AI Toolbox — The Right Tool for Every Job

1. The AI tool landscape (mapped by job to be done)

Thinking & Writing

Tool	Best for	Use it for
Claude (Anthropic)	PM, Growth, Designer	Research synthesis, long briefs, structured analysis, nuanced copy, complex instructions
ChatGPT / GPT-4o (OpenAI)	All roles	Brainstorming, quick tasks, image analysis, breadth of capability
Gemini (Google)	All roles	Google Workspace tasks, real-time web search, data in Sheets
Perplexity	All roles	Research with live citations — replaces many search queries
Notion AI	PM, Growth, Designer	Synthesising notes, drafting docs, querying your existing knowledge base

Building & Coding

Tool	Best for	Use it for
Cursor	Engineer, PM (PoCs)	AI-native code editor — pair programming, PoC building, codebase understanding
v0 by Vercel	Designer, PM	Generate React UI components from text descriptions — no coding required
Lovable	PM, Designer	Full-stack app generation from prompts — what this course was built with
Replit AI	Engineer, PM	Browser-based coding + AI — fast PoC deployment without local setup
GitHub Copilot	Engineer	In-editor code completion — the industry standard for engineers

Automation & Agents

Tool	Best for	Use it for
n8n	PM, Growth, Engineer	Visual workflow automation — triggers, AI steps, tool connections
Make (Integromat)	PM, Growth	Similar to n8n — strong on SaaS integrations
Zapier	All roles	Simplest automation tool — lower ceiling but fast to set up
LangChain	Engineer	Framework for building multi-step AI agents in Python/JS
CrewAI	Engineer	Multi-agent orchestration — agents that collaborate on complex tasks

Design & Visual

Tool	Best for	Use it for
Figma AI	Designer, PM	Design suggestions, copy generation, auto-layout within Figma
Canva AI	All roles	Quick visual creation, presentation design, social assets
Midjourney / DALL·E	Designer, PM	Image generation for mockups, concept visuals, presentations
Framer AI	Designer, PM	AI-generated websites and landing pages — design + publish in one tool

Research & Analysis

Tool	Best for	Use it for
Perplexity	All roles	Research with cited sources — great for market research, competitor analysis
Elicit	PM, Growth	AI-powered literature and research synthesis
Rows AI	Growth, PM	AI-powered spreadsheets — query your data in plain English
PostHog AI	Growth, Engineer	AI-assisted product analytics

2. Cursor: A PM's Guide to AI-Powered Prototyping

What is Cursor? Cursor is a code editor (built on VS Code) with AI deeply integrated throughout. Unlike GitHub Copilot which completes code as you type, Cursor lets you have full conversations with your codebase — you can ask it to build features, explain code, fix bugs, and generate entire applications from a description.

For a non-engineer, Cursor is the tool that makes "I'll build a quick prototype" actually possible — without needing to understand every line of code you're working with.

Why Cursor vs v0 or Lovable?

	Cursor	v0	Lovable
Best for	Full apps, complex PoCs, working with existing code	React components, UI snippets	Full-stack apps from scratch
Requires	Basic comfort with files and a terminal	None	None
Output	Runs locally, fully customisable	Component code to paste	Hosted app
AI depth	Deepest — full codebase understanding	UI-focused	App-focused
Learning curve	Medium	Low	Low

Use Cursor when: you want to build something more complex than a UI component but don't want to fully hand over control to an app generator. Great for: data dashboards, multi-step flows, PoCs that connect to a real API.

Getting started with Cursor (non-engineer path)

• Step 1 — Install Cursor. Download from cursor.com. It looks like VS Code. If you've never opened a code editor, that's fine — you'll be using the AI chat panel more than the code itself.
• Step 2 — Start a new project with AI. Open Cursor, press Cmd+Shift+P → "New File". Then open the AI chat panel (Cmd+L). Type: "Create a simple HTML and JavaScript app that [describe what you want to build]. Make it self-contained in one file. Use Tailwind CSS from a CDN." Cursor will generate the full file.
• Step 3 — Iterate in plain English. Don't edit the code manually. Instead, select the part that's wrong, press Cmd+K, and tell Cursor what to change: "Make this button green", "Add a second step to this flow", "The table isn't showing — fix it." Cursor edits the code based on your instruction.
• Step 4 — Preview your PoC. Open the generated HTML file in a browser. That's your prototype. For more complex apps, Cursor can run a local server — ask it: "How do I preview this?" and follow the instructions.
• Step 5 — Explain code you didn't write. If you receive a codebase from an engineer, open it in Cursor and ask: "Explain what this file does", "Where does the sign-up flow start?", "What would break if I changed this value?" — Cursor answers in plain English.

Practical PoC examples for PMs with Cursor

• "Build a simple A/B test calculator — inputs: control conversion rate, variant conversion rate, sample size. Output: statistical significance and recommendation."
• "Build a one-page onboarding flow mockup with 3 steps, a progress bar, and a completion screen."
• "Build a dashboard that reads from this CSV and shows a bar chart of sign-ups by week."
• "Build a prototype of a referral page with an invite input, a copy-link button, and a counter showing how many friends have been invited."

What Cursor can't do for non-engineers

• Deploy to a real URL without some engineering help (use Lovable or v0 for that)
• Connect to your production database (use it for PoCs, not production code)
• Replace a real engineer for anything that ships to users

The PM Cursor workflow in one sentence: describe what you want to build in plain English → iterate in plain English → open in browser → show stakeholders.

3. Choosing your personal AI stack

Your role-specific stack recommendation appears below ↓