The tools we teach

The safe default for Microsoft-shop employees, free with most M365 plans and covered by Enterprise Data Protection the moment you sign in with your work account.

The ~$30/user/mo upgrade that grounds in your work data: Excel cleans data and builds PivotTables, Outlook triages and drafts replies, human-in-the-loop.

The most flexible no-install assistant; Projects are free and Tasks run prompts on a schedule, use Temporary Chat or a Business workspace for sensitive data.

Strongest for long-document analysis and on-brand, reusable output, Projects hold your style guide so every draft matches house voice.

The native assistant for Google shops, drafts email, builds and cleans Sheets from plain English; Gems are reusable custom assistants.

Upload your own docs and get answers grounded only in those sources, with citations, the beginner-safe way to digest a policy pack without hallucination.

Fastest path for the simplest 2-step glue across 8,000+ apps; free tier covers starters, but per-task billing gets pricey, the cue to graduate to Make or n8n.

The value sweet spot for visual multi-step workflows with branching and loops, ~3-5x cheaper than Zapier at volume, gentler than n8n.

The IT-sanctioned default for Microsoft shops, free in the M365 license, native to Outlook/SharePoint/Teams; watch the standard-vs-premium connector line.

One option among many, the technical/high-volume/data-control pick: self-host for unlimited runs at VPS cost and keep data in your own infrastructure. Not for employees who can’t install software.

The developer’s Make, connect 2,500+ apps but drop into Node/Python; billed by compute time, so long code-heavy workflows aren’t penalized.

The open-source value play and lighter n8n alternative, unlimited task runs at a flat rate or free self-host, with built-in AI agents.

The AI-first canvas for workflows where the LLM is the workflow, scrape, summarize, generate, research; bring-your-own keys cuts cost dramatically.

Free and pre-installed on every Mac/iPhone, the best option on a locked-down Mac; the “Use Model” action runs AI with no API key.

Pre-installed and free for attended desktop RPA on Windows 11, record clicks to automate legacy/no-API apps; sharing/scheduling need Premium.

Three layers in one app: Copilot for plain-English formulas, Office Scripts (TypeScript) that schedule via Power Automate, and VBA for max power.

Gemini writes formulas from natural language; Apps Script is free JavaScript on every Google account that can email from a sheet and run on a timer.

Low-friction wins with little to install: Clipboard History (Win+V), Task Scheduler for timed scripts, PowerToys text expansion, often IT-approved.

A Spotlight replacement that turns the keyboard into a command center, clipboard, snippets, window management, built-in AI from one hotkey.

The deepest Mac automation short of code, GUI scripting drives apps with no API; one-time license, needs install rights.

Free Windows scripting for text expansion, hotkeys, and form-filling, unbeatable on your own PC, often blocked on managed machines.

Multi-step web tasks inside the ChatGPT you already pay for, compare sites, fill forms, no install; keep it supervised, reliability still lags.

A browser-native agent that acts on your logged-in page, reads, clicks, fills forms, with you approving each step; needs an extension.

Governed enterprise UI automation for no-API apps, admin-deployed with DLP applied; the compliant way SMBs let agents drive approved sites.

Agentic AI browsers that research and act; powerful for hands-off tasks, but both are a new browser install.

End-to-end AI support that resolves tickets across chat/email/WhatsApp per resolution, buy the outcome instead of building a bot.

The budget AI support chatbot for lower volume, train on your docs and deflect FAQs from your site without enterprise pricing.

Turn one long video into a month of captioned vertical shorts in minutes, the creator default; a DIY build here would be malpractice.

The ecommerce revenue engine, pre-built abandoned-cart and post-purchase flows recover far more than native; don’t build it, turn it on.

Store-ops automation built into Shopify, tag orders, flag low stock, trigger fulfillment with no external tool.

A free CRM backbone for sales automation, unlimited contacts, email tracking, deal stages, basic workflows at $0.

Free invoicing with built-in payment reminders (Wave) or receipt/bank OCR that auto-categorizes expenses (QuickBooks), beats a homemade finance flow.

Explainable AI resume screening that ranks candidates, the responsible, bias-aware choice over a raw LLM prompt, with AI-hiring laws now in force.

Buy the function, not the build: Fireflies for meeting notes, Clay/Apollo for enriched outbound. They out-perform a DIY workflow for their one job.