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 own page on turning study mode on by web, iOS and Android, what to put in your first message, and example prompts. help.openai.com Guide Using study mode in ChatGPT OpenAI Help Center In 3 answers
  2. Mollick's way to decide when to delegate (your time against the time to brief and check) and the six questions a good brief... oneusefulthing.org Article Management as AI superpower Ethan Mollick (One Useful Thing) In 3 answers
  3. Step-by-step setup: eligibility, naming your dot, giving it tasks and reviewing what is in progress, scheduled and done. help.openai.com Guide Getting started with your dot OpenAI Help Center In 3 answers
  4. OpenAI's page on what is used for training by default and how Temporary Chat keeps a conversation out of history and training. help.openai.com Guide Data controls in ChatGPT OpenAI In 3 answers
  5. OpenAI's test of 2,278 questions on Indian culture in 12 languages including Hinglish, written by 261 Indian experts, and why... openai.com Article Introducing IndQA OpenAI In 3 answers
  6. The launch report on Indus: typed or spoken questions with text and audio answers, and the limits it shipped with. techcrunch.com Article India's Sarvam launches Indus AI chat app as competition heats up TechCrunch In 3 answers
  7. The Indus app listing: chat in Hindi, English, Tamil or a mix, tap the mic to speak, and hosting in India. play.google.com Tool Indus by Sarvam Sarvam AI (Google Play) In 3 answers
  8. Lovable's plan table: Free gives 5 build credits a day (up to 30 a month) plus a daily chat allowance; Pro starts at $25 a... docs.lovable.dev Tool Lovable subscription plans Lovable In 3 answers
  9. Replit's plans: Core at $20 a month ($18 billed yearly) with Free Mode chat and $20 toward stronger models, Pro at $100;... replit.com Tool Replit pricing Replit In 3 answers
  10. Bolt's plans: Free with daily limits and no card, Pro at $25 a month with your own domain, Teams at $30 a member. bolt.new Tool Bolt pricing StackBlitz In 3 answers
  11. OpenAI's Codex plan page: Free for quick tasks, Go at $8, Plus at $20 (web, CLI, IDE and iOS), Pro from $100 in $100, $200 and... learn.chatgpt.com Tool Codex pricing OpenAI In 3 answers
  12. Microsoft 365 Personal at ₹6,899 a year or ₹689 a month, with Copilot in the PowerPoint, Word and Excel desktop apps. microsoft.com Tool Compare Microsoft 365 plans (India) Microsoft In 3 answers
  13. Canva's own plan page: Free with limited AI, Pro US$144 a year with 10x the AI allowance of Free, Business US$250 a year per... canva.com Tool Canva pricing: Free, Pro, Business and Enterprise Canva In 3 answers
  14. Cuts long videos and podcasts into captioned vertical clips: free plan, Starter $15 a month, Pro $29. opus.pro Tool OpusClip pricing OpusClip In 3 answers
  15. An Indian app with two AI teammates: Tara plans a month of posts, makes images and reels and runs Meta ads; Ved answers... interakt.shop Tool SOLO by Interakt: an AI business team app for small businesses Interakt (Jio Haptik) In 3 answers
  16. The report that named CapCut among the 47 apps India banned in July 2020, which is why it is not an option here. inc42.com Article Xiaomi Browser, ByteDance's CapCut among 47 Chinese apps banned by India Inc42 In 3 answers
  17. Free at 10,000 credits a month; Starter $6 a month with a commercial licence and instant cloning; Creator $22 with professional... elevenlabs.io Tool ElevenLabs pricing ElevenLabs In 3 answers
  18. Free to start; Hobbyist $16 a month billed yearly for watermark-free 1080p exports, for editing a talking video by editing its... descript.com Tool Descript pricing Descript In 3 answers
  19. Workspace in rupees, billed monthly: Business Starter Rs 270 a user a month with Gemini in Gmail and company data kept out of... workspace.google.com Tool Google Workspace pricing (India) Google In 3 answers
  20. Business plans in rupees: Microsoft 365 Business Standard with Copilot Rs 1,955 a user a month paid yearly, and the Copilot... microsoft.com Tool Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing for business (India) Microsoft In 3 answers
  21. YouTube's own page listing every language automatic captions cover, including Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam,... support.google.com Article Use automatic captioning YouTube Help In 3 answers
  22. Edge, the default PDF reader on Windows: highlight, mark up, add text and save, plus Copilot summaries and translation in a... microsoft.com Tool Microsoft Edge PDF reader Microsoft In 3 answers
  23. Google's guide to Magic Eraser, Unblur, portrait blur and suggested enhancements, with the device requirements (at least 3 GB... support.google.com Article Edit your photos (Android) Google Photos Help In 3 answers
  24. The founding document of the whole movement, in his own words. x.com Thread Karpathy's original 'vibe coding' post Andrej Karpathy 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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