AI Is Not Just Chat. Cowork Apps Are Where the Action Happens.
Published: July 13, 2026
Cowork apps (Claude Cowork and now ChatGPT Work) are where the action happens. These are desktop apps that you need to install and are part of your subscriptions. They can not only chat with you, but also do actual work - run code, pull data from external sources, CSVs etc., analyze data and create reports and decks and more. Basically - do the work.
Here's a 23 pager guide on what Claude Cowork can do for you. Just tried out ChatGPT Work and it can pretty much do all the same things.
tigzig.com/post/working-with-claude-cowork-claude-code-jun2026
And no, it's not like one golden prompt and out comes your analysis and deck. You still need to know what you are doing, provide context, guide, iterate, and most importantly validate results. The buck still stops with you. The apps are just tools.
For more resources, guides and live examples you can go to my Claude for Analytics Hub below. Also covers Claude in Excel and PowerPoint. Same concept applies even if you are using ChatGPT Work.
tigzig.com/ai-in-excel
Quick start tips
The best way to start is to just install the Claude / ChatGPT desktop app and try things out.
And if you need step by step guidance - just share the guide PDF above with Claude Cowork / ChatGPT Work and have it guide you with test cases and examples. Have it train you on how to work with them - they are great tutors. You just need to ask.
One more tip - The docs and guides from Anthropic are really good .. simple language and great examples. you can find them on their tutorial and blog pages.
claude.com/resources/tutorials
Links to some of them that I really liked are in my Analytics hub above.
And what about the other flavours?
Claude in Excel
Yes, Cowork can edit and modify Excel files. But practically speaking, stick to Claude in Excel for Excel work. It's far more efficient.
Claude in PowerPoint
For all PowerPoint work, Claude in PowerPoint is very efficient. However, lately for all presentations I have stopped using PowerPoint itself... I stick to Cowork / Claude Code to prepare the deck in HTML format (landscape, portrait... any shape) and then convert to PDF. HTML-to-PPT conversion is sometimes a bit wonky due to font and placement issues and needs some font tweaking and iterations. But yes, if you do need to work on PPT, then use Claude in PowerPoint.
Claude Code
My bread and butter. From machine learning models and complex automations to full-stack apps. The 40+ apps on tigzig.com have been built, maintained, and are defended by Claude Code (earlier Cursor). By the way, I have also built ML models with Cowork and it does a great job, but I tend to prefer CC for that. All diagnostics and results are reviewed as HTML reports.
Claude Design
Don't use it much. Earlier I tried it a few times for report and deck templates, but Claude Code / Cowork are faster, and Claude Design is overkill for that.
Working on something similar? How I work covers the rates, the availability and what I take on.