The Loop8 team, from left, Nashita K. (AI solutions architect), Ruby Nahal (CEO/founder), Jason Nahal (cloud solutions architect), Chad Dickerson (project manager) and Juan Pablo N. joined virtually on the tablet (cloud solutions architect). Courtesy of Ruby Nahal

Ruby Nahal has spent nearly 20 years in the tech industry, much of it working for companies based outside the Central Valley.

Her newest venture, Loop8, looks to bring that experience home — without asking Fresno businesses to reorganize themselves around another sweeping promise about technology.

Instead, the Fresno-based consulting firm starts with the problems already costing a company time or money and builds artificial intelligence and cloud systems around the way that business operates.

“We learn about their goals for the next 12 months and we figure out what solution is going to make the most sense for them,” Nahal said.

Building a Fresno-based team

Nahal founded Loop8 in 2025, officially registering as an Amazon Web Services partner in October of last year. She hired the company’s first employee in February of this year. Since then, the team has grown to about 20 people, she said.

Loop8 focuses on AI automation and cloud consulting for businesses with fewer than 500 employees and less than $100 million in annual revenue, according to its website. Services include AI pilots, document-processing systems, internal AI assistants and AWS cloud modernization.

Nahal, who has lived in Fresno for nearly 12 years, said major technology companies typically concentrate their events and representatives in hubs such as the Bay Area, Los Angeles and New York. That leaves Valley businesses and workers interested in the industry underserved.

 

“There’s a lot of untapped opportunity here,” she said.

Nahal sees room for AI integration across the Valley’s industries. She pointed to a recent meeting with a pool service company that wanted AI to use service histories and measurements to recommend chemical amounts and reduce waste.

To Nahal, the example showed how AI could improve an unexpected industry without replacing an entire workforce. She rejected the idea that AI would eventually handle every business task, calling it “a total lie.”

The Bitwise comparison

In Fresno, any new tech company promising regional change also faces an unavoidable comparison with Bitwise Industries, which collapsed in 2023 after promoting a mission to transform underestimated cities through technology.

Nahal called the comparison “apples and oranges,” arguing that Bitwise’s model centered on real estate while Loop8 delivers technical solutions directly to customers.

“We’re builders,” Nahal said. “We’re a couple of geeks who are very interested in building solutions, technical solutions to business problems.”

Turning business problems into prototypes

Loop8 will put that premise on public display this fall with the Central Valley Vibe-A-Thon, a free build event for founders and business leaders.

The event will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 8 at 4105 W. Figarden Drive in Fresno. It will feature experts from Loop8 and AWS who will help participants work through actual business challenges, Nahal said.

Loop8 was inspired by a Palm Springs event where a short-staffed zoo department brought an invoice and report backlog. At the event, a team built a prototype that could process document images, extract information and surface useful insights.

 

Bring your ‘stubborn’ problems

Nahal hopes Valley businesses will bring similarly stubborn workflows or early-stage ideas to the Fresno event.

Participants will work with experts to build prototypes. They will not be finished production systems, Nahal said, but can show whether the problem is solvable and give business owners something tangible to develop.

Loop8 also plans to select some proposed solutions for continued development into production systems at no cost to the participating businesses, Nahal said.

The company is working with the Better Business Bureau and other community organizations as it looks to hold additional technology events in the area. Nahal said Loop8 hopes to host another event early next year, though its format may differ.

For Loop8, the Vibe-A-Thon reflects the company’s broader vision: Central Valley businesses should not have to wait for a major tech hub to notice them. They can begin with one problem worth solving.