This year has been nothing short of extraordinary for AI innovation across our community. Through hosting FutureState, the OverdriveAI Summit, and monthly AI Demo Nights, we’ve had a front-row seat to builders pushing boundaries in real time.
We watched founders ship products in weeks, not months.
We saw solo operators build like 10-person teams.
We learned from practitioners using AI not as a novelty but as a competitive advantage.
And amid that momentum, a handful of AI tools stood out – the ones founders relied on most, the ones that unlocked real leverage, and the ones that consistently delivered tangible value.
So in the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are the 10 AI tools we’re most thankful for this year, grouped by the superpowers they give builders.
🧠 1. Tools That Help Us Think Better
(Strategizing, visualizing, and shaping ideas)
Claude
Claude has become the thinking partner founders reach for when they need clarity fast. It excels at structured reasoning, long-form synthesis, and turning messy inputs into crisp, actionable narratives.
Use case: Transforming a scattered brain dump into a polished investor memo, product strategy, or messaging doc – in minutes instead of days.
Nano Banana (Gemini image generation)
Nano Banana, Google Gemini’s image generation model, makes visual ideation instant. With high-quality, lightning-fast image generation, it helps founders turn abstract ideas into tangible visuals they can share, refine, or pitch.
Use case: Quickly generating product concepts, UI sketches, ad creative, or brand directions during early ideation – making it far easier for teams to align around a shared vision.
🔍 2. Tools That Help Us Learn Faster
(Research, analysis, insight capture)
Perplexity
The research assistant every founder wishes they had. Perplexity synthesizes industries, trends, competitors, and datasets with reliable sourcing – and does follow-up exploration automatically.
Use case: Preparing for a pitch or board meeting by rapidly analyzing a competitor, customer segment, or emerging market – structured, sourced, and ready for decision-making.
Granola
Granola doesn’t just transcribe meetings – it joins them for you. Appearing as a participant, it captures key decisions, organizes insights, and produces clean, actionable notes.
Use case: Essential for customer interviews, partner meetings, and internal calls on packed calendars – ensuring nothing gets missed and everyone leaves aligned.
💻 3. Tools That Help Us Build Faster
(Development, automation, and shipping)
Cursor
Cursor is like having a senior engineer available 24/7. It accelerates coding, debugging, and prototyping with remarkable accuracy.
Use case: Generating boilerplate, scaffolding entire features, and catching bugs early – helping teams go from idea to prototype in a fraction of traditional development time.
n8n
A flexible, powerful automation platform, n8n gives small teams enterprise-level workflows without enterprise-level overhead.
Use case: Automating multi-step processes like onboarding flows, CRM enrichment, Slack notifications, and personalized follow-ups – no engineering time required.
🎨 4. Tools That Help Us Create More
(Video, audio, content, and storytelling)
HeyGen
HeyGen makes high-quality video production instant. Its avatar technology allows teams to scale content in any language or tone – consistently and at high fidelity.
Use case: Producing marketing videos using a founder’s likeness, allowing teams to create polished, on-brand content without requiring the founder to be on camera or coordinating full shoots.
ElevenLabs
The gold standard in AI-generated voice. ElevenLabs produces natural, expressive audio across languages and tones.
Use case: Creating fully narrated product explainers or onboarding flows without hiring voice actors — with multiple variations generated instantly for A/B testing.
⚡ 5. Tools That Help Us Work Smarter
(Productivity, flow, and operational efficiency)
SuperWhisper
The quickest way to capture ideas before they disappear. Speak your thoughts aloud and SuperWhisper converts them into clean, structured text.
Use case: Founders rely on it while commuting or context-switching, turning voice notes into formatted emails, briefs, or task lists ready for immediate use.
Clay
Clay automates high-quality prospecting, enrichment, and outreach – eliminating hours of manual research and giving GTM teams massive leverage.
Use case: Automatically enriching leads, prioritizing prospects, and triggering personalized outreach sequences so founders can scale business development without repetitive manual work.
🍁 Why We’re Thankful
This year, these AI tools gave founders something priceless: leverage.
Leverage to build faster.
Leverage to think clearer.
Leverage to create more.
Leverage to make smarter decisions with fewer resources.
They helped small teams operate like large ones – and empowered builders across New Jersey to turn ambitious ideas into reality.
A huge thank you to our partners at BetterFutureLabs for their contributions to this blog post and for helping us champion the innovators shaping what’s next.