Nine

The Problem

Modern independent and multi-location restaurants operate on razor-thin margins and fractured software stacks. Legacy point-of-sale systems lock vital transactional data into closed silos, leaving restaurant owners unable to forecast inventory demand, identify cost leakages in real time, or optimize staffing schedules against customer foot-traffic patterns.

The existing analytical tools in the market are either built for massive enterprise fast-food chains with dedicated data science teams or are rudimentary spreadsheets requiring hours of manual data reconciliation after closing.

The Solution

Nine was designed as a zero-friction intelligence platform that connects directly to modern POS terminals, kitchen display systems, and supplier ordering channels. It ingests hourly transaction volume, automated inventory deductions, and labor shifts to deliver actionable, automated daily briefing summaries and predictive demand curves.

Instead of presenting operators with overwhelming dashboards filled with vanity metrics, Nine generates concise daily directives: precisely what inventory to prep, optimal supplier purchase orders based on perishable shelf-life, and dynamically adjusted labor recommendations.

My Role

As Founder leading Product and Technology, I architected the platform from initial conceptualization through production deployment:

• Conducted in-depth qualitative interviews with 35+ restaurant operators and general managers to map daily operational workflows.
• Architected the core telemetry pipeline that synchronizes transactional event streams asynchronously with millisecond latency.
• Designed an editorial, low-friction web interface optimized for fast scanning on both kitchen floor tablets and manager desktops.
• Implemented real-time anomaly detection algorithms for immediate inventory variance alerts.

Technology

The platform is engineered around a modern, resilient full-stack architecture:

• Frontend & App Framework: Next.js App Router with React Server Components for near-instant cold-boot page loads and minimal JavaScript bundle overhead.
• Data Layer: PostgreSQL with Prisma ORM for structured relational schema integrity, paired with Redis for low-latency session caching and real-time pub/sub notifications.
• Async Workers: Distributed background job queues handling nightly data ingestion, automated email digests, and predictive metric calculations.
• Design System: A strict high-contrast typography hierarchy designed for clarity under bright kitchen lighting or low-lit dining room offices.

Outcome

• Deployed across initial pilot venues, processing hundreds of thousands in monthly gross merchandise volume with zero critical downtime.
• Reduced average weekly food waste by 18% within the first 60 days of adoption across pilot locations.
• Cut weekly administrative data entry time for restaurant managers from 6 hours to under 30 minutes.