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. Independent evidence of a full working spreadsheet built from a single prompt. x.com Thread Ethan Mollick: Claude's Excel ability is the best I have seen (406 formulas from one prompt) Ethan Mollick
  2. Why the same model gives different quality depending on how the spreadsheet agent works. x.com Thread Ethan Mollick: Claude in Excel vs Microsoft's own Excel agent Ethan Mollick
  3. A skeptical outside view on where the add-in fits against Copilot. techradar.com Article Anthropic's Claude just invaded Excel TechRadar Pro
  4. A veteran analyst's balanced scorecard, useful before you trust it with your model. dataanalysis.substack.com Article Claude for Excel: What It Does Well and Where It Still Falls Short Olga Berezovsky (Data Analysis Journal)
  5. Google's own map of what Gemini can do inside Sheets, from charts to insights. workspace.google.com Guide Gemini in Google Sheets (official hub) Google Workspace
  6. The reference for =AI("prompt", range), the single most useful Sheets AI primitive. support.google.com Guide Use the AI function in Google Sheets Google
  7. The primary-source changelog on Gemini generating and filling data in Sheets. workspaceupdates.googleblog.com Article Generate data with Gemini in Google Sheets Google Workspace Updates
  8. Video How to Use the NEW Google Sheets AI Function Peter's Google Tips
  9. Video Use the AI Function in Google Sheets Flipped Classroom Tutorials
  10. Video Work Smarter with Google Sheets AI (Gemini Tutorial) Stewart Gauld
  11. Worked examples of categorizing and summarizing data in cells without add-ons. kdnuggets.com Article A Beginner's Guide to Mastering Gemini + Google Sheets KDnuggets
  12. Video How to Use Copilot in Excel: Full Tutorial (2025) Lisa Crosbie
  13. An India-based data community's practical walkthrough with prompt examples. analyticsvidhya.com Article How to Use Gemini in Google Sheets Analytics Vidhya
  14. Measured accuracy of AI spreadsheets on identical tasks, a reminder to check AI totals before you use them. rows.com Article Introducing the AI Spreadsheet Benchmark Rows
  15. Explains how schema-aware SQL generation actually works and its real accuracy numbers. builder.ai2sql.io Guide Text-to-SQL Complete Guide: Tools, Accuracy, Real Examples AI2SQL
  16. Covers the metadata-only options that never send your actual rows to the model. selectstar.com Article Best Text-to-SQL Tools for AI Analytics Select Star
  17. The best-known open-source route to chatting with your own SQL database. vanna.ai Tool Vanna 2.0: build agents your users can actually use Vanna AI
  18. Video Vanna AI: Build SQL AI Chatbots To Talk To Database (open source) Universe of AI
  19. Video Text to SQL with Ollama and Vanna, locally, with any database Fahd Mirza
  20. Video Vanna: Chat (RAG) With SQL Databases MG
  21. A database performance veteran connects Claude straight to Postgres, no code layer. kylehailey.com Article Natural Language Access to Postgres with Claude Desktop and MCP Kyle Hailey
  22. The security-first version: least-privilege roles and network isolation done right. tailscale.com Guide Securely connect Claude Code to Postgres via MCP Tailscale
  23. A step-by-step Docker setup an ops-minded founder can follow in an evening. opstree.com Guide The Ultimate Guide to Postgres MCP for Claude Desktop OpsTree
  24. The fastest no-code path if you just want to ask your database questions today. windsor.ai Guide How to Connect PostgreSQL to Claude in 1 Minute (No-Code MCP) Windsor.ai

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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