AI for founders: market research, pitch decks, prototypes and customer support

Market research with deep research

Deep research is a feature of major chatbots in which the AI independently searches many web pages and writes a longer report with sources. For founders, it is a quick way to get a first overview of market size, target groups and competitors.

According to OpenAI, deep research in ChatGPT is limited in Free and Go and extended in Plus for 23 euros a month. Google also lists deep research in the free version of Gemini; Google AI Pro costs 21.99 euros a month.

The Cologne Chamber of Commerce (IHK Köln) confirms that AI can significantly speed up research into market sizes, target groups and competitors. However, it advises always checking how current and reliable the sources are and carefully checking figures and relationships. AI systems can also invent things that sound convincing; our article on AI hallucinations covers this in more detail.

No AI can tell you whether your offer is really needed. For that, the IHK recommends talking to potential customers, test offers and prototypes.

Business plan and pitch deck

The Gründerplattform is an initiative of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and KfW. It advises using ChatGPT as a writing aid and source of ideas for the business plan, but not leaving the thinking to the AI. According to the ministry's start-up portal, an AI-supported tool on the Gründerplattform lets you work out your business idea and transfer it directly into a business model canvas. According to IHK Köln, AI cannot yet produce a mature financial plan; spreadsheet templates are better suited to this.

For the pitch deck, the short presentation for investors, there are specialised tools. Gamma creates presentations from a description; according to the vendor, the free plan comes with 400 credits, a usage allowance, on sign-up, Plus costs 9 dollars and Pro 18 dollars per person per month billed annually, plus tax depending on location. Canva has AI features even in the free version, limited to up to 20 uses; Canva Pro costs 110 euros a year. In Microsoft 365 Single for 10 euros a month or 99 euros a year, according to Microsoft, Copilot in PowerPoint creates the outline and layout of a presentation.

IHK Köln points out that figures on the market, capital requirements and revenue must match the business plan and financial plan. A good-looking presentation does not make up for a lack of plausibility. It helps to have the AI critically question the plan from the point of view of a bank or investor.

A prototype without a development team

With AI app builders, you can have a clickable web app generated from a plain-language description, for example to show an idea to test customers. Our article on coding agents for non-programmers explains how this works in principle.

According to its pricing page, Lovable offers a free plan with 5 build credits a day, at most 30 a month; Pro costs 25 euros a month including VAT. Credits are a usage allowance. One request does not automatically cost one credit: according to Lovable, how much it uses depends on how complex the task is. Bolt has a free plan with 1 million tokens a month and a Pro plan for 25 dollars a month. Tokens are the chunks of text the AI processes; according to Bolt, the larger your project, the more tokens each message uses.

Our assessment: such a prototype is good for gathering feedback. As soon as real customer data or payments are involved, someone with expertise should review the code. The BSI explicitly names security flaws in AI-generated code as a risk.

Customer support with AI

AI chatbots can answer recurring customer questions around the clock. One example is Fin from Intercom: according to the vendor, each billed outcome costs 0.99 dollars. Fin counts as an outcome not only when customers confirm that their problem is solved, but also when they do not ask for more help after Fin's answer or when Fin completes a defined workflow, including a handover to a person. If you use Fin with an existing help desk from another vendor, you pay at least 49 dollars a month, which includes 50 outcomes. If you use Intercom's own help desk instead, its per-teammate seat costs come on top.

Legally, since 2 August 2026, AI systems that communicate directly with people must, according to the European Commission, be designed so that the person learns they are talking to an AI, unless this is obvious. Your support chatbot should therefore clearly identify itself as an AI.

If the chatbot processes customer data, you also need a data processing agreement with the provider, as described by the German data protection conference for external AI services.

Obligations: data protection and AI literacy

The German data protection conference, made up of the supervisory authorities, recommends for professional use separate business accounts instead of private ones, training on inputs switched off and a data processing agreement under Article 28 GDPR. The Munich Chamber of Commerce (IHK München) points out that you must inform customers about the processing of their data. According to OpenAI, training can be switched off in all personal ChatGPT plans.

The Gründerplattform advises against entering sensitive personal data such as addresses, phone numbers or financial information and recommends keeping real trade secrets such as formulas or research results out of prompts entirely.

The AI Act also requires AI literacy from businesses that use AI. Since the amendment by the so-called AI Omnibus, in force since 27 July 2026, providers and deployers must, according to law firm White & Case, take measures to support a sufficient level of AI literacy among their staff rather than ensure it. For a young team, clear rules on what may and may not go into the AI are a good start. A separate article explains what the AI Act means for users in general.