Small teams and solo founders are now taking on work that once needed a department, and AI tools that run inside ChatGPT and Claude are a large part of the reason.

This guide looks at where that shift is heading, the recent deals that show it, and five tools that help a small team do more with the people it has.

How work is changing

Large employers still exist, but a growing share of new businesses start with one or two people. Census Bureau data cited by The Lonely Entrepreneur shows that 117,060 one-person businesses and partnerships crossed $1 million in revenue in 2023.

What has changed recently is the toolkit. A founder can now draft a contract, reply to enquiries, edit a video and chase invoices from one conversation, where a few years ago each job meant a new hire or a new agency. The likely shape of work is a small core team, a set of connected AI tools and a network of freelancers who join for specific projects.

Recent deals involving very small teams

Acquisitions give the clearest picture. In October, Prime Intellect bought Moondream, a Seattle startup with fewer than 10 employees, mainly for its team's skill at making AI models run faster.

Days earlier, Rocket Software acquired Geniez AI, an Israeli startup with six employees, in a deal estimated at up to $100 million. In both cases, the buyer wanted the team's skills more than its headcount.

The same logic shows up earlier in the year. In April, OpenAI acquired Hiro Finance, a personal finance app whose team numbered about ten people on LinkedIn. TechCrunch described the deal as an acqui-hire, meaning the team joined and the product closed.

Funding follows the same pattern. Ema, which uses teams of AI agents to automate HR, IT and finance work, raised a $77 million Series B in September. Swamp Club, a platform for building AI agents, raised $7 million in seed funding in October.

Neither round disclosed its headcount, so they show where investors are looking rather than how many people were involved.

Big deals can also shrink teams. Bending Spoons agreed to buy Airtable for $1.285 billion in August, and the deal closed in September. On 12 October, Airtable said it was parting ways with a large portion of the team it had before the acquisition.

A team that is bought is not always a team that stays, so anyone building a small company should plan for that.

Five tools for a small team

These tools work inside ChatGPT or Claude. For each, you'll see what it can reach, its main limit and one task to try first.

1. Composio: one connection to over 1,500 apps

Composio connects Claude, ChatGPT and other MCP-capable assistants to more than 1,500 apps, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Slack, Notion and HubSpot. Each app needs one sign-in. The free Hobby plan includes 100,000 tool calls a month.

Try this: ask Claude to list the emails that need a reply, draft answers, and add follow-ups to your task list. Check the permissions each app asks for before you approve them, and review what the assistant did before anything goes out under your name.

If connecting tools to AI is new to you, six free agentic AI courses are a good place to start.

2. Descript: edit video by editing the words

Descript is a video and podcast editor where you cut the transcript to cut the video. Its connector is in Claude's directory and also works in ChatGPT. From a conversation you can import and transcribe media, run edits, create projects and publish a web link.

The connector cannot generate media or export the final MP4, so you still download the file from Descript. Each operation also uses media minutes and AI credits.

Try this: import a webinar recording, ask for a 60-second highlight clip, and publish it as a web link for review.

3. HoneyBook: client admin inside ChatGPT and Claude

HoneyBook is a client platform for independent businesses, covering contacts, projects, proposals, contracts, invoices and payment requests. It has been a plugin in ChatGPT since September 2026, and its connector for Claude launched in August. It is available to business owners in the US, Canada, UK and Australia.

You choose which parts of your account the assistant can reach, and you can disconnect at any time. The connector can also make changes, such as creating a project or updating client details.

Try this: ask which invoices are overdue, then draft a reminder for each one. Anything visual, such as a branded contract layout, still belongs in HoneyBook itself.

4. Higgsfield: ad videos and images from a chat

Higgsfield creates video ads, product images and talking-avatar clips from a conversation. It connects to Claude as a custom connector, and to ChatGPT through its plugin in the plugins directory. A Higgsfield subscription is required, and each generation uses credits.

A single generation runs up to 15 seconds, so longer ads need to be built from several shots. Use the same character across a series so the ads look consistent.

Try this: describe a 15-second video for your best-selling product, then ask for two more versions aimed at different customers.

5. Canva: social posts, flyers and slides from a brief

Canva has a connector for Claude and is one of the business apps in OpenAI's Small Business Collection for ChatGPT. It suits social posts, flyers, menus and slides.

Describe the job, then adjust the layout and brand details yourself. Store your logo, colours and fonts in a brand kit so every draft starts from approved assets. If you're preparing a deck for investors, this guide to startup pitch decks covers the structure.

Try this: ask for three square Instagram posts for this week's offer, using your brand colours, and list the text for each.

Where to start

Don't connect all five at once. Pick the task that eats the most time each week, such as chasing invoices, producing ads or sending follow-ups, and connect only the tool it needs.

Composio is the best base if you want several apps reachable from one place.

Small teams have one advantage the large ones don't: they can change how they work in a week.

Review the permissions each connector asks for, and check the connector's status in your Claude or ChatGPT settings every few months, since these integrations are changing quickly.