Replacing Custom RAG Builds with Pickaxe

The Challenge

Travis originally tried to build his AI systems the "hard way"—with fully custom RAG implementations.

This approach came with serious challenges:

• High hourly development costs
• Complex infrastructure
• Ongoing maintenance and debugging
• Frequent hallucinations and unreliable outputs

Despite the investment, the end result often felt fragile and difficult to scale.

Travis needed a solution that was:

• More reliable
• Faster to iterate on
• Easier to maintain without a full-time developer

The Solution

Travis migrated his systems onto Pickaxe and quickly became a power user.

Using Pickaxe, he built tools that support:

• Marketing automation workflows
• Customer service experiences that can run 24/7
• Knowledge monetization, turning his expertise into scalable products

Pickaxe handled the infrastructure and orchestration, allowing Travis to focus on:

• Designing better user experiences
• Improving his prompts and logic
• Expanding his suite of tools as new ideas emerged

The Results

Moving from custom RAG builds to Pickaxe delivered immediate benefits:

• Massive time savings on development and maintenance
• Reduced hallucinations and more consistent outputs
• A more stable foundation for automated parts of his business

Instead of paying a developer $250 an hour to fix issues, Travis has:

• Direct control over his tools
• The ability to test and refine quickly
• A platform that supports multiple use cases across his business

Why It Works

Travis already understood what he wanted his AI systems to do.

Pickaxe gave him:

• A no-code environment to design and deploy those systems
• Built-in support for complex workflows
• A simpler, more cost-effective alternative to custom RAG infrastructure

By combining his strategic vision with Pickaxe’s flexibility, he built a robust AI layer for his business without the traditional overhead.

The Takeaway

Travis’s journey highlights an important lesson: you don’t always need a custom build.

For many creators, consultants, and entrepreneurs, Pickaxe offers:

• Faster time to value
• More control
• Less reliance on external developers

If you’re currently wrestling with complex, expensive AI infrastructure, Travis’s story is proof that there’s a better path forward with Pickaxe.