How Founders Use AI

How people use AI, and the tool for each job.

The AI map of which tool is for which job, checked on 29 October 2026, what changed since July, and every video, thread, guide, podcast and tool behind 278 answered questions on putting AI to work.

The AI map: which tool is for which job, as of 29 October 2026

Models and assistants AI assistants Frontier models Open-weight models Decision models

Building with AI Coding agents App builders Design and presentations Spreadsheets, data and internal tools

Agents and research Agents that do tasks for you AI browsers No-code automation with AI steps Research and search Meeting notes and everyday productivity

Making media Video generation Images Avatars and voice Music and audio Video editing

AI at work Prospecting and sales Marketing, ads and AI search Customer support agents Legal and contracts Finance and accounting Hiring and HR

What changed since July

  1. 28 Oct 2026 GitHub began including Copilot with GitHub Enterprise licences and added projects to the Copilot app, where several agents work across repositories. Coding agents github.blog
  2. 27 Oct 2026 n8n released the 3.0 beta, a reliability and security release with breaking changes; self-hosting now runs on Docker only and the stable release is due in early December. No-code automation with AI steps blog.n8n.io
  3. 27 Oct 2026 Hex released Hex 4.0, rebuilt for analysts and AI agents working together, with a $100 million raise. Spreadsheets, data and internal tools hex.tech
  4. 26 Oct 2026 Replit launched Replit for Business, and the next day Cloud Agents that let non-engineers propose changes to a company codebase. App builders blog.replit.com
  5. 26 Oct 2026 OpenAI released GPT-6.1 Terra at $1 / $5 per million tokens, half the price of GPT-6.1 Sol. Frontier models openai.com
All 108 changes

What founders use most, ranked by how many answers lean on it.

  1. Video Descript Tutorial for Beginners: Edit Video Like a Word Doc YouTube tutorial
  2. Video Edit Like a Pro in Descript (Video Editing Tutorial) YouTube tutorial
  3. Video Why AEO is the future of SEO: insights from Ethan Smith Ethan Smith (Graphite)
  4. Video What is AEO? (Ahrefs AEO Course, Lesson 1) Ahrefs (Sam Oh)
  5. Video How to Rank on ChatGPT, Gemini & AI Search, with ToolJet founder Navaneeth Navaneeth Padanna Kalathil (ToolJet)
  6. Video Product-Led SEO in the AI Era with Eli Schwartz Eli Schwartz (guest)
  7. A working-session version of the product-led answer to AI disruption, with Q&A. searchpilot.com Video SEO's New Playbook: Survive the AI Shift with Product-Led Growth (webinar replay) SearchPilot / Eli Schwartz
  8. Video Ahrefs Brand Radar walkthrough Ahrefs
  9. Video How AI Search Engines Work (Ahrefs AEO Course 1.1) Ahrefs (Sam Oh)
  10. Video How Ranking in Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity Differ (Ahrefs AEO Course 1.2) Ahrefs (Sam Oh)
  11. Video Webflow AEO Case Study (Graphite) Webflow x Graphite
  12. Video How To Win at Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) with Ethan Smith Ethan Smith (Graphite)
  13. Video The AI Search Optimization Roadmap Aleyda Solis
  14. Video Kennan Davison on Icon, the AI Admaker, and Raising from Founders Fund Kennan Davison (interview)
  15. Video Creative Strategy AI Mastery: Prompting to Producing (2025 Guide) Dara Denney
  16. Video How Sarah Levinger Uses Psychology To Scale Meta Ads in 2025 Sarah Levinger (interview)
  17. Video Dara Denney Reveals the Biggest Creative Analysis Mistake Dara Denney
  18. Video Performance Creative: Velocity, AI Tooling, and the Paid-Organic Relationship with Dara Denney Dara Denney (interview)
  19. Video $200K/mo with ONE AI Ad (We tell you HOW) Greg Isenberg (The Startup Ideas Podcast)
  20. Video The Startup Automating 1,000+ Ads a Week (Romain Torres, Arcads) Work In Progress Podcast
  21. Video Are Keywords & Landing Pages DEAD in Google Ads? AI's Impact on PPC with Fred Vallaeys Fred Vallaeys (interview)
  22. A working practitioner debates exactly when to trust Google's automation. optmyzr.com Video PPC in the Age of AI: Amy Hebdon on Control vs. Automation Optmyzr PPC Town Hall
  23. Video The Foundations of Meta Ads Creative Testing You HAVE to Get Right Andrew Faris
  24. Watch what authentic, high-converting creative looks like from the leading AI skeptic. motionapp.com Video Secrets of High-Converting Ads feat. Savannah Sanchez Motion

Show the next 24

Playbooks

A goal, and the route through it a step at a time.

Start using AI well Pick an assistant, learn with it, hand it real work, and keep yourself and your data safe. 5 steps Build your product with AI From a prompt to a shipped product: prototype, build, and wire AI into what you ship. 6 steps Code and ship with AI Write, ship, and maintain real software as a founder, with AI as your pair. 4 steps Design and prototype with AI Go from idea to a clickable prototype without a designer. 3 steps Build AI agents and automations Wire up agents and internal tools that do real work for you. 3 steps Put AI inside your product Ship AI features users actually feel, not a bolted-on chatbot. 3 steps Research your market with AI Size the market, study competitors, and read data in hours, not weeks. 3 steps Market and grow with AI Content, creative, and distribution: fill the top of the funnel without a big team. 5 steps Create content with AI Write, film, and design a content engine that runs without a team. 3 steps Get found in AI search Show up when founders and buyers ask AI, not just Google (AEO/GEO). 3 steps Run ads with AI Brief creatives, read the numbers, and optimize spend with AI. 3 steps Find and serve customers with AI Research the market, prospect, close, and support, with AI doing the heavy lifting. 4 steps Sell and prospect with AI Find leads, personalize outreach, and run better sales calls. 3 steps Support customers with AI Answer faster and deflect tickets without losing the human touch. 3 steps Run the back office with AI The unglamorous grind: workflows, finance, legal, and hiring, automated where it counts. 5 steps Automate your workflows Stitch your tools together so the busywork runs itself. 3 steps Hire and manage your team with AI Source, screen, and onboard faster, and keep the team in sync. 3 steps Handle legal and finance with AI Draft contracts and stay on top of the numbers without a big spend. 2 steps Be more productive with AI Get more done and think sharper with AI as a daily habit. 3 steps Become an AI-native founder The meta-skills: build your stack, prompt well, and use AI to research, think, and decide. 6 steps Build your AI stack Pick the tools worth paying for and the prompts worth reusing. 3 steps

The questions, by topic

Building & Product

Vibe Coding 15 Databases & Internal Tools 11 AI Agents 15 Design & Prototyping 12 AI in Your Product 13

Research & Knowledge

Search & Research 13 Market Research 13 Data Analysis 13

Marketing & Growth

Content Creation 12 Video, Image & Audio 14 Getting Found in AI Search (AEO/GEO) 12 Ads & Performance Marketing 14 Social & Community 12

Sales & Customers

Sales Prospecting 13 Customer Support 6 CRM & Sales Calls 12

Operations & Back-office

Legal & Contracts 13 Finance & Accounting 3 Hiring & HR 3 Productivity 3 Workflows & Automation 3

Strategy & The AI-Native Founder

Fundraising 6 Prompting 3 Building Your AI Stack 3 AI as a Thinking Partner 4

Everyday AI

Choosing Your AI Assistant 8 Learning with AI 7 Working with AI Agents 7 Using AI Safely 8 AI in Indian Languages 7
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