Published calculated attributes can be edited. |
| Marketing actions | Marketing actions used by live campaigns can be edited. |
| Promotions | A promotion must be deactivated before it can be edited. Everything except the promo code can be changed. |
Use Case Examples
- Bulk template updates: A Manager asks AI to update the footer and legal copy across every live email template before a regulatory deadline, instead of opening each template one by one.
- Tighter control for some roles: An admin keeps Analysts on Create draft only, so AI can build new drafts for an Analyst to share for review, but can't edit existing campaigns or building blocks.
- Quick fixes to running campaigns: A Marketer asks AI to fix a broken link in a live triggered campaign, and the fix applies right away.
FAQ
Does AI Permissions change anything for my account by default?
No. By default, every role has Create draft and Edit turned on and Edit in use turned off. AI worked the same way before AI Permissions existed.
Can AI do something my role can't do in Optimove?
No. AI can only act when both your Optimove role and the AI Permissions setting allow it. AI Permissions can limit what AI does, but it can never give AI more access than your role has.
Do the settings apply to both the Optimove MCP and OptiGenie?
Yes. One setting per role covers both. You can't set different permissions for the Optimove MCP and OptiGenie.
What happens when AI tries something it isn't allowed to do?
Nothing in your account changes, and you see: "Your account doesn't allow AI to [action] for your role. You can still do this in the Optimove UI." Ask your admin if you think your role should have the permission.
Do users need to reconnect after I change a setting?
No. Changes apply from the next AI request, in both the Optimove MCP and OptiGenie.
Can AI activate, stop, or delete campaigns?
Not today. AI can create drafts and, with the right permissions, edit drafts and live campaigns. You still activate, schedule, stop, and delete campaigns yourself in Optimove.
To learn more, see Optimove MCP Connector and OptiGenie. For technical details, see the AI Permissions guide in the Optimove Developer Hub.