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 Understanding SAFE Notes: A Simple Guide for Startup Founders Startup finance educator (YouTube)
  2. Video SAFE Notes Explained: 'Unsafe' for Startups? Startup finance channel (YouTube)
  3. Video How to understand the YC SAFE and dilution (Ep 35) Uncapped Notes
  4. Video Navigating Due Diligence in Startup Fundraising VC educator (YouTube)
  5. Video Data room: what documents investors expect from startups VC/founder educator (YouTube)
  6. Video Data Room for Startups 101: What It Is and How to Build It Startup educator (YouTube)
  7. Video Supporting Contract Negotiation with AI (AI for Small Businesses Course) AI for Small Businesses course (YouTube)
  8. Video Testing Claude in Excel: Building a Three-Statement Financial Model Corporate Finance Institute (CFI)
  9. Video How to Use Claude to Build INSANE Financial Models (2026) Nicolas Boucher (AI Finance Club)
  10. Video Master Claude for Excel in 10 Minutes: Financial Modeling Ali H. Salem
  11. Honest hands-on review with an embedded 'watch me try it' video, showing three real workflows: partner calls, interviews, and... feisworld.com Video I Spent 10 Years Taking Bad Notes. This AI Changed Everything (Granola review + video) Fei Wu (Feisworld Media)
  12. Video AI Email Tools 2026: I Tested 4 Apps to Hit Inbox Zero (Honest Results) Independent YouTube reviewer
  13. Video The Shortwave Method (video) Shortwave
  14. Video How I use AI to save 10+ hours per week Ali Abdaal
  15. Video The exact AI playbook (MCPs, custom GPTs, Granola) that saved ElevenLabs $100k+ and helps them ship daily, Luke Harries How I AI (Claire Vo, Lenny's network)
  16. Video How To Perfectly Pitch Your Seed Stage Startup (Michael Seibel) Y Combinator (Michael Seibel)
  17. One of the most trusted software educators walks the whole Gamma workflow, including building a pitch deck from scratch. kevinstratvert.com Video Gamma App Tutorial: The Ultimate AI Design Tool for Presentations Kevin Stratvert
  18. Video The Skill That Separates AI Power Users From Everyone Else (Why "Clear" Specs Produce Broken Output) Nate B Jones (AI News & Strategy Daily)
  19. Video AI prompt engineering in 2025: What works and what doesn't | Sander Schulhoff Lenny's Podcast
  20. Video Creating a contextual workspace in ChatGPT OpenAI
  21. Video ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini: The Best AI for Each Use Case in 2025 Peter Yang (Creator Economy)
  22. Video How I AI: Zapier's CEO shares his personal AI stack (Wade Foster) Claire Vo, How I AI (Lenny's network)
  23. Video AI as Your New Strategic Thought Partner, Jeremy Utley (Stanford) Jeremy Utley on Proof of Work: Applied AI Case Studies
  24. Video "Dumbest idea I've heard" to $100M ARR: Inside the rise of Gamma | Grant Lee Lenny's Podcast

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
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →