About
Built for businesses doing real work
Bar 9 AI helps service businesses like marketing agencies, home improvement companies, labor-heavy organizations, or agriculture tech companies use AI where it actually improves the operation: the repetitive workflows, reporting burdens, follow-up gaps, and visibility problems that quietly cost time and momentum every week.
Bar 9 AI
What Bar 9 is
Bar 9 AI is a small, hands-on firm headquartered in Boise, Idaho that builds practical AI systems. We are most useful when a company has a real workflow problem, no appetite for hype, and no internal team waiting to stitch the whole thing together.
Travis Franklin
Founder, Bar 9 AI
Rooted in strategy vs hype
After 25+ years leading marketing, strategy, growth, and operations efforts across multiple industries, Travis Franklin recognized the impact his background could have on companies when blended with the rapid advancement of AI systems. That experience and background shaped the company's point of view: the problem is usually not a lack of tools. It is that good people are still spending too much time doing repetitive work by hand instead of focusing on the strategies needed to grow their company.
Grounded on purpose
Travis grew up on a family farm and ranch in Colorado, where effort mattered, excuses did not carry weight, and people were expected to do what they said. That still shows up in how Bar 9 AI works: stay practical, speak plainly, respect people, and build things that hold up in the real world. Our name even pays homage to our roots; Bar 9 Ranches in Fruita, Colorado will always be the foundation of our hearts and souls.
What we believe
It's more than just branding. It's our core.
- AI adoption usually fails on lack of ownership, not potential.
- Most businesses do not need more "AI-native" tools. They need custom systems built on institutional knowledge.
- Human judgment still matters in the workflows worth caring about.
- The right AI system should make the team stronger, never replace them.
How we work
Our values drive our success
- We treat people with respect.
- We demand honestly from ourselves and our clients.
- We share knowledge directly and without limits.
- We focus on useful outcomes, not hyped performance.
- We own mistakes and fix them.
- We do not build theater.
Working with Bar 9 AI
What clients can expect
Clear communication, practical thinking, honest fit conversations, and delivered systems designed to reduce friction instead of adding another layer of it. Good work takes time, and rushed work leads to failure. And maybe most importantly - we don't pretend to have all the answers so we work closely with you throughout every engagement.
Start here
Find the first workflow worth fixing
Start with the scorecard or book the audit. We will help you figure out whether there is a system worth building and where it should start.