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⚡️ The companies ahead use Claude
Hey ,
AI didn't take the weekend off, so here's your week in five minutes: the stories you clicked most, this week's podcast, and the first Inside Read, what 4,000+ business leaders tell us about their AI.
📊 The Inside Read
The companies ahead use Claude
In the last month, 4,117 business leaders took The AI Report benchmark. We grouped them by how far along their company is with AI, from just exploring to scaling it across the business, and looked at which tools each group uses.
<table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0" style="font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;"><tbody><tr><td style="font-size:13px;color:#5B6578;padding:0 0 4px 0;"><span style="color:#0C68FF;font-size:16px;">■</span> Claude <span style="color:#B8C0CC;font-size:16px;">■</span> ChatGPT</td></tr><tr><td style="font-size:15px;font-weight:bold;color:#162135;padding:14px 0 6px 0;">Exploring</td></tr><tr><td><table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td width="58%" style="background-color:#0C68FF;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;"> </td><td style="font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;color:#0C68FF;padding-left:8px;">58%</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-top:4px;"><table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td width="74%" style="background-color:#B8C0CC;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;"> </td><td style="font-size:14px;color:#5B6578;padding-left:8px;">74%</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="font-size:15px;font-weight:bold;color:#162135;padding:14px 0 6px 0;">Experimenting</td></tr><tr><td><table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td width="69%" style="background-color:#0C68FF;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;"> </td><td style="font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;color:#0C68FF;padding-left:8px;">69%</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-top:4px;"><table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td width="75%" style="background-color:#B8C0CC;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;"> </td><td style="font-size:14px;color:#5B6578;padding-left:8px;">75%</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="font-size:15px;font-weight:bold;color:#162135;padding:14px 0 6px 0;">Piloting</td></tr><tr><td><table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td width="82%" style="background-color:#0C68FF;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;"> </td><td style="font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;color:#0C68FF;padding-left:8px;">82%</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-top:4px;"><table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td width="76%" style="background-color:#B8C0CC;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;"> </td><td style="font-size:14px;color:#5B6578;padding-left:8px;">76%</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="font-size:15px;font-weight:bold;color:#162135;padding:14px 0 6px 0;">Operating</td></tr><tr><td><table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td width="86%" style="background-color:#0C68FF;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;"> </td><td style="font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;color:#0C68FF;padding-left:8px;">86%</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-top:4px;"><table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td width="69%" style="background-color:#B8C0CC;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;"> </td><td style="font-size:14px;color:#5B6578;padding-left:8px;">69%</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="font-size:15px;font-weight:bold;color:#162135;padding:14px 0 6px 0;">Scaling</td></tr><tr><td><table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td width="85%" style="background-color:#0C68FF;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;"> </td><td style="font-size:14px;font-weight:bold;color:#0C68FF;padding-left:8px;">85%</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr><tr><td style="padding-top:4px;"><table width="100%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="0"><tbody><tr><td width="68%" style="background-color:#B8C0CC;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;"> </td><td style="font-size:14px;color:#5B6578;padding-left:8px;">68%</td></tr></tbody></table></td></tr></tbody></table>Share of each group that uses each tool. 4,117 business leaders, Oct 5 to Nov 4, 2026.
ChatGPT barely moves: it sits between 68% and 76% at every stage. Claude climbs at every step, from 58% of people who are still exploring to 82% once a company is running a pilot, where it overtakes ChatGPT. Among companies that run AI in their daily operations, it's 86% Claude against 69% ChatGPT.
Most of them haven't dropped ChatGPT. About 7 in 10 still use it, alongside Claude, and give each tool different jobs. It's a snapshot of who uses what, not proof that switching tools moves you up a stage, but it shows what the companies getting results keep in their toolkit.
Do this: if you only use one AI tool, give Claude the task you do most often this week, then compare the result with what you get today.
🎓 The Claude Cohort
In 4 weeks, learn to fully automate your work with Claude
The Claude Cohort, a live 4-week training program from The AI Report, taught by the Agentic Brain team, who have deployed 700+ agents to 248 businesses. By the end, you'll have a fully automated workflow running on your real work, and a Claude that's trained on your business.
📰 Catch Up On Your Reading
The five stories you clicked most this week, with sponsors left out.
1. Anthropic says self-improving AI may be close. Its updated IPO filing says it "may imminently" reach its own threshold for progress driven by AI, though no model has crossed it yet. → Read the full issue
2. A Texas election rattles AI stocks. AI infrastructure stocks fell overnight after Texas, home to 27% of planned US data center capacity, elected a governor who campaigned on pausing new data centers. → Read the full issue
3. Microsoft builds a chip to rely less on Nvidia. Maia 300 arrives in 2027 and will become the main chip behind Microsoft's own AI products, which could change what Copilot and Azure AI cost. → Read the full issue
4. Voters turn down data centers. Data center projects lost 40 of 41 ballot measures across 10 states on Tuesday, and 56% of voters in a CNBC poll said data centers were a major factor in their vote. → Read the full issue
5. Midterms trigger AI crackdown. Tuesday's midterms handed Democrats control of Congress, signaling a sharp shift away from the Trump administration's hands-off approach to AI regulation. Voters backed restrictions on data center development, and incoming lawmakers are promising congressional hearings and even an AI development pause. → Read the full issue
The thread: four of the five are about the physical side of AI, the chips and data centers it runs on, and the voters who now decide where they go.
🔒 The Rest of This Week's Inside Read
Pro members got the full Inside Read earlier this morning. Here's what else is in it.
🔒 PRO MEMBERS
What you may have missed from Tuesday's live Claude session
The Agentic Brain team showed how to brief Claude and how to build skills your whole team can use. Pro members can watch the full recording any time, along with every session before it.
<table role='presentation' width='100%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td height='96' align='center' valign='middle' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:6px;'><table role='presentation' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0' align='center'><tr><td width='52' height='52' align='center' valign='middle' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='width:52px;height:52px;border:2px solid #3533CD;border-radius:50%;text-align:center;font-size:0;line-height:0;'><div style='display:inline-block;width:0;height:0;border-top:9px solid transparent;border-bottom:9px solid transparent;border-left:15px solid #3533CD;margin-left:5px;font-size:0;line-height:0;'></div></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style='padding-top:8px;'><table role='presentation' width='46%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td height='10' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:5px;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;'> </td></tr></table></td></tr></table>🔒 PRO MEMBERS
What we're seeing by role
Founders are more than twice as likely as managers to name one 90-day goal for AI, and managers want something else entirely. The full split covers six roles, with what to do in each.
<table role='presentation' width='100%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td style='font-size:13px;color:#8A94A6;padding-top:6px;'>VPs and heads</td></tr><tr><td style='padding-top:4px;'><table role='presentation' width='80%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td height='10' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:5px;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;'> </td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style='font-size:13px;color:#8A94A6;padding-top:12px;'>Managers</td></tr><tr><td style='padding-top:4px;'><table role='presentation' width='56%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td height='10' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:5px;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;'> </td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style='font-size:13px;color:#8A94A6;padding-top:12px;'>Founders</td></tr><tr><td style='padding-top:4px;'><table role='presentation' width='68%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td height='10' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:5px;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;'> </td></tr></table></td></tr></table>🔒 PRO MEMBERS
What's holding people back
One problem nearly doubles once a company starts scaling AI. The Inside Read shows what stops people at each of five stages, and the fix for each.
<table role='presentation' width='100%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td style='font-size:13px;color:#8A94A6;padding-top:6px;'>Exploring</td></tr><tr><td style='padding-top:4px;'><table role='presentation' width='62%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td height='10' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:5px;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;'> </td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style='font-size:13px;color:#8A94A6;padding-top:12px;'>Piloting</td></tr><tr><td style='padding-top:4px;'><table role='presentation' width='48%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td height='10' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:5px;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;'> </td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style='font-size:13px;color:#8A94A6;padding-top:12px;'>Scaling</td></tr><tr><td style='padding-top:4px;'><table role='presentation' width='72%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td height='10' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:5px;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;'> </td></tr></table></td></tr></table>🔒 PRO MEMBERS
Before it's out: this Thursday's podcast
Three lessons from the CEO of Fortis, a payments company of about 350 people. The early wins were in marketing and operations.
<table role='presentation' width='100%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td style='padding-top:6px;'><table role='presentation' width='100%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td width='32' valign='middle'><table role='presentation' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td width='22' height='22' align='center' valign='middle' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:11px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:14px;font-weight:bold;color:#3533CD;'>1</td></tr></table></td><td><table role='presentation' width='86%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td height='10' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:5px;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;'> </td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style='padding-top:12px;'><table role='presentation' width='100%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td width='32' valign='middle'><table role='presentation' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td width='22' height='22' align='center' valign='middle' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:11px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:14px;font-weight:bold;color:#3533CD;'>2</td></tr></table></td><td><table role='presentation' width='72%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td height='10' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:5px;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;'> </td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr><tr><td style='padding-top:12px;'><table role='presentation' width='100%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td width='32' valign='middle'><table role='presentation' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td width='22' height='22' align='center' valign='middle' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:11px;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12px;line-height:14px;font-weight:bold;color:#3533CD;'>3</td></tr></table></td><td><table role='presentation' width='58%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td height='10' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:5px;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;'> </td></tr></table></td></tr></table></td></tr></table>🔒 PRO MEMBERS
This month's resource: The AI Adoption Index
Our monthly look at how companies are adopting AI, updated on the 2nd of every month. Pro members can open November's edition in the resource library.
<table role='presentation' width='100%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td width='112' valign='top'><img src='https://beehiiv-images-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/asset/file/e2b47c4f-1ac1-4ed6-a1b4-8556e5a87030/upload_c8aea48615940d61.jpg?t=1793915617' alt='Cover of The AI Adoption Index, November 2026' width='96' style='display:block;width:96px;height:auto;border-radius:4px;border:1px solid #D6D8F5;'></td><td valign='middle' style='padding-left:6px;'><table role='presentation' width='78%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0'><tr><td height='10' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:5px;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;'> </td></tr></table><table role='presentation' width='52%' cellpadding='0' cellspacing='0' border='0' style='margin-top:12px;'><tr><td height='10' bgcolor='#D9DEE8' style='background-color:#D9DEE8;border-radius:5px;font-size:1px;line-height:1px;'> </td></tr></table></td></tr></table>The full Inside Read goes to AI Report Pro members every Sunday, along with the recording of every live Claude session, a new hands-on report each week and member perks on tools you'd pay for anyway.
🎙️ Last Thursday's Podcast
How Cradle's AI designs new proteins in three tries or less. Eli Bixby, co-founder and Head of ML at Cradle, explains why scientific AI works differently from the chatbots most people use: instead of producing more of what already exists, it picks which experiments to run next and learns from every lab result.
That's your week. See you Monday.
The AI Report Team
