Meet the founders behind 808 AI Group.
Hawai'i's first dedicated AI consulting agency, built by two operators who'd rather ship the system than sell the deck. One on strategy and the AI stack, one on the engineering and build.
The short version: 808 AI Group was founded in 2024 by Devin Atkins (Founder & AI Architect) and Gene Hew (Co-Founder & Head of Engineering) on a single mission: help 1,000 Hawai'i business owners implement AI. Devin built the 5-Pillar GEO Strategy, the 4-Tier Revenue Architecture, the AI Receptionist Deployment System, and the Tiny Step AI Framework. Gene runs the engineering: the websites, automations, and analytics pipelines those frameworks ship on. Based in Maui. Talk to us via the contact page.
- Legal name
- 808 AI Group
- Founded
- 2024
- Headquarters
- Maui, Hawai'i
- Founders
- Devin Atkins · Gene Hew
- Services
- AI receptionist, GEO, automation, lead gen, apps, content, local SEO
- Serves
- O'ahu · Maui · Big Island · Kaua'i
Devin Atkins, Founder & AI Architect.
After a decade across marketing, technology, and small-business operations, Devin built 808 AI Group to fix the pattern of mainland agencies shipping generic AI to Hawai'i. He authored the four proprietary frameworks the agency runs on, and he personally leads every implementation.
His work has moved Hawai'i businesses from invisible to recommended in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews, often within 60 days.
Gene Hew, Co-Founder & Head of Engineering.
Gene runs the build. He specializes in agent orchestration, automation pipelines, and optimization systems, with dozens of shipped projects spanning multi-agent platforms, content automation, learning systems, internal tools, and analytics dashboards.
His more ambitious deployments coordinate dozens of specialized AI agents working in parallel, layered with skill libraries, swarm orchestration, and pipeline routing. The instinct running through every project is the same: figure out how the work actually moves, then automate it.
At 808 AI Group he owns the engineering surface of every client deployment. Whatever it takes to make the system work, he builds.
The story.
Both of us kept watching the same pattern: Hawai'i businesses being sold AI tools by mainland-focused agencies that didn't understand the islands. The pitches were generic. The implementations stalled. The local market was being treated as an afterthought.
808 AI Group exists to fix that. One mission, stated publicly: help 1,000 Hawai'i business owners implement AI in a way that actually makes sense for their business.
The four frameworks.
Our work is documented through four proprietary frameworks now deployed across Hawai'i clients:
- 5-Pillar GEO Strategy: complete, well-organized content, the 44.2% rule, content refreshed every 30 days, building real authority and trust, and the behind-the-scenes data AI reads. The only GEO program in the state aligned with Google's official AI search guidance. Target: a meaningful lift in AI recommendations within 60 days.
- 4-Tier Revenue Architecture: free lead magnet → low-ticket offer ($297) → recurring membership ($497/mo) → high-ticket application funnel ($30K+). The funnel pattern most Hawai'i service businesses collapse into one form on their homepage; this separates them.
- AI Receptionist Deployment System: a documented setup pattern that captures after-hours inquiries and automates booking. One-time $97 setup. Trained on each client's specific business data.
- Tiny Step AI Framework: the content pipeline. Scripts, thumbnails, metadata, and SEO turn expert knowledge into a compounding audience at four scripts per week.
What the systems are built to do.
Every deployment is designed against explicit targets: visibility in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews with a measurable citation lift inside 60 days; receptionists that send zero calls to voicemail; lead systems where only qualified prospects reach your calendar; and a content pipeline that runs four scripts per week, every week. We track each one against its target and show you the numbers as they accrue.
Get in touch.
Based in Maui. Serving every Hawaiian island. The fastest way to a real conversation is to book a Systems Audit. We'll look at where AI fits in your business and where it doesn't.