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 360 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. The official Gemini app, with more than 1 billion downloads. play.google.com Tool Google Gemini on Google Play Google LLC
  2. The official ChatGPT app, with more than 1 billion downloads and in-app plan purchases. play.google.com Tool ChatGPT on Google Play OpenAI
  3. The official Claude app, with more than 50 million downloads. play.google.com Tool Claude by Anthropic on Google Play Anthropic
  4. The official Perplexity app, with more than 10 crore (100 million) downloads. play.google.com Tool Perplexity on Google Play Perplexity AI
  5. Meta's standalone assistant app, with more than 100 million downloads; the same assistant is built into WhatsApp. play.google.com Tool Meta AI on Google Play Meta
  6. Anthropic's course on working with AI well: when to delegate, how to describe a task, and how to judge what comes back. anthropic.skilljar.com Course AI Fluency: Framework & Foundations Anthropic Academy
  7. A free online introduction to AI for non-experts with no complicated maths or programming, plus Building AI for those who want... elementsofai.com Course Elements of AI MinnaLearn and the University of Helsinki
  8. A self-learning programme in two parts, AI Aware and AI Appreciate, that takes about four hours and is available in 11 Indian... ai-for-all.in Course AI For All Digital India, CBSE and Intel
  9. Perplexity's AI browser for Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android, for research and errands across tabs. perplexity.ai Tool Comet Perplexity
  10. A digital worker that browses, researches and builds in the background, including recurring tasks. perplexity.ai Tool Perplexity Computer Perplexity
  11. Manus's rebuilt agent that makes sites, decks and videos on its own cloud computer and runs automations. manus.im Article Introducing Manus 2.0 Manus
  12. Zerodha's own guide to its free Kite MCP, which lets Claude read your Zerodha portfolio and answer questions about it, with... zerodha.com Article Connect your Zerodha account to AI assistants with Kite MCP Zerodha
  13. The regulator's searchable list of registered investment advisers, 1,077 as of 9 November 2026: check any adviser here before... sebi.gov.in Tool SEBI register of Investment Advisers SEBI
  14. The department's own calculator: the place to check any tax figure an AI assistant gives you. incometax.gov.in Tool Income Tax Calculator Income Tax Department
  15. Free, India-first lessons on budgeting, mutual funds, SIPs and insurance, to understand what you ask an AI to calculate. zerodha.com Course Personal Finance module Zerodha Varsity
  16. Google's own list of languages its translation supports, including Kannada, Odia, Assamese and the other Indian languages. cloud.google.com Guide Cloud Translation supported languages Google Cloud
  17. Sarvam's translation models: mayura:v1 for Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu... docs.sarvam.ai Guide Translate text (Sarvam API) Sarvam AI
  18. DeepL's full language list, which now includes Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam and Punjabi but not... support.deepl.com Guide DeepL Translator languages DeepL
  19. DeepL's paid plans: Individual EUR 7.49 a month billed yearly with 300,000 characters and 3 file translations a month, Team EUR... deepl.com Tool DeepL Pro plans DeepL
  20. Apple's guide to the free transcript in Voice Memos: iPhone 12 or later, with the list of supported languages, live while... support.apple.com Article View a Voice Memos transcription on iPhone Apple Support
  21. How to record in Notes and get a searchable transcript you can copy into other documents. support.apple.com Article Record and transcribe audio in Notes on iPhone Apple Support
  22. Google's free Android app that writes speech as text in real time in over 80 languages and dialects, with custom words for... play.google.com Tool Live Transcribe and Sound Notifications Google
  23. Google's limits for uploads: audio up to 10 minutes per prompt on the free plan and up to 3 hours on Google AI Pro or Ultra,... support.google.com Article Upload and analyze files in Gemini Apps Gemini Apps Help
  24. How Word's Transcribe turns uploaded audio (.wav, .mp4, .m4a, .mp3) into a transcript split by speaker, up to 300 minutes a... support.microsoft.com Article Transcribe your recordings Microsoft Support

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 20 Databases & Internal Tools 11 AI Agents 15 Design & Prototyping 14 AI in Your Product 15

Research & Knowledge

Search & Research 16 Market Research 13 Data Analysis 13

Marketing & Growth

Content Creation 14 Video, Image & Audio 27 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 5 Workflows & Automation 3

Strategy & The AI-Native Founder

Fundraising 6 Prompting 4 Building Your AI Stack 5 AI as a Thinking Partner 5

Everyday AI

Choosing Your AI Assistant 15 Learning with AI 8 Working with AI Agents 8 Using AI Safely 9 AI in Indian Languages 8 Quick Fixes for Files, Photos and Video 26 AI for Your Line of Work 12
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