The AI CountdownThis week's chart

    Counting down #40 to #1

    The AI Top 40The top hits of AI, counted down

    Forty reusable AI plays for leaders — the same battle-tested skills and prompts for Claude or ChatGPT, now ranked as a Billboard-style countdown across Sales, Marketing, Operations, Finance, Legal, Product & Engineering, prompting, and agentic workflows.

    Free Weekly Workshop

    Want to produce your own AI hits?

    Join our live workshop and learn how to build, customize, and deploy every play on this chart in Claude Code. No coding required.

    Liner Notes

    What counts as a track?

    Every entry on the chart is an AI Trick — a reusable instruction (a prompt configuration, a skill file, or a Custom GPT) that turns Claude or ChatGPT into a specialized agent for one job. Each one ships with:

    System Instructions

    The role and rules your AI assistant follows for this specific task

    Input Templates

    Structured data your AI assistant expects to receive

    Output Format

    How results are structured and delivered

    Context Files

    Reference documents your AI assistant uses for context

    Recommended File Structure

    ~/.claude/skills/
├── sales/
│   ├── deal-qualification.md
│   ├── proposal-customization.md
│   ├── battle-cards.md
│   ├── account-research.md
│   └── win-loss-analysis.md
├── marketing/
│   ├── campaign-diagnostics.md
│   ├── content-repurposing.md
│   ├── brand-voice.md
│   ├── competitive-positioning.md
│   └── event-followup.md
├── operations/
│   ├── sop-documentation.md
│   ├── vendor-evaluation.md
│   ├── meeting-summary.md
│   └── change-management.md
├── finance/
│   ├── variance-analysis.md
│   ├── expense-review.md
│   ├── modeling-assumptions.md
│   └── audit-prep.md
├── legal/
│   ├── contract-redline.md
│   ├── compliance-check.md
│   ├── nda-summary.md
│   └── risk-assessment.md
└── product/
    ├── feedback-synthesis.md
    ├── tech-docs.md
    ├── retro-analysis.md
    └── release-notes.md

    Works in Claude or ChatGPT

    Every track here is written to be tool-neutral. A handful of mechanisms just go by different names in each tool — here is the one-time mapping, so you never have to think about it per track:

    Reusable instruction

    Claude: a skill file at ~/.claude/skills/… or a Project · ChatGPT: a Custom GPT's instructions or a Project's custom instructions

    Iterative deliverables

    Claude Artifacts ↔ ChatGPT Canvas

    Persistent context

    Claude Projects ↔ ChatGPT Projects / Custom GPTs

    Connected tools

    Claude MCP ↔ ChatGPT connectors / Custom GPT Actions

    Where a step genuinely differs, the track shows a short Claude vs. ChatGPT note. A few power-user tracks are Claude-specific and carry a Claude only badge with the nearest ChatGPT equivalent.

    This week's chart

    The Countdown

    Forty AI plays, ranked by real-world impact. We start at #40 and climb all the way to the #1 hit — expand any track for its full System Instructions, Example Prompt, and Best Practices.

    New entry this week
    Claude CodeClaude onlyCatalog #40

    Number 40: Browser-Use Safety & Prompt-Injection Awareness

    Use Claude for Chrome safely: grant access one site at a time, review every action before you approve it, and recognize prompt injection — hidden instructions on a page trying to redirect Claude.

    Claude vs. ChatGPT

    Built around Claude for Chrome. ChatGPT's browser agents (Operator / Atlas) carry the same prompt-injection risks, so these safety habits apply there too.

    Required Inputs

    • Claude for Chrome installed on a paid plan
    • A safe, low-stakes site to practice on
    • Awareness of which sites to keep off-limits while you learn
    Moving up the chart
    Claude CodeClaude onlyCatalog #39

    Number 39: Meta-Prompting Starter Pack

    Add two slash commands and two skills to Claude Code that help it write, save, reuse, and plan prompts — starting with /create-prompt.

    Claude vs. ChatGPT

    These are Claude Code slash commands and skills in your local .claude folder. No direct ChatGPT equivalent.

    Required Inputs

    • Claude Code installed and opened at least once (so the hidden .claude folder exists)
    • The free meta-prompting starter pack download (about 166 KB)
    • A task to turn into a saved prompt, phrased as "how might we…"
    New entry this week
    Claude CodeClaude onlyCatalog #38

    Number 38: Non-Technical Claude Code Tasks

    Use Claude Code without writing any code — build a one-page site, tidy and rename a messy folder, or draft and revise documents, all in plain English.

    Claude vs. ChatGPT

    This is the Claude Code desktop app. Nearest ChatGPT equivalent: Code Interpreter for data and file tasks, or Operator — a different model, and neither is a drop-in match.

    Required Inputs

    • The Claude Code app, signed in
    • A practice folder opened in the app (so it works only on those files)
    • A plain-language description of the goal
    Holding steady
    LegalCatalog #19

    Number 37: Contract Redlining

    Compare incoming contracts against your playbook and suggest markup with fallback positions.

    Required Inputs

    • Incoming contract
    • Contract playbook (standard positions)
    • Fallback position matrix
    • Approved exceptions
    • Risk tolerance by term
    New entry this week
    CoworkClaude onlyCatalog #32

    Number 36: Enable Connections (MCP)

    Connect Claude Desktop to your real tools — Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Linear, Stripe — through MCP so it can read and act in them instead of only talking about them.

    Claude vs. ChatGPT

    MCP is Anthropic's open connection protocol. Nearest ChatGPT equivalent: connectors and Custom GPT Actions, which wire ChatGPT to outside tools in a similar spirit.

    Required Inputs

    • Claude Desktop app, signed in on Pro
    • A tool you actually use (e.g. Google Calendar) and permission to connect it
    • A verification question only that connection can answer
    Moving down the chart
    FinanceCatalog #18

    Number 35: Audit Preparation

    Compile supporting documentation for audit requests from general ledger and policy documents.

    Required Inputs

    • Auditor's PBC (Prepared by Client) list
    • General ledger export
    • Policy documents
    • Contract repository
    • Prior year workpapers
    Moving up the chart
    LegalCatalog #21

    Number 34: NDA/MSA Summarization

    Extract key terms from agreements into a standardized tracker format.

    Required Inputs

    • Contract document (NDA, MSA, etc.)
    • Term extraction template
    • Obligation tracking fields
    • Alert thresholds (expiration, renewal)
    Holding steady
    LegalCatalog #20

    Number 33: Policy Compliance Checks

    Review documents against regulatory requirements and cite specific provisions.

    Required Inputs

    • Document to review
    • Applicable regulations/policies
    • Compliance checklist
    • Prior findings (if any)
    • Regulatory guidance documents
    Moving down the chart
    LegalCatalog #22

    Number 32: Risk Assessment Memos

    Generate structured risk analysis for business decisions requiring legal review.

    Required Inputs

    • Proposed action/decision
    • Relevant legal framework
    • Business context and objectives
    • Risk tolerance parameters
    • Prior precedents (if any)
    Holding steady
    Claude CodeCatalog #37

    Number 31: Choose the Right Surface

    Match the task to the right surface — plain chat, a browser agent, a connected-tools workspace, or a local-files coding app — and know each one's name in both Claude and ChatGPT.

    Claude vs. ChatGPT

    Every surface has a counterpart in both tools — the table pairs each Claude surface with its ChatGPT equivalent (Chat/ChatGPT, Claude for Chrome/Operator, Cowork+MCP/connectors, Claude Code/Code Interpreter).

    Required Inputs

    • The task you want to do
    • Where the work lives (a conversation, a website, an online tool, or your computer's files)
    New entry this week
    CoworkCatalog #34

    Number 30: Map Each Workflow Need to a Connection

    Before running a workflow, list everything it must do and match each need to a live connection, so the run does not stall halfway because a tool was not wired up.

    Claude vs. ChatGPT

    Connections differ by name: Claude uses MCP; ChatGPT uses connectors and Custom GPT Actions. Map each workflow need to whichever your tool provides before you run it.

    Required Inputs

    • The list of actions your workflow performs
    • The connection each action requires
    • Confirmation each connection is enabled and reachable from the Project
    Moving up the chart
    CoworkCatalog #36

    Number 29: Workflow Scorecard & Iteration

    Score each workflow run against a few metrics, fix the lowest-scoring part, and once it is reliable, capture the refined instructions as a reusable skill or saved prompt.

    Claude vs. ChatGPT

    Save a proven workflow where your tool keeps reusable work: a Claude skill (.md) file, or a ChatGPT Custom GPT or saved prompt.

    Required Inputs

    • A completed workflow run to evaluate
    • The scorecard metrics and their targets
    • A place to save the refined instructions as a new Skill (.md) file
    New entry this week
    CoworkCatalog #35

    Number 28: Run & Steer a Workflow Live

    Trigger a workflow, watch each step, correct drift in plain language while it runs, and save good outputs as reference examples for better future runs.

    Required Inputs

    • A Project with workflow instructions and its connections in place
    • The trigger phrase from your instructions
    • A place to save good outputs as examples
    Moving down the chart
    PromptingCatalog #31

    Number 27: Deliberate Memory & Privacy Controls

    Set your AI assistant's history, memory, and training controls on purpose — and make a personal rule about what is safe to paste — before you trust it with real work.

    Claude vs. ChatGPT

    Both Claude and ChatGPT have memory plus conversation-history and data-training controls in Settings. Set them deliberately in whichever you use.

    Required Inputs

    • Access to Settings (Privacy / data controls and Memory)
    • A decision on the model-training toggle for your kind of work
    • A personal rule for what not to paste
    Holding steady
    FinanceCatalog #16

    Number 26: Expense Policy Review

    Audit expense submissions against company policy and flag exceptions with reasoning.

    Required Inputs

    • Expense report data
    • Company expense policy
    • Approval matrix
    • Historical exception patterns
    • Employee context (role, project)
    Moving up the chart
    FinanceCatalog #17

    Number 25: Financial Modeling Assumptions

    Document, validate, and stress-test the assumptions underlying financial projections.

    Required Inputs

    • Financial model or projections
    • Historical data for benchmarking
    • Industry comparables
    • Market research
    • Strategic plan inputs
    New entry this week
    CoworkCatalog #33

    Number 24: Six-Part Workflow Instruction Framework

    Turn a vague wish into a repeatable routine by writing workflow instructions that cover all six parts: purpose, trigger, steps, output format, quality checks, and error handling.

    Required Inputs

    • A Project to hold the instructions
    • The workflow's purpose, trigger phrase, and ordered steps
    • The exact output format, quality checks, and an error plan
    Holding steady
    Product & EngCatalog #26

    Number 23: Release Notes Generation

    Transform commit messages and tickets into customer-facing announcements.

    Required Inputs

    • Git commit log
    • Merged PRs with descriptions
    • Linked tickets/issues
    • Feature flags changed
    • Previous release notes (for format consistency)
    Moving down the chart
    MarketingCatalog #8

    Number 22: Brand Voice Enforcement

    Audit content against brand guidelines before publication to ensure consistency.

    Required Inputs

    • Brand voice guidelines
    • Terminology do's and don'ts
    • Tone descriptors with examples
    • Style guide (formatting, punctuation)
    • Draft content to review
    Moving up the chart
    SalesCatalog #5

    Number 21: Win/Loss Analysis

    Process CRM notes and call recordings to identify patterns in why deals are won or lost.

    Required Inputs

    • CRM export of closed deals (won and lost)
    • Call recordings or transcripts
    • Deal metadata (size, sales cycle, competitor, rep)
    • Exit survey responses (if available)
    Holding steady
    OperationsCatalog #12

    Number 20: Vendor Evaluation Matrices

    Score vendor/RFP responses consistently against predefined criteria.

    Required Inputs

    • Evaluation criteria with weights
    • RFP responses from vendors
    • Technical requirements
    • Business requirements
    • Reference check notes
    Moving down the chart
    MarketingCatalog #10

    Number 19: Event Follow-Up Sequences

    Generate personalized post-event outreach based on interaction context.

    Required Inputs

    • Event attendee list with interaction notes
    • Sessions attended (if tracked)
    • Booth conversation summaries
    • Lead scoring criteria
    • Follow-up templates by segment
    Moving up the chart
    Product & EngCatalog #25

    Number 18: Sprint Retrospective Analysis

    Identify patterns across retrospectives to surface systemic issues.

    Required Inputs

    • Retrospective notes (multiple sprints)
    • Sprint metrics (velocity, completion rate)
    • Team composition changes
    • Project/initiative context
    Holding steady
    Product & EngCatalog #24

    Number 17: Technical Documentation

    Transform code comments and architecture decisions into readable documentation.

    Required Inputs

    • Source code files
    • Architecture decision records (ADRs)
    • API endpoints
    • Database schemas
    • Existing docs (to update vs. create)
    Moving down the chart
    SalesCatalog #3

    Number 16: Competitive Battle Cards

    Maintain living competitive intelligence documents and generate contextual objection responses.

    Required Inputs

    • Competitor profiles (features, pricing, positioning)
    • Win/loss data against each competitor
    • Product comparison matrix
    • Objection response library
    Moving up the chart
    PromptingCatalog #30

    Number 15: Artifacts for Iterative Deliverables

    Have your AI assistant build documents, tables, checklists, or small apps in a side panel you can read, copy, and revise in place — instead of watching results scroll away in the chat.

    Claude vs. ChatGPT

    Claude's Artifacts side panel maps to ChatGPT's Canvas. Ask for one concrete deliverable and refine it in place in either tool.

    Required Inputs

    • A concrete deliverable to produce (document, table, checklist, or small app)
    • The specific edits you want as you iterate
    New entry this week
    OperationsCatalog #14

    Number 14: Change Management Communications

    Generate stakeholder-appropriate messaging for organizational changes.

    Required Inputs

    • Change description and rationale
    • Stakeholder groups affected
    • Timeline and milestones
    • FAQ from leadership
    • Talking points for managers
    Moving up the chart
    MarketingCatalog #9

    Number 13: Competitive Positioning Analysis

    Track competitor movements and identify positioning whitespace opportunities.

    Required Inputs

    • Competitor website/messaging archives
    • Recent competitor announcements
    • Market research reports
    • Customer feedback on competitors
    • Your current positioning
    Holding steady
    SalesCatalog #2

    Number 12: Proposal Customization

    Generate tailored proposals by matching prospect needs to relevant case studies and applying pricing logic.

    Required Inputs

    • Case study library (indexed by industry, use case, company size)
    • Pricing calculator rules
    • Prospect discovery notes
    • Proposal template
    Moving down the chart
    PromptingCatalog #29

    Number 11: Projects with Custom Instructions

    Create a reusable Project that loads your reference files and standing custom instructions into every chat, so you stop re-explaining who you are and how you want answers.

    Claude vs. ChatGPT

    Persistent context ports across tools: a Claude Project maps to a ChatGPT Project or a Custom GPT. Upload the same reference files and paste the same custom instructions there.

    Required Inputs

    • A tool with Projects — Claude Pro, or ChatGPT (Projects / Custom GPTs)
    • A few reference files (a style guide, past examples, key facts)
    • Your custom instructions: role, audience, and response preferences
    Moving up the chart
    FinanceCatalog #15

    Number 10: Variance Analysis Narratives

    Transform financial variances into board-ready explanations with business context.

    Required Inputs

    • Budget vs. actuals data
    • Prior period comparisons
    • Business context (initiatives, market changes)
    • Materiality thresholds
    • Board presentation template
    Holding steady
    MarketingCatalog #6

    Number 9: Campaign Performance Diagnostics

    Analyze marketing metrics to identify root causes of underperformance and recommend optimizations.

    Required Inputs

    • Campaign metrics (impressions, clicks, conversions, spend)
    • Historical benchmarks
    • Audience and targeting parameters
    • Creative assets used
    • Landing page analytics
    Moving up the chart
    PromptingCatalog #28

    Number 8: High-Context Prompt Framing

    Turn vague replies into usable ones by structuring every prompt around three things: a plain ask, the background your AI assistant cannot see, and an example of the output you want.

    Required Inputs

    • A one-line statement of the task (the plain ask)
    • The context your AI assistant lacks (who, what, constraints, tone)
    • An example of the result you want, if you have one
    New entry this week
    PromptingCatalog #27

    Number 7: Adaptive Reasoning Protocol

    Install one custom instruction that makes your AI assistant size up each request and switch reasoning methods automatically — decomposing problems to solve them, teaching plainly to explain them.

    Required Inputs

    • An AI assistant that supports custom instructions (Claude Projects or account Settings; ChatGPT custom instructions, a Project, or a Custom GPT)
    • The Adaptive Reasoning Protocol text (provided below)
    • One test task to solve or debug, and one to explain, so you can watch it switch modes
    Moving up the chart
    Product & EngCatalog #23

    Number 6: User Feedback Synthesis

    Process support tickets and reviews into prioritized feature themes.

    Required Inputs

    • Support ticket export
    • App store reviews
    • NPS/survey responses
    • Feature request log
    • Product roadmap (for context)
    Moving down the chart
    SalesCatalog #1

    Number 5: Deal Qualification Scoring

    Analyze discovery call transcripts against your ICP criteria and output a qualification score with reasoning.

    Required Inputs

    • ICP criteria document (firmographics, technographics, buying signals)
    • Discovery call transcript or notes
    • Scoring rubric (what earns points, what deducts)
    Holding steady
    OperationsCatalog #11

    Number 4: SOP Documentation

    Transform process walkthroughs into formatted, version-controlled playbooks.

    Required Inputs

    • Process recording or step-by-step narration
    • Screenshots or system references
    • Exception handling requirements
    • Roles and permissions involved
    Moving up the chart
    SalesCatalog #4

    Number 3: Account Research Briefs

    Compile pre-call intelligence from multiple sources into an actionable briefing document.

    Required Inputs

    • Company name and key contacts
    • News API access or saved articles
    • 10-K/financial filing summaries
    • LinkedIn activity (if available)
    • Previous interaction history from CRM
    Moving up the chart
    MarketingCatalog #7

    Number 2: Content Repurposing Engine

    Transform long-form content into multiple formats optimized for different channels.

    Required Inputs

    • Source content (webinar transcript, blog post, whitepaper)
    • Target channels and their requirements
    • Brand voice guidelines
    • Content calendar constraints
    The #1 Hit
    Holding steady at number one — 40 wks at #1
    OperationsCatalog #13

    Number 1: Meeting Summarization

    Transform meeting recordings into structured action items with owners and deadlines.

    Required Inputs

    • Meeting recording transcript
    • Attendee list with roles
    • Meeting agenda (if available)
    • Previous meeting notes (for context)
    Backstage

    Turn every track into a hit

    For Each Track, Ensure You Have:

    • Clear system instructions saved as a file
    • Required context files identified and accessible
    • Input templates documented
    • Output format defined
    • Sample prompts tested
    • Edge cases considered

    Integration Tips:

    • Chain tracks for complex workflows
    • Schedule regular runs (weekly diagnostics)
    • Build reusable output templates
    • Rate outputs to improve prompts over time

    Keys to Success

    1

    Invest in context documents

    Quality of your ICP criteria, brand guides, and playbooks determines output quality

    2

    Iterate on prompts

    First attempts rarely perfect; refine based on results

    3

    Standardize outputs

    Consistent formats make skills more useful over time

    4

    Measure impact

    Track time saved and quality improvements

    Take the Next Step

    Ready to record your own #1?

    This Top 40 is just the opening set. In our free weekly workshop, you'll learn how to:

    • Create custom skills from scratch (no coding required)
    • Use the skill-creator to auto-generate new skills
    • Chain skills together for complex workflows
    • Deploy skills across your team and projects

    Live sessions every week with Q&A and hands-on demos