Hi Reader,

Welcome to Hal9 Weekly — insights from our founder Javier on turning AI ideas into real products.

Each week, we’ll share practical frameworks, founder stories, and product updates to help you build faster.

Javier's Insights:

Don't Hire an AI Team (Yet)

Hiring an in-house AI team sounds smart on paper. But it usually backfires hard when you're building AI products.

On paper, it makes sense. You've got a hard problem, so hiring a group of AI experts or PhDs seems like the right move.

But in reality? It's often the worst thing you can do early on.

Here's why:

You should only bring in a full AI team once you've exhausted all the simpler options first.

A lot of times, when you're facing a hard AI problem, the better question isn't "who should I hire?" It's: can I simplify this?

Do you really need to solve the hardest version of the problem right now?

Example: Self-Driving Cars

The end goal is fully autonomous driving — a massive challenge that takes hundreds of PhDs and a decade of work.

But Tesla didn't start there. They began with lane assist, where the driver still monitors the car.

They simplified the problem first, then built up from there.

Why This Matters:

Most founders over-engineer early. They throw money, time, and complexity at a problem that doesn't need it yet.

The result? Burn rate spikes, velocity tanks, and you're still 18 months from shipping anything.

How to Move Forward:

Instead of hiring a full AI team out of the gate, simplify your business problem.

Strip it down to the smallest possible version you can ship — one that doesn't need five years of research to validate.

You'll move faster, learn faster, and save a ton of money.

Bottom line: Don't hire your way out of complexity. Simplify your way out of it.

Customer Success Story: Dvlop

From Hundreds of Manual Presets to AI-Powered Editing Suggestions

Dvlop built an extensive library of professional photo presets for photographers using Adobe Lightroom and Capture One. The problem? Photographers had to manually browse through hundreds of presets to find the right one for each photo—wasting hours on every project.

They wanted to build an AI system that could analyze a photo and automatically suggest the best editing adjustments, matching the quality expectations of professional photographers.

The Challenge: Create an AI model sophisticated enough to "look" at hundreds of different photos and recommend custom edits based on each photo's unique characteristics—without requiring photographers to browse through endless preset libraries.

Hal9 helped Dvlop:

🎯 Prototype and test multiple AI models using Dvlop's extensive dataset of curated presets and images

🤖 Develop a proprietary AI model (now a valuable trade secret) that delivers professional-grade editing suggestions

☁️ Deploy the model in the cloud for seamless integration into Adobe Lightroom and Capture One

⚡ Enable real-time, AI-powered suggestions directly within photographers' existing workflows

The result? Dvlop's AI-powered solution is now fully integrated into leading photo editing software, saving photographers thousands of hours by streamlining the editing process. The product has strengthened Dvlop's position as a pioneer in the photography industry.

"Working with Hal9 was one of our best decisions when starting our AI project. They helped turn our ambitious dreams into reality."​
— Founder @ Dvlop

Let’s Talk

Thinking about hiring an AI team but not sure if you need one yet?

Book a quick call with Javier — he'll help you figure out if you can simplify the problem first, or if you actually need to build a complex solution.

Talk soon,

—The Hal9 Team