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30 AI tools we actually use to run a digital agency
Everyone's shipping an AI tool right now. Most agencies aren't asking whether to use AI anymore — they're asking which of the forty browser tabs actually deserve a permanent seat in the stack. Here are the 30 that earned one in ours.
We audited our own toolkit at Glyde and kept only what survives a real client deadline. Thirty tools made the cut, organised by the six functions that actually run an agency — content, design, dev, client comms, growth automation, and e-commerce analytics.
87%of marketers use gen-AI in at least one workflow, up from 51% in 2024
41%of agencies have an AI agent live in production, up from 9% a year ago
6.1 hrssaved per person, per week, on average
Where agencies deploy AI first
% of agencies running AI in each workflow, Q1 2026
The stack
Thirty tools, six functions
None of these are exotic. The differentiator isn't discovery — it's discipline: pick one tool per job, wire it into a workflow, retire what doesn't earn its subscription. Here's exactly what's still installed, category by category.
01Content & Copywriting
1
ChatGPT
Still the default first-draft partner for blogs, ad copy, and internal docs across the team.
ChatGPT
2
Claude
Our pick for longer, nuanced writing — briefs, proposals, anything that needs a real voice.
Claude
3
Jasper
Brand-voice guardrails for teams shipping content at volume without losing consistency.
Jasper
4
Copy.ai
Fast ad-copy variants when a campaign needs ten headlines by lunch.
Copy.ai
5
Grammarly
The last line of defence before anything client-facing goes out the door.
Grammarly
02Design & Creative
6
Figma (AI features)
Auto-layout and content generation inside the file designers already live in.
Figma
7
Midjourney
Concept art and mood boards in minutes, not a moodboard meeting.
Midjourney
8
Canva Magic Studio
Turns one asset into every social size the calendar needs.
Canva
9
Adobe Firefly
Commercially safe image generation for client work with licensing on the line.
Firefly
10
Runway
Motion and video edits that used to need a freelancer and a week.
Runway
03Dev & Build
11
GitHub Copilot
Inline suggestions that keep junior and senior devs shipping at the same clip.
Copilot
12
Cursor
An AI-native editor for refactors and full features, not just autocomplete.
Cursor
13
Claude Code
Handles multi-file changes and debugging sessions end to end.
Claude Code
14
v0 by Vercel
Turns a prompt into a working front-end scaffold before the kickoff call ends.
v0
15
Replit
Fast prototypes and client sandboxes without spinning up new infrastructure.
Replit
04Client Comms & Reporting
16
Notion AI
Meeting notes and briefs summarised the moment a call ends.
Notion AI
17
Otter.ai
Transcribes and timestamps every client call automatically.
Otter.ai
18
Fireflies.ai
Searchable call archive so no commitment gets forgotten.
Fireflies
19
Fathom
Auto-generated highlight reels for calls stakeholders skipped.
Fathom
20
Looker Studio
Live client dashboards that replace the manual monthly deck.
Looker Studio
05Growth & Workflow Automation
21
Zapier
The glue between tools that were never built to talk to each other.
Zapier
22
Make
Visual, multi-step automations for anything Zapier can't handle alone.
Make
23
HubSpot AI (Breeze)
Lead scoring and follow-ups that run while the team sleeps.
HubSpot
24
Semrush AI
Content and SEO briefs built from real ranking data, not guesswork.
Semrush
25
Airtable AI
Auto-tagging and cleanup that keeps the project tracker trustworthy.
Airtable
06E-Commerce & Analytics
26
Shopify Sidekick
Store edits and product copy handled inside the admin, no dev ticket needed.
Shopify
27
Klaviyo AI
Subject lines and send-time optimisation tuned per subscriber.
Klaviyo
28
GA4 (predictive audiences)
Flags who's about to churn or convert before it happens.
GA4
29
Triple Whale
One dashboard for true blended ROAS across every ad channel.
Triple Whale
30
Northbeam
Attribution that survives iOS privacy changes and multi-touch journeys.
Northbeam
Build your stack
Where to start
Your situationStart withWhy
Content requests piling up
ChatGPT + Jasper
Fastest way to reclaim writing hours
Dev backlog never shrinks
Cursor + GitHub Copilot
71% of agencies already automate code work
Client reporting eats every Friday
Looker Studio + Notion AI
Turns raw data into a sendable report in minutes
Ad spend, unclear return
Triple Whale + Semrush AI
Attribution and content, without manual pulls
More tools isn't the goal. A messy stack costs more in context-switching than it saves in typing time — audit what's actually open in your browser before you add another tab.
Where Glyde fits
We build the stack, not just recommend it
Every tool on this list solves one job well. The advantage isn't in owning the longest list — it's in wiring them into a single workflow that runs without a human stitching outputs together by hand. At Glyde, we architect the automation layer between these tools as part of every engagement, so the stack compounds instead of just accumulating.
The Glyde Growth Framework
01
PositionBrand strategy02
DesignVisual identity03
BuildWebsite & assets04
MarketSEO · Ads · Social05
ScaleSustainable growthWant an AI stack that actually holds together?
Glyde audits, integrates, and maintains the AI tools running your agency — so nothing breaks when a tool updates.
Get a stack audit →
