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AI assistants & research
Gemini / Nano Banana
Google's AI assistant and model family, including image-generation workflows Alec called Nano Banana.
Google's AI assistant and model family, including image-generation workflows Alec called Nano Banana.
Gemini is Google's family of AI models and the assistant built on top of them, handling text, image, code, and multimodal work in one interface. It's available as a standalone chat product at gemini.google.com, with a free tier, and its models also power AI features inside other Google products like Search, Workspace, and Android.
Nano Banana isn't a separate product. It's the name Alec Saluga used in Episode 005 for a Gemini image-generation workflow: taking an uploaded image, like a logo, and generating a realistic mockup of it applied to a product.
In Episode 005, Alec Saluga used what he called the Nano Banana workflow, a Gemini image-generation trick, to build a feature for Crumb B2B, one of three companies built live in the episode. A buyer uploads their logo, and Gemini generates a mockup of it printed directly on a batch of cookies, before the buyer places an order.
We keep Gemini in the stack because that turns a sales pitch into a preview. Instead of telling a buyer "we can put your logo on cookies" and hoping they picture it right, the buyer sees it. The practical takeaway for an operator: if what you sell has any visual output, a logo, a design, a physical product, you can now prototype a "see it before you buy it" feature with Gemini's image tools instead of leaving it as a slide.
Day to day, Gemini is as approachable as any consumer AI chatbot: free to start at gemini.google.com, nothing to install, ask it a question or give it a prompt. Building the Nano Banana feature Alec used for Crumb B2B, wiring image generation into a live web app so a customer's upload triggers an instant mockup, is development work. You don't need to write that code. You need to know the feature is possible, describe what you want built, and have a developer or an AI coding tool connect it to Gemini's API for you.
Genuine substitutes for Gemini / Nano Banana that we've also run on stage:
Yes, Gemini / Nano Banana has a free tier. Consumer plans and API pricing vary by product; see Google's Gemini pricing pages.
Consumer plans and API pricing vary by product; see Google's Gemini pricing pages.
Alec Saluga used it in Episode 005 for powering the Nano Banana cookie-logo mockup for Crumb B2B; Ian Kilpatrick used it in Session 007 for named as the model behind Sesame's Maya voice agent.
Day to day, Gemini is as approachable as any consumer AI chatbot: free to start at gemini.google.com, nothing to install, ask it a question or give it a prompt. Building the Nano Banana feature Alec used for Crumb B2B, wiring image generation into a live web app so a customer's upload triggers an instant mockup, is development work. You don't need to write that code. You need to know the feature is possible, describe what you want built, and have a developer or an AI coding tool connect it to Gemini's API for you.
Tools we've also used live that can stand in for Gemini / Nano Banana: ChatGPT, Claude (Anthropic), Grok.
| Category | AI assistants & research |
|---|---|
| Pricing | Consumer plans and API pricing vary by product; see Google's Gemini pricing pages. |
| Free tier | Yes |
| Used live in | Episode 005 and Session 007 |
| Operator(s) | Alec Saluga, Ian Kilpatrick |
| Website | gemini.google.com |
On AI4NTP, every tool is shown live by a real operator. These are the people who demoed Gemini / Nano Banana on stage.
A former B2B salesman with no technical background who self-taught AI. He builds and deploys AI-driven marketing and websites, and has grown a following of over 15,000 teaching AI adoption.
A designer, developer, and serial entrepreneur writing code since age 10. He has worked with Disney, the Golden Globes, and the AMAs, and now runs a fleet of AI agents doing real work every day.
Explore other tools we've demoed live at AI4NTP:
See tools like Gemini / Nano Banana set up live, step by step, on AI4NTP, or get hands-on help putting it to work.