4 product moves the best AI tools are making right now

4 min read product management AI

We’re less than two years into the AI gold rush, but already a few leaders are pulling ahead. Hundreds of new tools launch every day, yet these companies are setting the pace on usage, trust, and product depth.

What stands out to me is this: AI is moving fast, but markets (and people) behave the same as ever.

These winners succeed not just because of better models, but because they consistently deliver value, adapt quickly, and create experiences users rely on.

As a daily user, I’ve been watching closely to spot the product choices that give them an edge.

Table of contents

Open Table of contents

1. Make It a Joy to Use

ChatGPT has an estimated 63% market share and around 400 million weekly users.

That’s wild, especially when plenty of models beat it at specific tasks:

But ChatGPT is still the highest-rated general-purpose model, and that really matters when your entire interface is a chat window. ChatGPT was the first to get that right, and it still does.

Other models may have better raw capabilities. But ChatGPT is the one people keep coming back to because it’s consistent, fast, and it keeps getting better.

2. Build for One Person, Not Everyone

One of my personal favorite AI coding tools is Cursor. Cursor’s user persona is developers, and they’ve gone all in on the developer experience by bringing AI-assisted coding to a developer-native environment.

It outperforms tools like Replit or Bolt, which promise to generate full-stack apps for anyone in a web interface, but end up awkwardly straddling the line between beginner-friendly and truly powerful.

I’m not a developer, but I’ve used Cursor to build full-stack apps. To do it, I had to learn dev skills: reading code, using git, debugging. But instead of being frustrating, it actually made me more loyal because it works so well.

And the market agrees. Cursor is reportedly the fastest-growing SaaS ever, going from $1M to $100M ARR in 12 months.

3. Be the Best at Something

Some companies are winning by building the best models, like Anthropic and OpenAI. Others are winning by being model-agnostic, but building excellent interfaces and workflows around them.

Both strategies are creating high-leverage winners, and those sitting in the middle are getting left behind.

Let’s examine Cursor’s angle here. Early benchmarks suggest Anthropic’s code assistant may outperform Cursor on raw model quality. But Cursor holds its ground because it has features that its users love, and give developers the flexibility to choose their own models

You can run Claude Sonnet 3.5, switch to Gemini 2.5 if you hit a wall, or test out o4. Cursor doesn’t care which model is “best” - it just gives you access to the best available, when you need it.

4. Ship Constantly

The AI world is moving so fast that shipping new features isn’t a nice-to-have anymore - it’s a requirement.

A great example is Lovable. I’ve been following their new Head of Growth, Elena Verna, on LinkedIn, and it feels like she posts product updates almost daily. Either something just shipped, or a popular feature request is already in the queue.

That kind of speed builds momentum. It shows users the product is alive, that the team is listening, and that if you stick around, the experience will keep getting better.

That’s a huge part of how Lovable reached ($75M ARR in just seven months), and how even though competitors like Replit and Bolt are almost identical in terms of product offering, Lovable has a loyal following.

What Separates the Winners

The early winners in AI aren’t just lucky or first. They’re following patterns we’ve seen before and executing them better than the competition.

😍 The best products are the ones people genuinely enjoy using

👤 Great tools feel like they were built for one specific person

🏆 The strongest products lead in one clear area

⛴ Momentum is built by shipping consistently

As a builder and product thinker, I’m watching these companies closely, using their products, and learning from their success. Clearly, this is how markets are created and won.

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