Startups are always disrupting categories — forcing incumbents to adopt or completely replacing them. But there's one category that many have come for — but nobody succeeded at: Office tools.
Content creation tools always seemed unassailable, dominated by big-tech giants like Google Workspace, Microsoft Office and Adobe. These companies set the standard for professional work, but they also have learning curves and often lack exciting features.
But while "AI changes everything" is trite, it's an inflection point in many industries. And maybe, just maybe, it's time to disrupt entrenched office tools?
I studied three companies and how they use AI to disrupt these previously undisruptable categories. Here are my thoughts.
AI for creativity: controversy or democratization?
This year’s World Economic Forum at Davos held a chat titled Gen AI: Boon or Bane for Creativity? During the World Economic Forum discussion, the panelists, which included the CEO of YouTube and the Director General of the World Intellectual Property Organization, emphasized that AI’s impact on creativity isn’t all doom and gloom. They highlighted AI’s ability that AI cannot replace human creativity, but rather AI augments human creativity.
While I understand the general concerns of AI voiced by creatives, this conversation extends beyond traditional creative fields and resonates deeply with creative tasks in the professional world, where AI-powered creative tools reshape how we work. In the workplace, AI transforms everyday tasks, from automating design elements to generating content and brainstorming ideas.
Tools like AI-powered design platforms, data visualization software and writing tools allow teams to work more efficiently, think creatively, augment creative possibilities and integrate expertise with efficiency.
When I worked at PlayHT, we created a podcast completely generated by voice AI. Product marketing managers would write to me and tell me how they would clone their voices and use the text-to-speech editor to create video tutorials in less than an hour, saving hours as they didn’t have to record multiple takes. Technical trainers told me they saved the company money by doing test runs/read-throughs with their scripts with AI voices before hiring professional voice actors.
The AI voices didn’t always serve as a replacement for professional actors but rather as a tool to enhance or simplify the creative process. Personally, I view AI as a tool that democratizes the creative process. AI breaks down barriers and makes creative expression more accessible to everyone.
Individuals and teams can experiment, iterate, and produce at a previously unimaginable pace, regardless of their existing technical skills and/or resources. With new avenues of creativity, professionals can bring ideas to life in ways that were once out of reach.
The revolutionary point of AI
AI is an inflection point for startups and product builders. Workstreams that took people days collapse into an AI doing it in seconds.
This capability is making software categories ripe for disruption. For instance, as a content and communications manager, if I need to create a product briefing document, I no longer have to wait on a designer.
These "office suite" categories are particularly valuable because people use them for the core of their work — high-effort tasks that make the tools indispensable parts of daily workflows and driving high retention rates. Categories like slideshows, spreadsheets and word processing have a giant total addressable market (TAM), which makes them one of the most valuable categories to tackle.
Three AI product strategies that work
We're about to feature three AI products aiming to disrupt creation workflows and the product strategies they're using to enter a market that seemed undisruptable.
Gamma: A new medium for presenting ideas
Gamma addresses two common pain points: it’s a time-consuming process to create slide decks for meetings and existing tools like Microsoft or Google Slides lack advanced features to create innovative designs and are sophisticated visualizations. I think we all know how clunky and frustrating these tools can be!
Professionals often spend hours translating their thoughts and data into polished presentations, even though they already know the material inside out. Gamma positions themselves as a tool that enables you to generate visually appealing presentations in seconds.
I spoke to Grant Lee, the co-founder and CEO of Gamma — which recently raised a $12 Series A — about how he builds Gamma.
When I asked why he built an AI-assisted creation tool (not a tool that does all the work for you), he said "We believe in a world where AI is your “designer partner,” a tool to lean on throughout the creation process. A human should still be in the loop, but AI can help you get that first draft done so you don’t have to start cold."
I tend to agree with this approach. Most people dislike entirely AI-generated content, but won't notice if a human creator they like used some AI assistance.
When I asked about how AI enables disruption of MS Office and Google Workspace, he said: "AI alone won’t be enough to compete against MS and Google. You need to introduce new primitives and building blocks that change the way people create content + change the type of content they’re capable of creating on their own. We aren’t trying to build incrementally better slideware, rather an entirely new way to present and share ideas."
If you want to disrupt an entrenched player, you won't do it with a new feature — because the incumbent can just build that feature and call it a day. Ultimately, Grant believes creation software will fundamentally change in the wake of AI.
"Every part of the creation process will be streamlined, from ideation, to research, to synthesis, to design. People will be able to create and remix content easily and share across platforms and formats."
And Gamma could be at the forefront of it.
In the nearer term, Gamma also does a good job of ICP targeting: It targets people who regularly create presentations which are often folks with decision-making authority and/or who can approve spending.
Gamma’s approach focusing on decision-makers makes it easier to get paying customers and
KREA: The easiest way to generate with AI
KREA is an AI-powered design tool ‘rooted in a perfect symbiosis between human creativity and artificial intelligence’ as described by the co-founder. KREA introduces a new way of creating visuals. In minutes, you can upscale and enhance images or even generate high-quality photos or videos with a prompt.
Instead of competing with design giants like Adobe or Canva, which focuses on reliability and familiar functionality rather than innovation. For instance, KREA enables users to create designs from custom prompts or enhance initial sketches into professional drawings.
KREA stands out because it’s not positioned as a typical professional tool designed to help you get work done, but rather a tool to bring creative ideas to life that wouldn’t have been possible with traditional professional design tools.
This unique product strategy positions KREA as a complementary tool that expands creative possibilities. I like that KREA seeks to merge human creativity with AI in ways that other tools can't. KREA effectively captures a niche market and sets themselves apart in the crowded design space.
KREAs audience ranges from kids using it to render Minecraft gameplay footage to Hollywood professionals leveraging it to project real-time scene visuals on movie sets, giving actors a sense of their environment without the lengthy process of 3D modeling.
Lex: A new kind of word processor
Lex is an AI-powered writing app that takes a unique approach to assisting writers. Unlike other AI writing tools like Copy.ai or Jasper that aim to produce entire pieces of content, Lex focuses on enhancing the writing process by offering targeted assistance, writing or rewriting specific segments instead of taking over the entire task.
Lex adopts a beachhead approach, rather than targeting people who don’t want to write, they target people who want to write. I feel other AI writing tools target everyone, but Lex is very specific in signalling that their main audience is writers. Lex positions themselves as a writing companion, with the message ‘Never write alone again.’
Lex is designed to be a collaborative partner in the writing process, without taking over. As a writer, I feel like Lex allows me to maintain my voice and creativity but still provides support to refine my ideas and correct me when I use the passive voice!
Generally speaking, writers have mixed thoughts on ChatGPT. Some believe that it doesn’t have enough nuance to produce high-quality writing and some people have made careers out of AI writing. Lex’s clever approach by counter-positioning itself away from tools that promise to handle all the writing for you demonstrates that the founders are aware of the nuance and creativity of human writing.
Lex’s product strategy resonates with me as a writer because it caters to me as a creative that wants to maintain control over my writing but appreciates a helping hand to refine and enhance my work. Targeting this specific beachhead segment—writers who value AI as an accompaniment rather than a replacement has led to Lex establishing a strong foothold in the AI writing market.
What can we learn from these product strategies?
Whether you’re getting started in AI or you’re thinking of creating an AI product, here’s what you can learn:
Augment don’t replace
AI cannot replace human creativity, rather it augments human creativity. Krea and Lex’s success demonstrates that when AI is positioned as a tool that enhances the creative process, customers become loyal and product advocates. The creative process is dynamic and deeply personal, and users want to feel empowered and not replaced. You might be wondering how this applies to product strategy or growth. Here’s the thing, people don’t want to use tools that they feel will replace them, they want tools that will make their jobs easier and faster.
When thinking about your product strategy or growing your product, ask yourself, what can I develop that is going to make my users feel like I am helping their work? What am I making easier for my users?
When your product is seen as a trusted partner, you cultivate a loyal user base who not only use your product but also champion it. Seriously, you should check out Lex!
Adopt a beachhead approach
Starting with a focused audience helps avoid direct competition with legacy players in the industry. You build a strong, loyal user base who have a clear and immediate need for your product, as Lex did with writers who want AI as an accompaniment, not a replacement.
Also, when your audience is focused, it’s easier to communicate your product’s value to users. You directly address their pain points and needs without diluting your message. For instance, you can’t convince people who don’t want to write why your tool that refines your blog posts is better than a tool that can write complete blog posts.
This approach differentiates your product from other players in your industry and you can create a strong community of engaged users.
Merge human creativity with AI
The market craves this blend of human creativity and AI innovation, A few months ago, KREA posted a sneak peek of a new product development on X and the response was immediate and overwhelming. Users assumed the tool was already available and started subscribing, within a single day, KREA generated $10,000 in subscriptions.
Again, users aren’t seeking tools that will replace human creativity, they’re looking for ways to enhance human creativity. Users are willing to invest in products that respect and elevate human creativity.
Position your product as a tool that complements human strengths yet addresses specific pain points in their work. People are eager to invest in tools that seem like allies in their professional journey. By affirming this positioning, you also differentiate your product in a crowded market.
Rethinking product innovation
Revolutionary or controversial, AI is here to stay, and we can learn a few things from its prolific adoption and integration in content creation tools. Successful AI product strategies involve embracing AI as a collaborator rather than a replacement, starting with focused niche audiences to build loyal user bases, and merging the best of human creativity with AI’s capabilities.
Innovation isn’t just about building better tools. It’s about identifying and filling in the gaps in traditional tools and resonating with users on how to create new ways to work.
Driving innovation requires a strategic blend of technology and human insight. For those developing AI products, the lesson is clear: create AI products that amplify human potential, democratize creative expression, and shape the future of work.
