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. Video Market research with ChatGPT YouTube creator (AI tutorials)
  2. Video ChatGPT Deep Research: Turn Market Analysis into Revenue (Full Guide) YouTube creator (AI for business)
  3. Video Unlocking ChatGPT's Deep Research: Marketing Innovation w/ HubSpot CMO Kipp Bodnar HubSpot (Kipp Bodnar)
  4. Video How to Use ChatGPT Deep Research: Generate Reports YouTube creator (AI tutorials)
  5. Video How I used ChatGPT to do my niche's market research (in 20 min) YouTube creator (solopreneurship)
  6. One well-constructed research prompt, dissected so you can adapt it. inc.com Article This Single ChatGPT Prompt Can Do Hours of Market Research in Minutes Inc. (Ben Sherry)
  7. A VC's view of the founder use cases where deep research replaces a hired consultant. iaglobal.vc Article How to Grow Your Startup Using ChatGPT Deep Research IA Global VC
  8. Ready-made Perplexity prompts tuned for market questions. useme.com Guide Quick Guide to Perplexity for Market Research (with Prompts) Useme
  9. Nine real tests that show where Perplexity's reports are strong and where they thin out. secondtalent.com Article Perplexity Deep Research Review: 9 Real-World Tests Second Talent
  10. Prompt patterns you can adapt from marketing research to market research. godofprompt.ai Guide 10 ChatGPT Deep Research Prompts For Marketing God of Prompt
  11. Covers Gemini's killer feature: editing the research plan before the agent runs. digitalapplied.com Guide Google Gemini Deep Research: Complete Guide Digital Applied
  12. The gentlest on-ramp if deep research agents are new to you. exploreaitogether.com Guide How to Use Gemini Deep Research: Complete Beginner's Guide Explore AI Together
  13. Business-research-specific comparison including cost per useful report. aryabhconsulting.com Article Deep Research AI Tools Comparison: Gemini vs ChatGPT vs Perplexity for Business Research Aryabh Consulting
  14. Video How To Talk To Users | Startup School Y Combinator (Gustaf Alströmer)
  15. The same essential material in audio form for commute listening. open.spotify.com Podcast How to Talk to Users with Gustaf Alströmer | Startup School (podcast) Y Combinator
  16. Video [The Mom Test] AI can't run your customer interviews (but it *can* help in other ways) Rob Fitzpatrick
  17. Video Ailyze Tutorial: Turn Interview Transcripts Into Themes & Visuals Instantly Ailyze
  18. Video This AI Transcribes & Analyzes Interviews in Minutes YouTube creator (research tools)
  19. A ready question bank that keeps your AI-drafted guides non-leading. getperspective.ai Guide 60 Customer Discovery Questions (Mom Test-Approved) Perspective AI
  20. Updates Mom Test practice for the AI-moderated interview era. koji.so Article The Mom Test for Customer Interviews: How to Ask Questions That Get Real Answers Koji
  21. An honest technical account of what LLM qualitative analysis gets right and wrong. skimle.com Article Using ChatGPT and other LLMs to analyse interviews and qualitative data Skimle
  22. A reusable Claude workflow that converts messy transcripts into themes and actions in 90 seconds. sidsaladi.substack.com Article AI User Research Skill 101: A Claude Skill That Turns Raw Interview Dumps Into Themes Sid Saladi
  23. A copy-paste transcript analysis prompt to start with before building anything fancier. genaiuniversity.com Guide Analyze Transcripts with Claude AI (Free Prompt) GenAI University
  24. Shows Claude Code processing many interviews in parallel, the power-user version of this workflow. marketbetter.ai Article AI Customer Interview Analysis: Mining Discovery Calls for Intel with Claude Code MarketBetter

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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