The AI Stack I Actually Use (and What Each Tool Is Best At)

Most people only use AI for one thing.

The funny part is that everyone uses it for a different one thing.w of where each tool fits.

The big three most people already know

These are the tools most professionals have already touched in some form.

ChatGPT

Some people use AI to write emails.
Others use it to summarize meetings.
Others use it as a search engine.
A few use it for coding or analysis.

Almost no one uses it as a stack.

That is the missed opportunity.

AI is not a single product. It is a set of specialized tools, each good at different kinds of thinking. Treating them as interchangeable is like trying to run operations with only a hammer.

Over time, I have settled into a stack I actually use week to week. Not because it is trendy, but because each tool earns its place by solving a specific problem faster or better than the others.

This is not a tech review.
It is an operator’s vie
This is my everyday workhorse.

Writing, brainstorming, drafting, refining, editing, restructuring, analysis, light coding. If my brain had an external processor, this would be it.

I use it when I need speed, clarity, iteration, or help getting something from rough to polished. It excels at forward motion.

Microsoft Copilot
Copilot shines if your day lives inside Outlook, Teams, Excel, SharePoint, and PowerPoint.

It is not always the most creative, but it is deeply practical inside corporate workflows. For organizations that need AI to live inside approved systems, this is often the most realistic starting point.

Google Gemini
Gemini shows up everywhere inside Google’s ecosystem.

It is particularly useful for quick factual lookups, fast email replies, document cleanup, and lightweight questions when you do not want to open a separate tool. Think convenience, not depth.

The tools most people do not realize they are missing

This is where AI starts to feel less like a novelty and more like leverage.

Perplexity
Hands down the fastest research assistant I have used.

When I need sources, summaries, and synthesis quickly, this replaces hours of manual searching. It is built for answering questions with context, not just generating text.

Claude
Claude is where I go for deep thinking.

Long-form analysis, nuance, careful reasoning, and structured writing. When ChatGPT feels too fast or surface-level, Claude slows things down in a good way.

NotebookLM
This one is criminally underused.

Upload your documents, PDFs, transcripts, handbooks, or notes, and it becomes an analyst that understands your material. Not generic knowledge. Your knowledge.

This is where institutional memory starts to get interesting.

Grammarly
Not exciting, but essential.

This is the safety net. It catches avoidable errors before they ship. When output quality matters, this tool quietly earns its keep.

Midjourney
Still the gold standard for creative images.

When visuals matter and you do not want them to scream “AI-generated,” this is the tool I trust most.

Zapier and n8n
Automation for people who do not want to do busywork.

I am still not great at this layer, but every time I invest the effort, it pays back in hours saved. These tools connect systems and remove repetitive tasks once you get them dialed in.

Notion
My second brain.

Notes, projects, frameworks, and documentation, with AI built in. This is where ideas live long enough to become systems instead of disappearing after meetings.

Grok
The most personality of any model I use.

Surprisingly good with spreadsheets, comparisons, and pattern recognition. It has a different way of framing problems that can be useful when you feel stuck in one mental lane.

DeepSeek
The transparency king.

When I want to see how conclusions are reached, not just the answer, this is where I go. It shows its work better than anything else I have used.

Why this matters for operators

The point is not to use every tool.

The point is to stop expecting one tool to do everything.

Different tools are optimized for different cognitive tasks. Writing is not research. Research is not analysis. Analysis is not automation. Automation is not creativity.

Once you start matching tools to problems instead of habits, AI stops feeling gimmicky and starts feeling useful.

Just like in operations.

You would not use the same process for leasing, maintenance, compliance, and capital planning. AI is no different.

Different tools. Different jobs. One integrated system.

That is where the real leverage lives.