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 D2C Masterclass with Shantanu Deshpande: Business Fundamentals The BarberShop with Shantanu
  2. Video The New Way of Making Content in the Age of AI Alex Hormozi
  3. Video Lara Acosta: How to Grow on LinkedIn and Build a Personal Brand That Lasts Lara Acosta (interview)
  4. Video From Zero to LinkedIn Hero: Lara Acosta's Guide to Rapid Growth Lara Acosta (interview)
  5. The operator who built LinkedIn programs for 50+ B2B companies shares the extraction-interview method. goextrovert.com Video Founder-Led Marketing That Feeds Pipeline (Finn Thormeier) Extrovert x Finn Thormeier
  6. Video How AI and Deepfakes Are Changing Content Creation, with Varun Mayya Varun Mayya x Shantanu
  7. Video Alex Hormozi's Advice on Content Creation Alex Hormozi (interview clip)
  8. Video Building in Public with Karthik 'KP' Puvvada Founders Found Here
  9. Video Clay 101 | Lesson 4: Enrich Companies Using Waterfalls Clay
  10. Video Eric Nowoslawski: Full outbound stack overview for 2026 Eric Nowoslawski (Growth Engine X)
  11. Video Leveraging AI in Outbound Sales - Eric Nowoslawski Eric Nowoslawski (Growth Engine X)
  12. Video Eric Nowoslawski from Growth Engine X: Clay & AI Powered Cold Email Eric Nowoslawski (Growth Engine X)
  13. Video Apollo.io AI Tutorial: Build Lead Lists & Personalized Cold Emails at Scale Independent GTM creator (YouTube)
  14. Video Is Apollo.io the ONLY lead gen tool you need in 2025? Independent GTM creator (YouTube)
  15. Video How to Personalize at Scale Becc Holland (Flip the Script)
  16. Video How to Build an Outbound Sequence with Personalization (ft. Becc Holland) Becc Holland (Flip the Script)
  17. Video How to overcome prospect resistance: Josh Braun's 4T cold email framework Josh Braun
  18. Video How to Use AI for Prospecting Executives (Kyle Coleman, Copy.ai) Kyle Coleman (Copy.ai)
  19. Video How AI will redefine cold email in 2025 | Instantly Masterclass Instantly.ai
  20. Video Apollo.io Lead Generation Tutorial 2025: Tips for Finding Target Prospects Independent GTM creator (YouTube)
  21. Video How to Use Apollo.io (2025) | Complete & Easy Tutorial For Beginners Independent GTM creator (YouTube)
  22. Video (Apollo.io 2026) B2B Lead Generation Tutorial For Beginners Independent GTM creator (YouTube)
  23. Video Forget Apollo, Use AI to Generate Leads in 2025 Independent GTM creator (YouTube)
  24. Video Artisan: Stop Hiring Humans, with Jaspar Carmichael-Jack Jaspar Carmichael-Jack (Artisan)

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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