Your 2025 AI stack
A bunch of ways to supercharge your productivity this year
After two years of breathless predictions and Silicon Valley promises, we've reached a point where AI has become as common as email. And like email, it’s necessary, somewhat frustrating, and reshaping how we spend our days at our desks. If you're going to wade into these AI-enhanced waters (and let's be real, you probably don't have a choice), here's what you need to know: start with the basics. Try Slack AI or Notion AI's free features. Watch how they change your workflow, your communication style, and your thinking patterns. Be intentional about what you automate and what you keep deliberately human.
With that in mind, this roundup looks into some of the best AI solutions for 2025, complete with real-world scenarios and considerations for pricing and privacy. Remember to bookmark this page so you can come back and try different tools throughout the next few months.
Here’s to a great (and productive) 2025!
Nicolle
How to use this list
The true value of each tool will emerge when you start using it in real-world scenarios. This list isn’t exhaustive, nor should you aim to use all the tools on the list. Choose the ones that will be most helpful for you. Here are a couple tips:
Decide on your focus: Identify whether your biggest bottleneck is communication, content creation, data analysis, or automation.
Evaluate pricing and free tiers: Many AI tools offer free plans, but advanced features often require a subscription. Try the free version before committing to the paid one.
Try one new tool this week: Pick a solution—like a free tier of Slack AI or Notion AI—and integrate it into a real task.
Track the time you save: Observe how many hours or “mental cycles” you reclaim.
Share with your team: Encourage colleagues to adopt the same tool, building a shared AI-powered workflow.
Stay nimble: Expect new features, privacy updates, and regulatory changes. Keep an eye on AI news—like how TikTok or YouTube may harness AI for content moderation, or how new laws could affect data handling.
Ethical, security, and privacy considerations
Data policies: Each AI platform has its own terms—always check how your data is stored, who can access it, and how it’s used to train models. If you’re handling sensitive or customer data, verify each AI tool’s privacy and compliance standing.
Potential regulations: With ongoing conversations about AI ethics and data privacy, your organization may face new compliance obligations in the coming years.
Factual certification: Generative AI can produce errors. Always review critical content for accuracy, especially legal, financial, or medical topics.
Internal policies: Many companies have internal guidelines for using AI. Check with your legal or compliance teams before deploying new tools.
1. Communication and collaboration
Smooth communication is the bedrock of any efficient workplace (and, well… life). AI can automatically summarize chats, schedule follow-ups, and even sense team morale—letting you focus on making decisions rather than sifting through noise.
Slack with AI
What It Is: Summarizes chat threads, suggests relevant info, and drafts responses.
Pricing: Free tier available, advanced AI features require a paid plan.
Learning curve: Easy to moderate—especially if you’re already a Slack user.
Case study: A busy marketing manager sets up Slack AI to watch the #campaign-launch channel. By the time she arrives each morning, Slack has summarized overnight discussions and flagged urgent messages.
Example prompt:
Please summarize the conversation in #marketing from the past 24 hours in bullet points, focusing on decisions made and next steps.
Google Meet AI
What it does: Real-time transcription, note-taking, and sentiment analysis.
Pricing: Free for basic Google accounts, with advanced AI features on paid Workspace plans.
Best for: Teams already living in Google’s ecosystem, especially global or hybrid setups.
Caveat: Verify your company’s policy on storing transcripts in Google’s cloud.
Example prompt:
Please transcribe this meeting, tag key points with action items, and email the summary to my team afterward.
Microsoft Teams (w/ Copilot 365)
What it does: Generates meeting highlights, drafts emails, and integrates across Outlook, Word, and Excel.
Pricing: Paid Microsoft 365 subscription, plus an extra fee for Copilot.
Privacy note: Microsoft outlines data usage in its Copilot documentation—review to ensure compliance.
Example prompt:
Please generate an email update for my team about our new product launch, highlighting key milestones.
Zoom AI Notetaker
What it does: Automated transcripts, key action items, and follow-up tasks.
Pricing: Paid Zoom plan required, AI features may be add-ons.
Ideal scenario: Large, recurring meetings where note-taking is crucial (like weekly all-hands).
Example prompt:
After this call, email me the top three action items for each participant and schedule a follow-up check-in.
2. Content creation and writing
From drafting emails to writing blog posts, generative AI can eliminate mundane tasks, spark creativity, and maintain consistency, saving hours each week. And while AI aids in text, it can also help with audio, visuals, and deeper research. It can turn data into storytelling or let you listen to documents.
Jasper
What it does: Crafts emails, social media posts, and presentations with brand tone of voice.
Pricing: Paid subscription with multiple plan tiers.
Best for: Marketers and social media managers needing quick copy. (Obligatory warning: always, always proof copy written by AI!)
Example prompt:
Please write a concise LinkedIn post announcing our new hiring initiative. Tone: friendly, optimistic, and professional.
OpenAI ChatGPT-5
What it does: Offers advanced copywriting, multi-step reasoning, and data interpretation.
Pricing: Some free tiers exist for older models, but GPT-5 generally requires paid access.
Real-world caveat: Always verify AI-generated content for factual accuracy. ChatGPT can hallucinate.
Example prompt:
Please draft a 500-word blog post about remote work best practices for our HR department. Include three actionable tips.
Grammarly
What it does: Beyond spell-check, it refines clarity, style, and tone.
Pricing: Freemium with paid premium features.
Useful for: Polishing reports, client emails, or social posts.
Example prompt:
Please review this press release for clarity and style. Suggest edits to enhance readability.
Murf
What it does: Converts text into professional-grade audio (voiceovers, podcasts, training modules).
Pricing: Paid subscription; often a free trial.
Case study: A training manager turns a 20-page manual into an audio course so employees can listen during commutes.
Example Prompt:
Please convert this 300-word product overview into a polished audio voiceover with a friendly, professional tone.
Tome
What it does: Creates interactive, visually stunning “storytelling” presentations.
Pricing: Freemium-premium features require payment.
Ideal for: Pitch decks, marketing proposals, or any scenario needing audience engagement.
Example Prompt:
Please transform our quarterly sales data into a dynamic, interactive presentation highlighting key wins and next steps.
Perplexity AI
What it does: A research-focused search engine that provides concise topic summaries.
Pricing: Currently free, but that could change.
Best for: Quick, deep dives into complex subjects (like emerging tech or regulatory updates).
Example prompt:
Please summarize recent trends in the electric vehicle market, focusing on consumer adoption rates.
3. Data analysis and decision making
Data is king—but without the right tools, it’s just a pile of numbers. AI-driven analytics help spot trends, predict outcomes, and inform critical decisions.
Tableau AI Visualizer
What it does: Translates natural language queries into dynamic dashboards.
Pricing: Paid licenses at individual or enterprise levels.
Learning curve: Moderate. Best suited for data professionals or teams with an existing Tableau setup.
Example prompt:
Please create a bar chart showing weekly revenue for Q1 2025, broken down by region.
DataRobot Horizon
What it does: Predictive analytics and machine learning for spotting trends and forecasting performance.
Pricing: Enterprise-focused, custom quotes.
Privacy Note: Evaluate data-sharing policies, especially for sensitive business intelligence.
Example Prompt:
Please analyze our customer churn data for the past year and forecast monthly churn rates for the next quarter.
Monkeylearn
What it does: Performs text and sentiment analysis on large data sets, like customer reviews or social media mentions.
Pricing: Freemium with limited credits, higher tiers require a subscription.
Best for: Customer success teams tracking brand sentiment.
Example prompt:
Monkeylearn, perform a sentiment analysis on these 500 customer reviews and categorize them into positive, neutral, or negative.
Synthesia
What it does: Generates realistic AI avatars for personalized videos.
Pricing: Paid subscription.
Case study: A product manager creates quick, on-demand video tutorials for beta users without a film crew.
Example prompt:
Please create a 60-second video of our AI avatar introducing the new company onboarding process to new hires.
4. Task management and automation
Automating repetitive tasks saves energy and time. Whether you’re a startup founder or a project manager in a Fortune 500, these tools help keep the machine running.
Asana
What it does: AI-powered workflows, SMART goal setting, and integration with various apps.
Pricing: Freemium, advanced features require a paid plan.
Best for: Cross-functional teams or growing startups needing robust project oversight.
Example prompt:
Please create a new project called ‘Product Launch 2025,’ assign tasks to the marketing team, and set due dates based on their current workload.
Trello AI Assist
What it does: Automates task categorization and deadline setting on Trello boards.
Pricing: Freemium Trello plan, AI “Power-Ups” often paid.
Ideal for: Visual thinkers who prefer Kanban boards.
Example prompt:
Please categorize all open tasks into ‘High Priority,’ ‘Medium Priority,’ and ‘Low Priority’ columns and suggest due dates.
Zapier
What it does: Syncs data and automates workflows across thousands of apps.
Pricing: Freemium with limited Zaps, paid plans for higher volume.
Real-world caveat: Check compliance for heavily regulated industries (like finance and healthcare).
Example prompt:
Please create a Zap that sends an email in Gmail whenever a new lead fills out our Google Form, then post the lead details to Slack.
Make (Integromat)
What it does: A more visual automation builder for complex workflows with branching logic.
Pricing: Freemium plan with limited operations; paid tiers for higher usage.
Case study: A support team uses Make to triage incoming tickets by priority, cutting response times.
Example prompt:
Please set up a scenario where incoming support tickets from Zendesk trigger a Slack alert if they contain ‘urgent,’ then route them to the dedicated channel.
5. Personal productivity
Beyond teamwork, each individual has personal habits, schedules, and focus patterns. The right AI can help you optimize your day and prevent burnout.
Motion 3.0
What it does: AI-based scheduling that auto-updates your calendar for focus time vs. meetings.
Pricing: Paid subscription.
Best for: Professionals juggling multiple meeting requests daily.
Example prompt:
Please block out two hours of focus time each day this week and reschedule non-urgent meetings to next Monday.
Clockify and RescueTime
What they do: Track your time and analyze productivity patterns.
Pricing: Freemium tiers, paid for advanced features.
Privacy tip: Check where logs are stored to comply with any local data laws.
Example prompt:
Please analyze my last two weeks of activity and tell me which hours of the day I’m most productive.
Focusmate
What it does: Pairs you with an accountability partner for dedicated focus sessions.
Pricing: Freemium tier for limited sessions, paid for unlimited.
Real-world caveat: Works best if you enjoy face-to-face (virtual) accountability.
Example prompt:
Focusmate, schedule me for three 25-minute focus sessions tomorrow so I can finalize my project proposal.
6. Note-taking and information management
AI can quickly pull key insights from a sea of docs, meeting logs, or brainstorming sessions—preventing loss of institutional knowledge.
Notion AI
What it does: AI-augmented workspace that surfaces info from existing pages and documents.
Pricing: Freemium Notion plan, Notion AI typically a paid add-on.
Case study: A product lead uses Notion AI to aggregate user feedback from 20 different docs into a single summary, saving hours.
Example Prompt:
Please summarize all meeting notes from the last month related to the ‘Q2 Marketing Campaign’ and list major decisions.
Otter.ai
What it does: Transcribes meetings in real time and highlights key topics or speaker changes.
Pricing: Freemium plan with limited minutes, paid plans for higher usage.
Best for: Remote or hybrid teams with lots of recorded calls.
Example prompt:
Otter.ai, transcribe today’s 10 a.m. marketing sync, highlight any mentions of budget changes, and email me a summary.
7. Visual content creation
Eye-catching visuals communicate more effectively—AI can help non-designers produce stunning graphics quickly.
Canva Pro (Magic Design)
What it does: Offers AI-driven layout suggestions and styling.
Pricing: Freemium version, Canva Pro is paid.
Ideal for: Social media posts, infographics, presentations, brand identity mockups.
Example prompt:
Please generate a minimalist design concept for a LinkedIn post announcing our new product line. Include our brand colours and logo.
More roundups to help amp up your productivity this year (and references for this post!)
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