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. Basic free with 300 transcription minutes a month and live transcription; Pro from $8.49 a user a month billed yearly ($16.99... otter.ai Tool Otter pricing Otter.ai In 2 answers
  2. OpenAI's guide to prompting the GPT-6 family: give domain context, constraints and success criteria rather than every step, and... developers.openai.com Guide Using GPT-6 OpenAI In 2 answers
  3. Gems become skills for personal accounts from November 2026: reusable instructions you call with / in any chat. support.google.com Guide About the transition from Gems to skills Google Gemini Help In 2 answers
  4. A tested map of AI tools by job (chatbots, automation, search, content, meetings) to fill in once the first three jobs work. zapier.com Article The best AI productivity tools in 2026 Zapier In 2 answers
  5. Google's student offer as shown in India: a student plan at no cost for 1 year, with higher limits, 400 GB of storage and video... gemini.google Tool Gemini for students Google In 2 answers
  6. Google's steps to make Gemini your Android assistant (Google app as default assist app, then power button or 'Hey Google'), and... support.google.com Guide Get started with the Gemini mobile app Google Gemini Help In 2 answers
  7. Perplexity's plan page: Pro $17 a month billed yearly and Max $167 a month billed yearly, with the choice of models from... perplexity.ai Tool Perplexity Pro and Max Perplexity In 2 answers
  8. The US plans: Microsoft 365 Personal $9.99 a month, Family $12.99, Premium $19.99 with the advanced Copilot features, Pro $99.99. microsoft.com Tool Microsoft Copilot plans for individuals Microsoft In 2 answers
  9. The Chrome extension on paid plans that lets Claude read a page and act on it (click, type, fill forms) with your own logins. claude.com Tool Claude in Chrome Anthropic In 2 answers
  10. Clipchamp's subtitle feature: AI transcribes the audio, you edit the words and style the font, colour and position, then... clipchamp.com Tool Auto subtitle generator Microsoft Clipchamp In 2 answers
  11. How to add, upload or type subtitles for your own video in YouTube Studio, the step after automatic captions have been generated. support.google.com Article Add subtitles and captions YouTube Help In 2 answers
  12. A free, open-source subtitle editor for Windows and macOS: create, time and fix subtitle files on your own computer, so the... github.com Tool Subtitle Edit Subtitle Edit (open source) In 2 answers
  13. OpenAI's own page: documents and images upload on every plan, but audio uploads are for paid plans only, with files up to 512 MB. help.openai.com Article Uploading files and audio to ChatGPT OpenAI Help Center In 2 answers
  14. Apple's steps for typing into form fields, adding a text box when a form will not take typing, and creating a signature with... support.apple.com Article Fill out and sign PDF forms in Preview on Mac Apple Support In 2 answers
  15. Says plainly that Preview cannot edit a PDF's existing text, and lists its markup tools, including Redaction Selection for... support.apple.com Article Annotate a PDF in Preview on Mac Apple Support In 2 answers
  16. Apple's steps to trim a clip in Photos and save it as a new clip so the original stays, plus speed and audio edits. support.apple.com Article Trim video length, adjust speed, and edit audio on iPhone Apple Support In 2 answers
  17. A free professional editor for editing, colour, effects and audio in one app; the paid Studio version is listed at $236. blackmagicdesign.com Tool DaVinci Resolve Blackmagic Design In 2 answers
  18. Topaz's plan page, including Topaz for Web Image at $19 a month for unblur, sharpen, denoise and upscale, and video plans. topazlabs.com Tool Topaz Labs plans Topaz Labs In 2 answers
  19. Google's steps for Open with Google Docs, the 2 MB file limit, and what formatting survives; the language list includes Hindi,... support.google.com Article Convert PDF and photo files to text Google Drive Help In 2 answers
  20. What Premium adds over the free checker: 20,000+ extra checks for several languages, longer texts and unlimited sentence... languagetool.org Tool LanguageTool Premium LanguageTool In 2 answers
  21. The free plan includes basic grammar fixes and 125-word paraphrasing; Premium is $8.33 a month billed annually. quillbot.com Tool QuillBot Premium QuillBot In 2 answers
  22. How Google's invisible watermark is added to AI images and video and is designed to stand up to cropping, filters and compression. deepmind.google Article Google SynthID Google DeepMind In 2 answers
  23. The free plan includes a plagiarism check and an AI content detector, each up to 1,000 words. quetext.com Tool Quetext pricing Quetext In 2 answers
  24. Apple's Preview app on iPhone, which opens, scans and edits pages of PDFs. support.apple.com Article Scan text and documents in Preview on iPhone Apple Support In 2 answers

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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