Ten years ago, you needed a whole team to do what one person with the right AI stack can crank out before lunch. Design, marketing, coding, customer service—it’s all on-demand now. The real question isn’t if you should use AI anymore, it’s which ones actually save you time and make you money, instead of just adding another subscription to your monthly bills.
Here’s the truth—I haven’t felt this kind of bliss since 1995, when I launched Radio Facts. Back then, it was pure excitement and possibility. Now? AI brought that energy back. The headaches, the roadblocks, the strikes against my business—they’re gone.
As an entrepreneur, AI is a game-changer. As a Black entrepreneur, it’s the keys to the kingdom game-changer. The middleman roadblocks? That’s another story and it’s coming, but for now, the playing field just leveled. If you know how to use these tools, you’re not playing catch-up—you’re running the show.
These are the ten I keep in my toolbox in 2025. Not theory. Not hype. Stuff I actually use, pay for, and would notice missing tomorrow.
1. Canva
I used to design magazines on QuarkXPress, which felt like punishment. Canva changed the game. It’s not Photoshop—thank God—it’s faster, cleaner, and anyone can pull off pro-level designs. Logos, ads, banners, presentations. Even non-designers look like they went to art school. Now with AI-powered design suggestions and automation, Canva can generate entire brand kits and social media campaigns in minutes. For coders, Canva’s API lets you automate creative asset generation at scale. It’s still the quickest way to knock out creative assets without babysitting clunky software.
2. ElevenLabs
This one blew me away. I had 10 audiobooks collecting dust for years—now my cloned voice can finally bring them to life. ElevenLabs nails the tone, the pauses, even the flaws that make you sound human. Not cheap. But you get what you pay for. The freebie voice clones out there? They sound like Siri with a sinus infection. ElevenLabs sounds like you. Period. In 2025, they’ve added real-time voice conversion and multilingual support, making it perfect for podcasts, training videos, and even live streaming with your own voice clone.
3. Perplexity.ai
Google is the Blockbuster Video of search—clunky, ad-driven, and late to the AI party. Perplexity is laser-focused on real answers, with sources you can trace. Ask it a name, a company, or a trend, and it digs wider and deeper than Google’s first-page landfill bombarded with sponsored ads derailing you when looking for something specific. Google is officially late. Perplexity has taken over. It’s what search should’ve evolved into years ago. In 2025, Perplexity integrates AI agents that can autonomously research, summarize, and even draft reports for you.
4. Claude.ai
Anthropic’s Claude is the coder’s friend. When I need complex PHP scripts or automation logic, Claude cuts through the noise. It asks clarifying questions and then spits out working code. In my opinion, it’s sharper and less neurotic than ChatGPT when it comes to structured tasks. Think of it as ChatGPT’s quiet overachieving cousin. Claude now supports multi-step workflows and can integrate with your dev environment for real-time coding assistance.
5. ChatGPT-5
OpenAI keeps leveling this thing up. It started off confused by basic commands. Now it’s a beast for writing, brainstorming, or debugging code. I use ChatGPT-5 as a backup to Claude. But a warning: never drop sensitive data in here—no SSNs, no private addresses, no “nuclear launch codes.” Delete chats when done. Treat it like a public café: useful, but not private. In 2025, ChatGPT-5 also powers AI agents that can autonomously manage customer service, content creation, and even sales outreach.
6. Amazon SES (Email)
I dumped Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and the rest of those overpriced email “platforms.” Amazon’s Simple Email Service (SES) is dirt cheap and deadly effective. At scale, you’re talking pennies instead of dollars per email. Add filters, and I’m finally done drowning in spam and random “promote my thing for free” messages. Big savings, better control. In 2025, SES integrates seamlessly with AI-driven personalization tools that tailor email content dynamically for each recipient, boosting open and conversion rates.
7. Virtual Mailbox (AI Mail Handling)
PO Boxes are now overpriced scams with keys. I paid for years, drove miles, and half the time the box was empty. I originally got it to get my CDs there and protect my home address—I should have gotten rid of i
Kevin "KevRoss" Ross is a music and radio industry expert. He is a 20 -plus year entrepreneur with the leading most successful industry trade publication and site Radio Facts (www.radiofacts.com). He has also published various books, magazines, performed marketing and promotions for major corporations and recording artists and he is on the advisory board of several industry organizations. This year Ross introduced his non profit organization LOMARI (Leaders of the Music and Recording Industry) to help teach young minority students how to market and manage their music and products.
