Set up your tools.

Your primary AI — writing, thinking, planning, and (in Cowork mode) doing multi-step work on your computer. If you set up one tool, make it this one.

1. Go to claude.ai and create a free account (email or Google sign-in).
2. On your phone, install the Claude app and sign in with the same account.
3. Start a chat. Tell it who you are and what you’re working on — context makes every answer sharper.
4. When the free limits start pinching and you’re using it daily, upgrade to Pro ($20).

The other big general assistant — strong image generation (GPT Image 2) and a hands-off Agent for computer tasks. A solid #2 and sanity-check next to Claude.

1. Go to chatgpt.com and sign up free.
2. Install the mobile app; try voice mode if you’d rather talk it through.
3. Generate an image by typing ‘make an image of …’ right in the chat.
4. Plus ($20) unlocks the better models, image gen, and ChatGPT Agent.

Search-first AI that answers with real, cited sources — your replacement for ten open Google tabs.

1. Go to perplexity.ai (no account needed to try; sign up to save threads).
2. Ask a real question — it answers and shows the sources it used.
3. Click a source to verify before you trust it. Always verify.

The recorder already on your iPhone. On iOS 18+ it transcribes your voice to text on-device — the simplest ‘talk instead of type’ on-ramp.

1. Open Voice Memos (already installed). Tap the red button, talk, tap stop.
2. Tap the recording, then the transcript icon, to read it as text.
3. Use Share to copy the transcript into Claude or ChatGPT to clean up or summarize.

Whisper is the open-source engine behind most great transcription — you don’t install it from a code repo, you use an app built on it. On iPhone, Apple Voice Memos already is Whisper-class. On a Mac, MacWhisper is the friendly way to transcribe long files.

1. On iPhone: just use Apple Voice Memos (above) — same quality, zero setup.
2. On a Mac, for interviews or long recordings: install MacWhisper, drag in an audio file, get a clean transcript.
3. Paste the transcript into Claude and ask it to summarize or pull action items.

The raw open-source model lives at github.com/openai/whisper — that’s for developers. Most captains never need to touch it; use Voice Memos or MacWhisper instead.

Google’s free research notebook. Drop in PDFs, docs, even your bootcamp materials; ask questions across them; generate a shockingly-natural audio overview for your commute.

1. Go to notebooklm.google.com and sign in with a Google account.
2. Create a notebook, click Add, and upload PDFs/docs or paste links.
3. Ask questions in the chat — answers cite the exact source page.
4. Click ‘Audio Overview’ to generate a podcast-style summary.

Claude that doesn’t just answer — it does. Cowork runs multi-step work on your desktop or phone (research, drafting, organizing files) with you approving each step.

1. Make sure you have a Claude account on a paid plan (Pro or Max) for full Cowork.
2. Open Cowork from Claude and describe the outcome you want — not the steps.
3. Watch it work and approve actions. Start small to build trust before you hand it bigger jobs.

An AI ‘coworker’ that lives in Slack or Microsoft Teams and actually executes work across your business tools — reports, CRM updates, recurring automations. Built for a team, not a solo desktop.

1. Go to viktor.com and start a trial — you’ll connect it to Slack or Teams.
2. Connect the business tools your team already uses.
3. Ask Viktor to do a real recurring job — e.g. a Monday status summary — and let it run.
4. Solo family captain? Try Claude’s Cowork or ChatGPT Agent first; Viktor shines for teams.

Added after John Michael Clark started using it — pending Adam’s hands-on review of fit and pricing.

The best-looking AI image generator — sermon graphics, social posts, blog images, flyers, anything that needs to look good.

1. Go to midjourney.com and sign in (Google or Discord).
2. Use the web ‘Create’ box; type a clear description (subject, style, mood).
3. Refine with variations and upscales until one’s right, then download it.

The wiring between your apps: ‘when X happens, do Y’ — no code. Add an AI step to summarize, draft, or sort automatically.

1. Sign up at zapier.com (free).
2. Create a Zap: pick a trigger (e.g. a new email labeled ‘Giving’) and an action (add a row to a sheet).
3. Add an AI step if you want it to summarize or categorize along the way.
4. Turn it on; it runs quietly in the background.