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. OpenAI's open-source speech recognition model, which you install and run on your own machine, so a confidential recording never... github.com Tool Whisper OpenAI (open source)
  2. Adobe's free browser editor for text boxes, comments, highlights, form fields and signatures; changing existing text needs... adobe.com Tool Free online PDF editor Adobe
  3. An open-source PDF editor with 60+ tools that runs on your own machine or server, for people who do not want sensitive files on... stirling.com Tool Stirling PDF Stirling
  4. Apple's steps for merging: show thumbnails, drag pages between documents or drag a whole PDF from Finder, and duplicate the... support.apple.com Article Combine PDFs in Preview on Mac Apple Support
  5. How to insert, delete and reorder pages, and move pages from one PDF to another, which is also how you split a document. support.apple.com Article Add, delete, or move PDF pages in Preview on Mac Apple Support
  6. A free, open-source desktop app that splits, merges, rotates, mixes and extracts pages on your own computer, with no watermarks... pdfsam.org Tool PDFsam Basic PDFsam
  7. Adobe's free online merge tool; the page states files are handled on Adobe's servers and deleted unless you sign in to save them. adobe.com Tool Merge PDFs for free Adobe
  8. Adobe's free online splitter for dividing one PDF into several files in the browser. adobe.com Tool Split PDF files for free Adobe
  9. The free Basic plan covers the essential tools with limited processing; Premium is 500 INR billed monthly or 2,900 INR a year,... ilovepdf.com Tool iLovePDF pricing iLovePDF
  10. Apple's free editor for iPhone and iPad, for joining clips, adding titles and music. apps.apple.com Tool iMovie on the App Store Apple
  11. YouTube's library of royalty-free music and sound effects in YouTube Studio, the safe source of a soundtrack for a video you... support.google.com Article Use music and sound effects from the Audio Library YouTube Help
  12. Anthropic's limits for files in chat: up to 20 files per chat, 500 MB a file, and PDFs up to 1,000 pages. support.claude.com Article Upload files to Claude Anthropic
  13. How to turn off Improve the model for everyone, which is on by default for Free, Plus and Pro, so your uploads are not used for... help.openai.com Article Data controls in ChatGPT OpenAI Help Center
  14. Photo Unblur on Pixel 4a and later (4 GB of RAM or more): open the photo, tap Edit, then Actions, then Unblur. support.google.com Article Edit a photo or video on your Pixel phone Google Photos Help
  15. A free, open-source AI image upscaler for Linux, macOS and Windows that runs on your own computer. github.com Tool Upscayl Upscayl (open source)
  16. 10 free credits on sign-up with a watermark on free results; Starter is $9 a month billed annually ($12 monthly) for 100 credits. letsenhance.io Tool Let's Enhance pricing Let's Enhance
  17. Apple's steps for Shift-Command-5: record the whole screen, a window or a selected part, with your microphone. support.apple.com Guide How to record the screen on Mac Apple
  18. Windows' built-in video snip (Windows key + Shift + R), with captions and an Edit in Clipchamp option. support.microsoft.com Guide Use Snipping Tool to capture screenshots and recordings Microsoft
  19. Free, open-source recording and live streaming for Windows, Mac and Linux. obsproject.com Tool OBS Studio OBS Project
  20. The official setup for a first recording: sources, scenes, audio and output settings. obsproject.com Guide OBS quick start guide OBS Project
  21. Free Starter with 25 videos of up to 5 minutes; Business at $18 a user a month for unlimited videos, with a discount billed... loom.com Tool Loom pricing Loom (Atlassian)
  22. A Mac recorder for product demos that handles zooms, motion and framing; $29 a month or $9 a month billed yearly. screen.studio Tool Screen Studio Screen Studio
  23. How to save a PDF or image as another file type from Preview's File > Export menu. support.apple.com Article Export PDFs and images in Preview on Mac Apple Support
  24. Adobe's free online PDF to DOCX converter. Your file is handled on Adobe's servers and deleted unless you sign in to save it. adobe.com Tool Convert PDF to Word for free Adobe

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
eChai Partner Brands The partnership →