Guide

Strategist Toolkit

AI tools you should know about, when to use them, and how to build a stack that works for your thinking and execution style.

Your Goal as a Strategist

Your goal is not to get tied to any AI tool. Let the thinking, constraints, and job drive your decision on what to use and how to use it. Between the ecosystems below, you can handle most things. Pick based on the thinking and execution required, not habit.

Core Toolkit

ChatGPT / ChatGPT Desktop

↗ Open

When to use: General purpose thinking partner. Brainstorming, quick answers, content drafts, problem-solving across domains.

General Purpose Fast

Claude / Claude Desktop

↗ Open

When to use: Thinking partner for longer conversations, deep analysis, complex problem-framing. Best for nuanced strategy work and extended reasoning.

Long Context Reasoning

Claude Code

↗ Open

When to use: Vibe coding, no-code building, rapid prototyping. Terminal/command line access for quick automation and deployment.

Coding No-Code

Codex

↗ Learn

When to use: OpenAI's agentic coding assistant for serious development. Full project scaffolding, code generation, and deployment automation.

Coding Agentic

Perplexity / Comet

↗ Open

When to use: Real-time search and research. Current events, market data, recent announcements. When you need sources and up-to-date information.

Search Real-time

NotebookLM

↗ Open

When to use: Research and synthesis. Upload documents, PDFs, research papers. Get audio summaries (podcasts), extract key insights, create study guides.

Research Synthesis

Gemini

↗ Open

When to use: Google ecosystem leverage, longer context windows, images, video, coding, or design tasks. Best when you're already in Google Workspace.

Google Ecosystem Multimodal

Antigravity

↗ Open

When to use: IDE and coding agent for serious development. Better than browser-based when you're building real projects.

IDE Dev

Claude Chrome Extension

↗ Install

When to use: Browser-based assistance. Right-click to analyze, summarize, or draft on any webpage. Low friction for quick tasks.

Browser Quick

Google AI Studio

↗ Open

When to use: Direct access to Gemini models with prompt testing, model comparison, longer context windows, and API access. For power users.

API Testing

Copilot (Microsoft 365)

↗ Learn

When to use: If you're an Office 365 user, integrate Copilot into Word, Excel, Teams, and Outlook for document and meeting assistance.

Office Ecosystem

Nice to Haves

Kimi 2, Grok 2, DeepSeek, and Vercel — Keep these on your radar. Emerging AI alternatives with unique strengths, and deployment/infrastructure tools as your stack matures. Worth trying to see if they fit your workflow, but not essential for most strategists starting out.

How to Build Your Stack

Start Free

Use the free versions of all tools until you see clear value for paid features. Most free tiers are powerful.

Pick by Task

Let the thinking and execution required drive your choice, not habit. Different tools for different jobs.

Connect Ecosystems

Between Claude, ChatGPT, Google, Codex, and Perplexity ecosystems, you can handle most thinking and coding tasks. Add others as specific needs emerge.

Optimize for Speed

Don't get stuck deciding. Use what's fastest for the task at hand. You can always switch later.

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