If you're going to copy somebody's content stack, I'd rather you copy mine with full knowledge of what each tool does and where each one falls short. Most "AI stack" articles read like sponsored ads. This one isn't sponsored. None of these companies pay me. A few of them have annoyed me this year and I'm going to tell you which ones.
There are seven tools currently running my content engine. Some of them have been in the stack for two years. One of them I'm still deciding on. Here they are, in the order they get used in a typical day.
1. Claude (writing, ideation, brand voice, everything)
Claude is the central nervous system. If something disappeared and I had to pick one tool to keep, this is the one.
What I use it for: blog drafts, email sequences, social captions, sales pages, recap emails after coaching calls, brainstorm partners, voice-checks on copy I wrote by hand, prompts for other tools, and the occasional emotional rant when I'm trying to figure out what to say about a tough topic.
Why it stays: it handles long-form voice work better than anything else I've tested. When I drop in 600 words of brand voice rules and three example emails, Claude uses them. Other models tend to nod politely and then write in their own voice. Claude listens.
What annoys me: it sometimes still slips a word I've banned from my brand voice. I have to do a final ctrl-F pass on every draft. Not a dealbreaker. Just a thing.
Cost commitment: I pay for the Pro tier. The cost is irrelevant compared to the time it saves me each week.
2. Descript (video editing, transcript editing, polish)
Descript is the second pillar. Every video I publish goes through it.
What I use it for: transcript-based video editing, removing filler words, Studio Sound noise cleanup, captions, light color correction, and quick podcast-style audio edits.
Why it stays: the transcript editing is still the killer feature. I cut a word from the text and the video cuts with it. Two years in and it still feels like magic.
What annoys me: rendering large projects can drag if you've got a lot of overlays. I learned to keep my projects lean.
I've heard rumors of competitors closing the gap. I'll switch the day someone else does it as well. Until then, Descript stays.
3. HeyGen (avatars and translated versions)
HeyGen is the tool I use the least and miss the most when I need it.
What I use it for: generating avatar versions of myself for translated content (Spanish mostly), creating short explainer videos when I don't have time to film, and producing branded video updates for partners without setting up a camera.
Why it stays: the avatar quality has gotten genuinely good. As of mid-2026 the lip-sync is close enough that casual viewers don't catch it. The motion looks more natural than it did even six months ago.
What annoys me: it's expensive at the volume I'd want to use it, and the avatar still has a faint "AI uncanny" quality if you stare at it. I treat it as a supplement, never a replacement for real video.
Honest take: if you don't need translated content or scaled avatar use, you can skip this one for now.
4. Opus Clip (the auto-clipper)
This is the tool that does the heaviest lifting per minute of my time.
What I use it for: turning long videos into short vertical clips for Reels, Shorts, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
Why it stays: it saves me hours every week. I upload a 22-minute video and within 10 to 15 minutes I have a stack of clips ready to refine.
What annoys me: the suggested "virality scores" are basically useless. Some of my best-performing clips were the ones it rated lowest. I trust my eye now, not the score.
What it does well: the auto-captions are accurate enough that I rarely have to retype lines (Opus Clip does mess up names, so I always do a captions pass before publishing).
5. Gamma (decks and visual content)
Gamma is the tool I bring out when I need a deck fast.
What I use it for: live workshop decks, sales presentations, lead-magnet PDFs that need a more designed look than a Google Doc allows.
Why it stays: I can generate a real deck in about 20 minutes that used to take me a half day. The auto-design is good enough that I rarely have to redo slides.
What annoys me: the AI-generated visuals can be too "templatey" for some of my brand work. For high-stakes decks I still hand-design key slides.
Honest take: this is the tool I'd cut if I had to. Not because it's bad. Because I use it less often than the others.
6. ElevenLabs (voice generation and cloning)
ElevenLabs is the tool that surprised me the most this year.
What I use it for: generating voiceover for video projects when I don't have time to record, creating audio versions of blog posts, and (carefully and with permission) generating branded audio for course modules.
Why it stays: the voice quality is genuinely close to a real recording. Emotional tone is the part most voice tools mess up and ElevenLabs handles it better than the others I've tested.
What annoys me: voice cloning ethics make me cautious. I only clone my own voice and I'm careful about which audio I publish using a clone. I also wouldn't trust anybody else to be careful, so if you use voice cloning, use it on yourself only and disclose when audio is AI-generated. That's a strong opinion. Disagree if you want, but that's my line.
7. Fathom (meeting AI)
Fathom is the quiet winner of the stack.
What I use it for: AI notetaking on coaching calls, Zoom meetings with my team, partner conversations, and the occasional client onboarding.
Why it stays: the auto-summaries are accurate, I can tag moments during the call with a single click, and the highlight reels make follow-up emails almost write themselves.
What annoys me: very little. Honestly. This is the most boring tool in the stack and that's a compliment.
Honest take: there are other strong contenders here. Fireflies, Otter, Read. If you're already using one of those and it works, don't switch. Tool churn is a tax on your time.
What this stack costs me in time
Total time saved per week using this stack vs. my old workflow: somewhere between 12 and 18 hours. Some weeks more. Some weeks less.
Total time spent setting up the stack initially: probably 25 hours spread over two months. Most of that was building the Claude brand-voice project and learning Descript's keyboard shortcuts.
If you set up just the first four tools (Claude, Descript, Opus Clip, Fathom), you'll get most of the return without the complexity of the full stack.
The tool you're missing isn't a tool at all
Last thought. Most people who ask me about my stack think they need more tools. They don't. They need a workflow. The tools are the muscles. The workflow is the skeleton.
You can run a serious content engine with three of these seven. You cannot run any content engine without a workflow.
Want to see the engine running?
I show the whole thing inside Level Up: the saved prompts in Claude, the Descript shortcuts I use most, the Opus Clip settings that work for me, and the Fathom workflow for turning a call into next week's social posts. We sit down together and I walk you through it. Come meet me at Level Up and I'll show you the engine in real time.