AI assistantsAI
General-purpose chat and research assistants built on large language models.
19 apps in Torii Research. Latest editions: Shadow IT Index 0% · AI Breakout 27% · Adoption Index 13%.
What kinds of apps are getting attention
Rankings tell you which apps. Themes tell you what kind. We sort every app in Torii Research into one of 14 themes, five of them AI, then track how much of each index they take up, edition by edition.
How much of each index is AI
AI-native apps as a share of each edition's list.
Shadow IT Index
25% AI-native in October 2026 (7 of 28 apps), down from 30% in July 2025.
Biggest theme now: Security and IT (21%). By theme →
AI Breakout
87% AI-native in October 2026 (26 of 30 apps), down from 90% in July 2025.
Biggest theme now: AI assistants (27%). By theme →
Adoption Index
13% AI-native in October 2026 (4 of 30 apps), up from 5% in August 2025.
Biggest theme now: Work suites and collaboration (43%). By theme →
Source: Torii Research, anonymized and aggregated usage data. AI-native means the app's theme is an AI theme, or it is AI-first in another theme (an AI browser, an AI recruiting tool).
Shadow IT Index
16 editions, July 2025 to October 2026
AI-native apps were 30% of the July 2025 list and 25% of the October 2026 list. The biggest theme in October 2026 is Security and IT (21%). Security and IT grew the most: 3% of the list on average in the first three editions, 17% in the latest three.
| Theme | Jul 25 | Aug 25 | Sep 25 | Oct 25 | Nov 25 | Dec 25 | Jan 26 | Feb 26 | Mar 26 | Apr 26 | May 26 | Jun 26 | Jul 26 | Aug 26 | Sep 26 | Oct 26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Developer and data tools | 20 | 10 | · | 20 | 10 | 19 | 23 | 10 | 20 | 16 | 21 | 15 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 11 |
| Personal productivity | 10 | 20 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 14 | 14 |
| AI coding and buildingAI | 10 | · | · | 10 | · | 19 | · | 8 | 6 | 16 | 17 | 25 | 18 | 20 | 11 | 4 |
| Sales, marketing, and CX | 10 | 10 | 11 | 40 | · | 12 | 3 | 4 | 16 | 13 | 21 | 10 | · | · | 7 | 7 |
| Security and IT | · | 10 | · | 20 | 10 | 6 | 13 | 6 | · | 3 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 20 | 11 | 21 |
| Work suites and collaboration | 30 | 20 | 22 | · | · | · | 10 | 10 | 8 | · | 8 | · | 5 | · | 4 | · |
| Design and video | · | · | 33 | · | 30 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 4 | · | 4 | 5 | · | 7 | 4 | 4 |
| Ops, HR, and finance | · | 10 | · | · | 10 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 12 | 10 | · | 15 | 14 | · | 4 | 11 |
| Personal and consumer apps | · | 10 | · | · | · | 6 | 3 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 7 |
| AI agentsAI | · | · | 11 | · | · | · | · | 4 | 4 | 10 | · | · | 14 | 13 | · | 18 |
| AI content and mediaAI | · | · | 11 | · | 10 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 3 | · | · | 5 | · | 4 | · |
| AI notes and voiceAI | 10 | 10 | · | · | · | · | 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 5 | · | 7 | · | 4 |
| Browsers and search | · | · | · | · | 10 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 2 | · | · | · | · | · | 14 | · |
| AI assistantsAI | 10 | · | · | · | 10 | · | 5 | 6 | 4 | 6 | · | · | · | 7 | · | · |
Source: Torii Research, Shadow IT Index editions, anonymized and aggregated usage data. Shares describe the apps listed, not usage volume. Editions of this index list 9 to 50 apps, so in the shortest lists a single app is worth 11 points of share.
AI Breakout
16 editions, July 2025 to October 2026
AI-native apps were 90% of the July 2025 list and 87% of the October 2026 list. The biggest theme in October 2026 is AI assistants (27%). AI coding and building grew the most: 20% of the list on average in the first three editions, 29% in the latest three.
| Theme | Jul 25 | Aug 25 | Sep 25 | Oct 25 | Nov 25 | Dec 25 | Jan 26 | Feb 26 | Mar 26 | Apr 26 | May 26 | Jun 26 | Jul 26 | Aug 26 | Sep 26 | Oct 26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AI assistantsAI | 40 | 30 | 35 | 40 | 30 | 35 | 30 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 27 | 27 |
| AI coding and buildingAI | 15 | 25 | 20 | 20 | 25 | 20 | 27 | 27 | 30 | 27 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 30 | 27 |
| AI content and mediaAI | 20 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 10 |
| AI notes and voiceAI | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 10 | 10 |
| AI agentsAI | · | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| Ops, HR, and finance | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Work suites and collaboration | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Sales, marketing, and CX | · | · | · | · | · | · | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Personal productivity | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | · | 3 | 3 | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Browsers and search | · | · | · | · | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
| Design and video | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | 3 | · |
Source: Torii Research, AI Breakout editions, anonymized and aggregated usage data. Shares describe the apps listed, not usage volume. Editions of this index list 20 to 30 apps, so in the shortest lists a single app is worth 5 points of share.
Adoption Index
15 editions, August 2025 to October 2026
AI-native apps were 5% of the August 2025 list and 13% of the October 2026 list. The biggest theme in October 2026 is Work suites and collaboration (43%). AI assistants grew the most: 7% of the list on average in the first three editions, 13% in the latest three.
| Theme | Aug 25 | Sep 25 | Oct 25 | Nov 25 | Dec 25 | Jan 26 | Feb 26 | Mar 26 | Apr 26 | May 26 | Jun 26 | Jul 26 | Aug 26 | Sep 26 | Oct 26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Work suites and collaboration | 50 | 50 | 55 | 45 | 45 | 50 | 50 | 50 | 43 | 47 | 43 | 43 | 43 | 43 | 43 |
| Developer and data tools | 10 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 13 | 17 |
| Design and video | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| AI assistantsAI | 5 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| Sales, marketing, and CX | 10 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 3 |
| Browsers and search | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Ops, HR, and finance | · | 5 | · | 5 | · | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Personal productivity | 5 | · | · | · | · | 3 | 3 | · | · | · | · | · | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Security and IT | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | 3 | 3 | · | 3 | 3 |
| AI coding and buildingAI | · | · | · | · | · | · | · | 3 | 3 | · | · | · | · | · | · |
Source: Torii Research, Adoption Index editions, anonymized and aggregated usage data. Shares describe the apps listed, not usage volume. Editions of this index list 20 to 30 apps, so in the shortest lists a single app is worth 5 points of share.
The 14 themes
Most frequent apps first. AI marks the AI themes.
ChatGPT
Claude AI
OpenAI
Google Gemini
Grok
Perplexity AIAI agentsAI
Agents that carry out tasks end to end, general or for one job (support, legal, security, recruiting).
17 apps in Torii Research. Latest editions: Shadow IT Index 18% · AI Breakout 13% · Adoption Index 0%.
n8n
Genspark
Fyxer
Grok Bot
Instinct.com
ManusAI coding and buildingAI
AI code editors and coding agents, app builders, and the models, APIs, and runtimes developers build on.
32 apps in Torii Research. Latest editions: Shadow IT Index 4% · AI Breakout 27% · Adoption Index 0%.
Cursor AI
Google AI Studio
Gemini Code Assist
ollama
Google Antigravity
Base44AI notes and voiceAI
Meeting recorders, note takers, transcription, and voice dictation.
13 apps in Torii Research. Latest editions: Shadow IT Index 4% · AI Breakout 10% · Adoption Index 0%.
Granola
Fireflies.ai
Read AI
Fellow
Plaud.ai
superwhisperAI content and mediaAI
AI for images, video, audio, music, writing, and presentations.
17 apps in Torii Research. Latest editions: Shadow IT Index 0% · AI Breakout 10% · Adoption Index 0%.
ElevenLabs
Grammarly
Gamma App
Higgsfield
Midjourney
DeeVidWork suites and collaboration
Office suites, chat, video calls, file storage, and team project tools.
40 apps in Torii Research. Latest editions: Shadow IT Index 0% · AI Breakout 3% · Adoption Index 43%.
ClickUp
Microsoft Teams
OneDrive
Atlassian
Google Workspace (G Suite)
JiraPersonal productivity
Tools one person picks for their own work, such as notes, email clients, PDF editors, to-do lists, and time trackers.
36 apps in Torii Research. Latest editions: Shadow IT Index 14% · AI Breakout 0% · Adoption Index 3%.
Notion Mail
Adobe Acrobat
Obsidian
Doodle
Pocket
RectangleDeveloper and data tools
Code, cloud, databases, APIs, observability, and analytics.
56 apps in Torii Research. Latest editions: Shadow IT Index 11% · AI Breakout 0% · Adoption Index 17%.
GitHub
Postman
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Docker Hub
Google Cloud
BrunoSecurity and IT
Password managers, VPNs, remote access, device management, and security tools.
30 apps in Torii Research. Latest editions: Shadow IT Index 21% · AI Breakout 0% · Adoption Index 3%.
1Password
RCLONE
Bionic
NordVPN
uBlock Origin
VirtruBrowsers and search
Web browsers, including AI browsers, and search engines.
14 apps in Torii Research. Latest editions: Shadow IT Index 0% · AI Breakout 0% · Adoption Index 3%.
Google Chrome
ChatGPT Atlas
Firefox
Vivaldi
Apple Safari
BraveDesign and video
Design, photo, and video editing tools, and creative asset libraries.
18 apps in Torii Research. Latest editions: Shadow IT Index 4% · AI Breakout 0% · Adoption Index 10%.
Canva
Adobe
Figma
Artlist
CapCut
PicsartSales, marketing, and CX
CRM, prospecting, advertising, SEO, web analytics, and customer experience.
36 apps in Torii Research. Latest editions: Shadow IT Index 7% · AI Breakout 7% · Adoption Index 3%.
Salesforce
LinkedIn
Gong
Apollo
PandaDoc
CrystalOps, HR, and finance
Automation, e-signature, hiring and HR, finance, legal, and logistics.
28 apps in Torii Research. Latest editions: Shadow IT Index 11% · AI Breakout 3% · Adoption Index 3%.
Zapier
DocuSign
Juicebox AI
SignNow
AngelList
AvenuePersonal and consumer apps
Music, messaging, social, learning, investing, travel, and other apps mainly for life outside work.
26 apps in Torii Research. Latest editions: Shadow IT Index 7% · AI Breakout 0% · Adoption Index 0%.
Quizlet
Scribd
Spotify
BlueSky
Cabify
DiscordHow themes work
Each app gets one primary theme, picked by what the product does rather than the vendor's own category, so a theme's shares add up to 100% in every edition. A theme's share is its apps divided by the apps listed in that edition: it describes the list, not how much each app is used. Apps that are AI-first but belong to another theme (an AI browser, an AI recruiting tool) count as AI-native without changing theme. When a theme is reassigned, the change is logged like any other correction.
Definitions in the glossary; data rules on the Methodology page. A plain-text version is at themes.md.