“The startup community needs to stop gatekeeping these AI tools.”
That’s what an ADHD founder said after I shared my everyday workflow.
After quitting my job at Meta, I joined a startup community full of tech founders. We collectively tried hundreds of new AI tools over the course of a few months.
Most didn't stick.
However, a handful came up over and over again, especially among founders with ADHD.
At this point, I genuinely think everyone with a slight technical inclination should know about these.
These are three AI tools I now use every day, as a tech person with ADHD.
#1: Wispr (Type as Fast as You Speak)
My thoughts come and go faster than I can type. By the time I sit down to type out a thought, I forget why I even opened my laptop.
Instead, now I use Wispr Flow. Wispr is an insanely accurate AI-powered voice-to-text software. You press one button and then simply start dictating. It chops out the “ums,” formats your text, and even corrects grammar in one pass.
Every ADHD founder I know at this point, swears by it.
Wispr also has the most seamless onboarding flow I have ever seen. The setup is so easy, there's almost no work required to start using it.
Why it works for ADHD: Not only does it help you externalize your thoughts and reduce cognitive load, it reduces friction to help you actually start. You can now brain dump as fast as your ideas come.
At this point, I write every newsletter draft, including this one, with Wispr.
The basic version of Wispr is free, but you'll also get a free month of the pro version if you try it here.
#2: Granola (AI Notetaker But Actually Good)
When I worked at Meta, I was that person who would always carry a notebook around and furiously take notes in meetings.
This was not a choice—otherwise I'd forget everything.
On video calls, I looked distracted because I was constantly taking notes.
Enter Granola.
It is not one of those annoying AI bots that joins your Zoom meeting.
Instead, Granola runs locally in the background and takes AI-enhanced notes:
You get access to the full transcript with AI-enhanced search when the meeting ends.
You can still take your own notes, and they get folded into the summary.
The UI is simple and intuitive.
Nothing gets lost.
Why it works for ADHD: ADHD leaves you with poor working memory, making it hard to remember certain small details. Instead of worrying about forgetting content or mishearing something, it saves your executive functioning for staying present in meetings.
Use your brain for responding, not remembering.
The basic version of Granola is 100% free, which is more than enough to decide if you want to use it more often. Try the free version here.
#3: Claude (Your ADHD Co-Pilot)
You've probably at least heard of this last one, but I still get emails asking about ChatGPT.
I don't know a single tech person who uses ChatGPT over Claude.
The underlying models for most AI apps overwhelmingly use Claude as well, in part because of Claude’s larger context window. (I am unfortunately not sponsored, this is my honest observation.)
Most people think AI is glorified search, but even AI founders have only scratched the surface of its capabilities.
Claude Code is obviously helpful for coding, and used by most ADHD tech founders I know, as well as ADHD engineers from Netflix to startups.
I additionally use Claude Code as an “AI second brain”—it stores context about me locally, tracks my goals, and keeps me accountable without any actual code (just typing in a terminal).
There's all sort of things you can do with prompting alone, to help with coding, writing, or ADHD task management.
Why it works for ADHD: With the right setup, Claude/Claude Code can act as an accountability partner with the knowledge of the entire Internet (and ADHD) at your fingertips. It’s great for task initiation and working through executive function blocks, once you learn how to make use of it.
Use the AI the AI people are actually using.
This Week: For You
These are 3 AI tools I personally use daily, but I’m constantly finding and improving simple but effective systems that work for my brain.
Have any questions about my personal AI workflow setup for ADHD? Reply to this email and I'm happy to help--I respond to everything.
Hi, I’m Kat! Welcome to my newsletter—your weekly dose of strategies to work with your extra-interesting brain, not against it.
Were you forwarded this email? Click the button below to subscribe too!
Thanks for reading!
— Kat