As we close out 2025, AI vendors are racing to deliver more practical, business‑oriented tools. Whether you manage a one‑person consultancy or a small team, this week’s announcements highlight how rapidly AI is evolving from novelty to necessity. The period between December 15 and December 30, 2025 saw significant releases that promise to streamline collaboration, improve customer relationships and expand what’s possible from within a chat window. Here’s what you need to know – and how to take advantage of these innovations.
New Releases Poised to Transform Solo‑Business Operations
Four developments topped this week’s AI news cycle. Each goes beyond hype, offering real functionality that can boost your productivity and competitiveness.
Zoom AI Companion 3.0 Brings Agentic Workflows to Everyone
Zoom, known for its video‑conferencing software, unveiled AI Companion 3.0 on December 15, 2025. The update introduces a web‑based interface and “agentic” features that turn meeting summaries into action items. According to Zoom’s announcement, free Basic users can try select features and purchase the AI Companion for $10 per month as a standalone add‑on. The product’s federated AI architecture combines Zoom’s own large language models with those of OpenAI and Anthropic, delivering higher‑quality transcription and translation results.
Highlights include:
Agentic retrieval. The AI scans your meeting summaries, transcripts and connected apps like Google Drive or OneDrive to surface relevant information. Coming soon: integration with Gmail and Outlook.
Post‑meeting follow‑up prompts. It can automatically generate task lists and draft emails after a meeting.
Daily reflection reports. Receive a summary of your day’s meetings and tasks to stay organized.
Agentic writing mode. Draft and refine documents within Zoom’s new canvas interface, then export them to multiple formats including Markdown, PDF, Word and Zoom Docs.
Brainstorming partner. Use the AI to generate ideas for projects and presentations.
For solopreneurs who often wear every hat in the business, AI Companion 3.0 offers a practical way to capture meeting insights and convert them into actionable tasks without leaving the Zoom ecosystem. Basic users can try it for free, making it easy to evaluate before committing to the paid plan.
OpenAI Turns ChatGPT Into a Task Platform With an App Directory
OpenAI’s ChatGPT App Directory went live on December 19, 2025, marking a strategic shift from question‑answering tool to action hub. Available to ChatGPT users on the web, iOS and Android outside the European Economic Area, the directory organizes third‑party integrations into categories such as Lifestyle, Productivity and Travel. Once a user connects an app, they can invoke it during conversations via @ mentions and commands.
The launch also includes a beta Apps SDK built on the Model Context Protocol. Developers can build and test chat‑native apps inside ChatGPT and submit them for review. Early partners like Expedia, Spotify, Zillow, Canva, Booking.com, Dropbox, Apple Music and DoorDash are already available, enabling tasks ranging from trip planning and playlist creation to grocery ordering and document summarization. While monetization options are still limited, this ecosystem has significant implications for solo businesses: you can coordinate travel, manage files and even create marketing collateral without switching tabs.
Insightly Adds a Conversational AI Copilot to Its CRM
Customer relationship management (CRM) platforms are essential for tracking prospects and clients. On December 16, 2025, Insightly introduced Copilot, a generative AI assistant embedded directly into its CRM. Copilot allows users to ask questions in plain language – for example, “Which customers are at our lowest tier but using all features?” – and receive context‑rich insights or automatically update records.
According to Insightly, Copilot’s key features include:
Conversational task management. Users can create or update contacts and opportunities simply by typing instructions.
AI‑powered data hygiene. Ask the assistant to find duplicates or clean records.
Insight generation. Copilot surfaces trends, high‑priority leads and follow‑up opportunities.
Ease of adoption. Designed to make CRM use intuitive for all team members, regardless of technical skill.
As Steve Oriola, CEO of Insightly’s parent company, noted, “Copilot changes [the CRM] by turning Insightly into an assistant that helps you get answers, stay organized and drive revenue without added clicks or complexity”. For solopreneurs or micro‑teams, this reduces time spent navigating CRM menus and increases time spent cultivating relationships.
geoSurge Emerges to Protect Your Brand in AI Search
Visibility in AI‑generated answers is becoming as important as search engine rankings. On December 17, 2025, London‑based startup geoSurge emerged from stealth with research showing that major brands like Ryanair and Chanel can disappear between ChatGPT model updates. The company warns that large language models (LLMs) rewrite their internal memory during updates, causing brands to vanish from recommendations even if their real‑world popularity hasn’t changed.
geoSurge’s proposed solution is “corpus engineering,” a process that helps brands understand and strengthen how they are encoded in LLMs. While the platform is initially aimed at larger organizations, the message resonates with small businesses: as AI‑driven discovery grows – ChatGPT processes about 2.5 billion queries per day – ensuring your business appears in AI answers is becoming vital. Small companies can start by making sure their data (website, product descriptions and reviews) is structured, accurate and updated so that AI models can learn from it. Tools like geoSurge highlight the emerging need to monitor your brand’s representation inside generative systems.
How These Updates Affect Your Business
Collectively, these announcements signal an important shift:
AI assistants are moving beyond chat into core business workflows. Whether it’s Zoom summarizing your meetings or Insightly automating CRM tasks, conversational interfaces are now deeply embedded in everyday tools.
Platforms are becoming marketplaces. OpenAI’s App Directory transforms ChatGPT into a hub where you can discover and connect services without leaving the chat environment. This reduces context switching and simplifies multistep tasks.
Data hygiene and visibility matter. geoSurge’s research underscores that AI models can forget about brands between updates. Keeping your digital presence clean and consistent will help ensure AI assistants recommend you when potential customers ask for services.
Practical Tools to Adopt Right Now
Ready to implement these innovations? Here’s how you can start:
- Try Zoom AI Companion 3.0
Log into your Zoom account and navigate to the AI Companion settings. Free Basic users can enable the trial; you can upgrade for $10/month if you find it valuable.
After your next meeting, open the web interface at ai.zoom.us to view your meeting summary and action items.
Use the Post‑Meeting Follow‑Up prompt to generate a task list and email drafts.
Experiment with the Daily Reflection Report to track progress and identify bottlenecks. - Explore the ChatGPT App Directory
Open ChatGPT on web or mobile and click the “Apps” section in the sidebar.
Browse categories (Featured, Lifestyle, Productivity, Travel) and connect an app like Expedia or Canva.
Invoke the app in chat: for example, @Expedia to plan a trip or @Canva to generate social graphics.
Watch for new apps as the directory grows; early adoption can give your business a competitive edge. - Activate Insightly Copilot
If you use Insightly, check your subscription tier; Copilot is being rolled out to Professional and Enterprise plans.
Enable Copilot in your CRM settings and start by asking simple questions like “Show me overdue tasks for this week.”
Use conversational commands to update records or generate summary emails.
Request insights on top‑priority leads or opportunities to focus your efforts.
If you don’t currently use a CRM, consider whether an AI‑enabled platform like Insightly could replace spreadsheets and manual tracking. - Audit Your Brand’s AI Footprint
Inspired by geoSurge’s findings, take steps to ensure your business shows up in AI responses:
Standardize your business information across platforms (website, social profiles, maps).
Create structured data (schema markup) on your website to help AI models identify your services.
Encourage customers to leave descriptive reviews that include your brand name and key offerings.
Monitor generative AI tools yourself: ask ChatGPT about services you provide and see if your business appears. If not, consider optimizing content or exploring emerging tools like geoSurge for deeper analysis.
Action Plan for the Next Two Weeks
To make the most of these updates, follow this short timeline:
Within three days: enable AI Companion 3.0 (trial) and ask it to summarize your next meeting.
This week: connect at least one app from the ChatGPT directory and test a business task (e.g., designing a social post via Canva or planning travel via Expedia).
Next week: audit your CRM processes; if you use Insightly, activate Copilot and measure time saved on administrative tasks. If you’re not using a CRM, research options and weigh the benefits of AI‑driven automation.
Ongoing: periodically check your brand’s presence in AI answers and keep your digital information updated.
Closing Thoughts
The final weeks of 2025 illustrate how AI is shifting from standalone apps to embedded, actionable tools. Zoom’s new workflows, OpenAI’s App Directory and Insightly’s Copilot all point toward conversational AI becoming the default interface for work. Meanwhile, geoSurge’s warning reminds us that staying visible in AI‑driven discovery requires proactive effort. Embrace these tools, stay curious about emerging platforms and continue refining your digital presence.
Which of these innovations are you planning to implement first? Let us know in the comments and return to SoloAITool.com for more AI news, tutorials and practical guidance to help your business thrive.
