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An AI-managed custom field is a custom field that AI keeps up to date instead of people typing it in, importing it, or syncing it from a CRM. Today, that AI is an Agent Studio flow you build to fill the field. People can still change the value, but only with a reason. They can also keep their value for a while so a flow doesn’t overwrite it.
Ordinary custom fields are not affected. You can still edit them inline, in bulk, from a CSV import, from a formula, or from a CRM sync.

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Marking a field as AI-managed

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On a new field

  1. Open the Create Field panel. See Creating Custom Fields.
  2. Enter the field name and pick its type.
  3. Tick Maintained by AI.
The checkbox only appears for a supported field type (see below). It goes away if you tick This is a formula field, because a field can’t be both: the formula would overwrite whatever the AI wrote.

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On an existing field

  1. Go to Settings → Object Manager, hover over the field, and click the pencil icon to open Edit Field. See Editing a Field.
  2. Turn on Maintained by AI. To make it an ordinary field again, turn it off.
The switch appears on custom fields of a supported type that aren’t formula fields. It’s always shown on a field that is already AI-managed, so you can turn it off.

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Supported field types

Text, Long Text, Picklist, Picklist Multi, Text List, Number, Decimal, Currency, Percent, Percent Ratio, Boolean, Date, Date & Time, and URL. Lookup, Pill, and Lifecycle Stage fields can’t be AI-managed.

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The Editable switch

On an AI-managed field, the Editable switch in Edit Field is greyed out because it doesn’t apply. People change an AI-managed field by editing it with a reason, as described below.

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Filling the field from a flow

Agent Studio’s custom field actions can write to AI-managed fields. When a flow changes the value, the field’s history shows the change as made by A flow. With Custom Field Populator V2, you can also add a Reason, which appears in the history when the value changes. A flow’s write never holds the field, so a later run can replace it. If a person is holding their own value, the flow skips that field. For details, see Fields maintained by AI in the Agent Studio actions reference.

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Where you can see and change the field

  • Account details page and the Edit Opportunity window: the value is shown with a meta line and a history icon. Click the value to change it.
  • People, project, and task details: the value is read-only.
  • Tables: you can’t edit an AI-managed field in a table cell.
  • New opportunities: the field is read-only until you save the opportunity.

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The meta line

Under the value, a short line names the field and says who set the value. For example: Renewal risk · Flow · 2h. If nothing has written the field since it was marked as AI-managed, there’s no meta line.

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Field history

Click the history icon next to the value to see the field’s history on that record, newest first. Each entry shows:
  • who made the change: A flow or A person
  • how long ago it happened
  • unchanged, if someone saved the value the field already had
  • handed back to the AI, if someone ended their hold early
  • the reason, if one was given

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Changing an AI-managed field

  1. Click the value. The Change dialog for that field opens. If the field has history, the top of the dialog shows who set the current value and the most recent reason.
  2. Enter the new value under New value.
  3. Under Why, say why you’re changing it. The reason is required.
  4. Under Keep my value for, choose how long flows should leave your value alone:
    • Not at all — let the AI update it (selected by default when the field is empty)
    • 7 days
    • 14 days
    • 30 days (recommended) (selected by default when the field already has a value)
  5. Click Save.
Your reason appears in the field’s history, so teammates can see why you changed it. Write it for them: “Customer confirmed on the 12/10 call that they’re renewing” says more than “Fixed”.

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If the value changed while you were editing

If a flow or another person changes the field after you opened the dialog, your change isn’t saved. Statisfy tells you what the field changed to, who changed it, and when. Close the dialog and click the value again to start from the current value.

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Holds

While your value is held, flows skip the field and leave your value in place. A hold doesn’t stop your teammates: anyone can still change the field with a reason. Each time you save a change, your choice under Keep my value for starts a new hold from that moment. If you choose Not at all — let the AI update it, any existing hold ends.

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Ending a hold early

To let flows update the field again before the hold ends:
  1. Click the value to open the Change dialog.
  2. Click Let the AI update this. This button only appears while the field is held.
Your value stays until a flow writes a new one. The field’s history records the change as handed back to the AI. If someone else already ended the hold, Statisfy tells you the value wasn’t being held.

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What else can’t change an AI-managed field

Only Agent Studio’s custom field actions and the Change dialog can write an AI-managed field. Everything else leaves it alone, so an import or a bulk edit can’t overwrite it by accident. To let these write the field again, turn off Maintained by AI on the field.