Daniel Kim
Daniel Kim
Co-Founder & CEO, MindWave AI
“Technology should never replace human potential — it should amplify it.”
Daniel Kim is the Co-Founder & CEO of MindWave AI, a platform that helps small businesses use artificial intelligence to streamline operations, automate customer service, and uncover new growth opportunities. Since its launch in 2018, MindWave has powered over 25,000 businesses in 14 countries.
Raised by immigrant parents who ran a corner grocery store, Daniel saw firsthand how hard small business owners work and how few tools were built for them. After studying computer science at Stanford and working at Google’s AI research division, he realized advanced technology was staying locked inside Fortune 500 companies.
Daniel walked away from a six-figure career to build something different: AI that was simple, ethical, and accessible to everyday entrepreneurs.
Recognition & Media
- Inc. Magazine’s “Top 50 Tech Visionaries” (2020)
- Keynote speaker at SXSW (2021)
- Featured in Harvard Business Review’s “AI for Small Business” issue (2023)
Personal Bio
Daniel is a strong advocate for responsible AI and has testified before Congress on ethical AI frameworks. He also mentors first-generation college students through TechAccess.
Why I Do What I Do
“My why is rooted in watching my parents struggle with the administrative side of their small business. They worked 14-hour days, not because of customers, but because of paperwork and inefficiency. I knew technology could help, but nobody was building for them.
My mission is to level the playing field. MindWave is about giving small business owners back their time so they can focus on what they love — not on endless forms and phone calls.”
How I Overcame My Greatest Challenge
In 2019, Daniel faced a PR storm when critics accused MindWave of “job replacement.” Headlines threatened to sink the young startup.
Instead of hiding, he doubled down on transparency — hosting public webinars on “AI as a Job Creator,” showing data on how clients were hiring more staff thanks to freed-up time. He also introduced an Ethics Council, inviting community leaders, customers, and academics to oversee product direction.
The openness turned critics into allies and won MindWave its largest enterprise client.
“Trust is the most important code you’ll ever write.”
Quick Facts
- HQ: San Francisco, CA
- Founded: 2018
- Employees: 220
- Favorite motto: “Do the right thing, then do the smart thing.”
Message to Future Entrepreneurs
“Don’t wait for permission to innovate responsibly. If you can build something that helps people, do it — but always remember the human impact. Technology without empathy is just machinery.”
Legacy Statement
Daniel envisions a future where AI empowers every corner shop, freelancer, and startup with the same efficiency once reserved for billion-dollar corporations. He hopes MindWave will be remembered as the company that put AI in the hands of the many, not the few.