The AI tools I actually use in 2026

⏳ Read time: ~4 minutes

Two new podcast episodes on AI dropped this week.

Here's what's in them.

I SPENT MONTHS CHASING THE BEST AI TOOL.

Wrong move.

The tool doesn't matter if you're feeding it nothing.

Every time I switched platforms, I started from scratch.

Twenty minutes explaining who I am before getting anything useful.

The fix isn't finding the right tool.

It's building the source material that those tools run on.

I recorded two episodes this week covering exactly this.

The first is about what to build before you open any AI tool. The second is the tools I'm actually using right now.

EPISODE: BUILD YOUR AI BRAIN

The system I use is a Google Drive folder structure. Every time I start a new project in Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini, I drop in the relevant files and skip the setup entirely.

What's in the folders:

Audience profiles: who they are, what they fear, what earns their attention

About me: I had AI interview me with 100 questions. That whole conversation lives in one document.

Brand voice and style guide: tone, language, how I write and speak

Frameworks: the Trust Engine, the Franchise Buyer Journey.

My core beliefs are what AI draws from.

Interview transcripts: every podcast episode cleaned up and stored

Stories: career moments and specific examples I return to often

Goals and strategy: values, purpose, working style

Testimonials: franchisee feedback and client results

FAQs: the questions I keep getting asked, so I stop re-explaining them every session

Build this once. When a new tool launches and everyone switches, you're not starting over. Drop in the files and go.

EPISODE: AI TOOLS I ACTUALLY USE IN 2026

No affiliate deals. No paid mentions. These are the tools I use weekly or daily.

Opus Clip (https://opus.pro): Takes long-form video and cuts it into short clips using AI.

The agent now builds clips with voiceovers and B-roll in around 20 minutes.

Google NotebookLM (https://notebooklm.google.com): I have a personal brand notebook with every interview I've done inside it.

I ask it for LinkedIn post ideas and get results fast.

ChatGPT (https://chat.openai.com): I still use it.

The Codex product for coding is strong. Anyone who says they've fully moved on is probably exaggerating.

WhisprFlow (https://whisperflow.app): I dictate into it.

Four times faster than typing. I wrote the first draft of my book this way.

Claude (https://claude.ai): Better for writing in my opinion.

Cowork lets you run tasks without being involved.

Claude Code is worth learning if you want to build prototypes without a developer.

Descript (https://www.descript.com): I record my podcast into it.

The Overlord agent edits video from a text prompt. Still a bit buggy but it works.

Google Gemini (https://gemini.google.com): My go-to for images.

Give it three reference examples and a short prompt.

Don't write long detailed prompts. Examples do the work.

Genspark (https://www.genspark.ai): Good if you don't want multiple subscriptions.

One platform with access to multiple models.

SuperGrok (https://grok.com): Runs four research agents in parallel.

I use it when I want verified stats, not AI-generated guesses.

Repurpose.io (https://repurpose.io): Distributes video across platforms.

You control what goes where and when. Saves the team a lot of manual work.

Each week, I interview marketing experts or share insights from the strategies I have used to help grow Jim’s by 2,000+ franchisees.

Listen on Spotify and iTunes.

If you would like to be a guest or would like me to cover a specific subject in an episode, please reply to this email.

Before you go…

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