AI Tools for Streamlining Daily Tasks

I've received a few questions on this, so thought I'd share 5 ways I'm using AI in my day-to-day at work to boost productivity, insight, and strategic clarity: Benchmarking: I use AI daily to quickly validate metrics and performance benchmarks. For instance, when reviewing email open rates, I ask ChatGPT (and other LLMs) for industry benchmarks segmented by email types, industries and content. This provides immediate clarity on performance against the rest, and I can see if we're good, great, or have work to do. This information was hard to find or non-existent before and instantly helps builld context. Thought Partner: LLMs elevate my strategic thinking. Whether analyzing competitors or drafting new strategies, I leverage AI to rapidly identify gaps, assess my thoughts against frameworks like "Seven Powers," and run game theory on them with competitive response and market players. It uplevels my thinking and leads to more comprhensive considerations. Deepening Customer Insights: By processing sales call transcripts and meeting notes through AI, I can surface customer pain points and uncover new insights, which improves my understanding of customer needs, sales blockers and messaging that otherwise would be hard to come by. Writing Partner: I use AI to power my writing process—from refining documents to constructing logical, concise, and compelling arguments. It helps draft outlines, provides examples and proof-points to reinforce my assertions, and streamlines my writing. All-in it makes my writing better and faster. Automating Daily Tasks: I use AI-powered tools daily to track competitors, monitor market trends, and check-in on things I care about. It never stops working and so I always have this information available as needed. Today, AI is integral to about half of my workday. And this is just the beginning—there's even more potential to unlock with automations such as reviewing and drafting replies for my emails, prioritizing which documents to review next, and automated meeting prep. How are you integrating AI into your workflow? I'd love to hear what's worked for you.

I took the train up to the office the other day and realized something: I am already using AI almost entirely throughout my day. It wasn’t a conscious shift. It just…happened. A year ago, most AI tools felt like novelty demos. Now? They actually work. Here are the standouts: Granola AI -> Meeting notes that write themselves Granola taps into system audio to record meetings for you so you don't end up with endless meeting bots. It works with every app. The notes I write down end up bolded amongst action items, key takeaways, and everything else. It's super simple and impressive. ChatGPT -> Research, insights, copywriter, thought partner. As an analyst, I’ve been using deep research to analyze markets. I’ll use canvas mode to help with editing, and lately, I’ve been talking to voice mode to help me clarify my thinking. Perplexity AI -> Troubleshooting I’ve found Perplexity particularly good when I run into a troubleshooting issue. The combination of search and how their model works has helped me fix tech issues in my life faster than the other options. Gyroscope -> An AI-powered health coach I snap a picture of my food, and it tells me what I need to know—without judgment. I can send in a menu for quick analysis. But more importantly, it takes my health data and helps drive insights and small changes in a way that would be impossible for a human to do. Cursor -> Writing code I haven’t written much code since high school. Now I have another tool at my disposal that allows me to communicate my thinking with interactive prototypes. It truly feels like magic to code something that would have been impossible for me to do quickly or well just a year ago. These aren’t just cool tools—they’re changing how I work. They help me move faster, iterate better, and focus on the work that actually matters. What are the best AI tools that have found their way into your workflow?

People always ask how I actually use AI in my own workday. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the 3 AI tools I personally use every day — and how they help me stay productive, focused, and sane. A professional chef doesn’t need 100 knives to cook a great meal — they just need 3 or 4 perfect ones. AI works the same way. It’s not about stacking tools — it’s about finding the few that fit your workflow perfectly. 1 . Calendar AI I remember my days managing global teams across time zones. Scheduling became a full-time job itself. Now, I let an AI tool integrated with my calendar handle the jigsaw puzzle of my schedule - optimizing meetings, reducing conflicts, and blocking time for focused work. Pro tip: Train your AI with your preferences. I've taught mine that I need thinking blocks in the morning and prefer meetings after 11 am. 2 . Task AI Having managed teams of 832 people globally, I know the pain of prioritization. I've embedded my criticality-complexity framework into my task management tool - it doesn't just track your to-do list but intelligently prioritizes based on impact, deadlines, and available time. This isn't about handing over control - it's having a strategic partner that helps you focus limited time on what truly matters. 3. Meeting Transcription We've all been in meetings where we're frantically taking notes while trying to meaningfully participate - like trying to drive while texting. AI transcription tools free you to be fully present. They capture everything, generate summaries, and highlight action items. When I run strategic meetings, I assign a "human reviewer" to validate AI notes. The human-AI partnership is where magic happens. The power of these tools isn't in automating tasks - it's in augmenting your capabilities. Used correctly, AI can become your own personal Iron Man suit. What is your favorite AI tool? Let’s share our favorites in the comments.

People have asked me what my AI productivity stack looks like. Here's a list of my 3 best AI tools that I use to scale myself, as a startup founder. 1) Zapier Zapier helps me automate workflows across different apps without coding. Put simply, you can eliminate a lot of mind-numbing, mundane tasks like data entry. I've used it to automate tasks like: (i) pinging users on WhatsApp after they've signed up on Peek, and (ii) updating call summaries into our CRM. They've made it possible to create these workflows by simply telling its AI zap creator what you want it to do. 2) Fireflies.ai As a founder, some days I have to be on calls for hours; with existing clients or onboarding new ones. But taking calls is the easy part. Generating summaries to keep track of what was discussed, and following up on actionable items is where it gets harder to keep up. Fireflies uses AI to help me transcribe, summarize, and follow up on calls with the help of Zapier. 3) Cursor (by Anysphere) I've previously written about how I build mini webapps to validate demand for a feature idea - before committing any engineering time and resources to build it into the product. Cursor is an AI code editor that helps me write code using natural language. So even as a non-technical founder, I can quickly build "minimally viable features" without having to distract my tech team. Personal finance is one area of our lives where AI can help you stay on top of otherwise very messy, and frustrating tasks. At Peek, we're trying to use AI to be your personal CFO. I'm always curious to know how you are using AI tools in your own work to supercharge your productivity. Let me know the best hacks you've discovered!