Most AI tools are toys. These 5 are employees. I tested 50+ AI apps so you don't have to. 90% of them are just "wrappers" for ChatGPT . They are trash. To build wealth in 2026, you need a " Tech Stack " that produces output. Here are the only 5 tools you should pay for. 1. Perplexity AI (The Researcher) Cost: Free / $20 ROI: 10/10 Why: Google is for finding links. Perplexity is for finding answers . It cuts research time by 90%. 2. Claude 3.5 Sonnet (The Writer) Cost: Free ROI: 9/10 Why: ChatGPT sounds like a robot. Claude sounds like a human. Use this for emails, newsletters, and scripts. 3. Midjourney v7 (The Artist) Cost: $10/mo ROI: 8/10 Why: Stop using stock photos. Midjourney creates million-dollar branding assets in seconds. (Look at the header of this blog). 4. Gamma (The Presenter) Cost: Free ROI: 7/10 Why: Type a topic, get a full slide deck in 30 seconds. Perfect for pitching...
Introduction Most people use AI like a toy. They ask ChatGPT to write a poem or a joke. The top 1% use AI like an employee. They give it a job description, a workflow, and a salary of $0. Today, I am going to show you how to replace a $500/month Virtual Assistant with a free AI agent . The "Agent" Mindset Stop treating AI like a search engine. Treat it like an intern. Wrong Prompt: "Write an email for me." Agent Prompt: "You are an expert copywriter . Your goal is to write a cold email that gets a 20% reply rate. Here is the product. Here is the audience. critique your own work before giving me the final version." The Workflow: Automated Research I used to spend 5 hours a week reading news to find content ideas. Now, I use a simple agent stack : Perplexity AI (Free): Scans the web for "Top rising trends in Fintech." Claude 3 (Free): Summarizes those trends into 3 bullet points. Gemini (Free): Turns those ...