Professional Role and Company Overview
Shinji Kim is the Founder and CEO of Select Star, an automated data discovery platform headquartered in San Francisco, California. Select Star specializes in delivering metadata-driven data discovery and governance solutions aimed at improving organizational understanding and management of data assets. The company was founded in March 2020 and has since established itself as a key player in metadata management and data observability.
Expertise and Industry Focus
Shinji Kim’s expertise centers on automated data discovery, metadata management, AI-enabled data workflows, and the enhancement of data accessibility for large, fast-growing organizations. Her background includes significant experience in data consulting with over a decade in the industry, including a tenure at Meta (formerly Facebook). She has also been recognized as a thought leader within the AI, Data, and Analytics community, evidenced by her active engagement with senior data leaders and public appearances at events such as AWS re:Invent 2022 and featured interviews like the Cube Conversation and DataCamp podcast.
Thought Leadership and Public Insights
Shinji regularly communicates advanced perspectives on improving data workflows through AI, emphasizing the importance of context, metadata richness, and data governance to scale AI-driven decision-making. Key insights shared by Shinji include:
- Prioritizing the critical 10% of data that drives 90% of organizational decisions to create a focused “AI-facing surface area.”
- Building rich metadata knowledge graphs that provide AI agents with lineage, glossary, and usage statistics to enhance SQL generation accuracy and data exploration.
- Leveraging feedback loops from AI query failures to continually improve metadata quality and system learning.
- Integrating documentation and governance seamlessly into existing workflows via automation and AI assistance, including tooling integration across platforms such as Snowflake, dbt, and BI tools.
Her posts articulate detailed methodologies to solve common data challenges like fragmented tooling, lack of ownership, and documentation difficulty, positioning Select Star’s platform as a solution that automates and organizes metadata to empower data democratization and safer data operationalization.
Career Background and Previous Ventures
Before founding Select Star, Shinji Kim was the Founder and CEO of Concord Systems, an IoT data platform company that was acquired by Akamai. She also has experience as a product manager in early-stage startups, including being the first product manager hire at Yieldmo where her contributions were integral to the company’s early growth.
Education and Credentials
- Studied Software Engineering at the University of Waterloo
- Completed General Management studies at Stanford Graduate School of Business
These technical and managerial credentials underpin her capacity to lead both product innovation and strategic company growth in the data technology sector.
Social Influence and Network
Shinji maintains a strong professional network with over 12,000 followers and 500+ connections on LinkedIn, positioning her as a recognized voice among AI, data, and analytics leaders. She actively participates in knowledge sharing and advisory roles for early-stage startups, further solidifying her influence within the data ecosystem.
Select Star’s Market Differentiators Highlighted by Shinji Kim
- Automated metadata discovery and curation, reducing manual overhead in data documentation.
- Impact analysis and change management tools that anticipate and communicate data model changes across data platforms and BI tools.
- Accessibility of metadata through multiple integrations including Slack apps, Chrome extensions, and an MCP (Metadata Control Plane) server that directly interacts with AI agents.
- Driving data democratization by enabling safer, smarter workflows with metadata-enriched AI copilots.
Geographic Location
Shinji Kim is based in San Francisco, California, serving as a strategic location for technology innovation and access to enterprise clients and investors.
This detailed profile synthesizes Shinji Kim’s professional background, leadership in data discovery through Select Star, and her domain expertise in AI-driven metadata management to inform strategic engagement within the data technology and analytics sector.
