Two years into the AI tool explosion, the bigger problem is not scarcity but excess. Teams pay for tools nobody opens and hop between interfaces that share no context.
The weekly-use rule
Any tool nobody opens weekly for three consecutive weeks gets cancelled. No exceptions — you can always resubscribe when the need returns.
One tool per job
Pick one for writing, one for design, one for transcription. Duplicates scatter knowledge and make onboarding expensive.
The best stack is not the most powerful — it is the one your whole team can use with confidence.
Audit every 90 days
A 30-minute quarterly meeting: what is actually used, what is the total monthly cost, and which tool added time instead of saving it?
Document the why
One line per tool: why we chose it and when we revisit. That sentence prevents repeat debates and makes replacement easy.
The goal is not fewer tools for its own sake — it is fewer tools used more deeply.