Start with one general assistant
A general AI assistant such as ChatGPT, Claude, Google Gemini or Microsoft Copilot covers most writing, summarising and analysis jobs. Pick the one that fits the software you already use; see choosing an AI assistant.
Then use the AI already in your tools
Many tools you may already pay for now include AI features. Check before buying anything new:
- Email and documents: AI features in Google Workspace and Microsoft 365.
- Design: Canva’s AI tools for images, resizing and text.
- Writing: Grammarly for tone and clarity.
- Accounting: AI features in QuickBooks and Xero for categorising and reconciling.
- CRM and marketing: AI features in HubSpot and similar platforms.
Tools by job
| Job | What helps | Playbook |
|---|---|---|
| Customer emails | General assistant with your templates | Reply to customer emails |
| Meetings | Meeting note-takers such as Otter.ai or Fireflies.ai, or built-in Zoom and Teams features | Meetings into tasks |
| Social posts | General assistant plus Canva | Social media posts |
| Product copy | General assistant with your product data | Product descriptions |
| Bookkeeping | AI inside your accounting software | Categorise expenses |
| Website questions | A chatbot trained on your own documents | FAQ chatbot |
| Repetitive admin | Automation tools such as Zapier or Make | Data entry from PDFs |
Before you pay for any AI tool
- Run a two-week trial on one real task and measure the time saved with our time savings calculator.
- Check data handling: where your data goes and whether it trains the model. See keeping customer data safe.
- Check it fits your stack: does it connect to your email, calendar and files?
- Keep a human check on anything a customer sees.
Not sure where to begin? Take the AI readiness check.
