Kim Inouye

product + design + operations leader

I turn operational chaos into systems that scale. I've done it at PayPal and Etsy: scaling operations through hypergrowth, leading AI transformation for a 300+ person global org, and building functions from zero. What makes me different is that I bring both the systems brain and the human side. I can architect the infrastructure and get people to actually use it. I create order from ambiguity and build things that last.

What I do

Things that I excel at

AI + Ways of Working

I led a program to accelerate innovation on PayPal's payments team. We created a set of agents and prototyping tools to solve for pain points in the Product Development Lifecycle.

  • 80% time saved on compliance reviews
  • Prototyping tool using design system components
  • Agents that brainstorm ideas from user insights

Building with AI

I use AI tools to design and build working products that solve real operational problems. Cursor, Replit, Claude — I prototype fast and learn by making.

  • Capacity Planner: design team resourcing
  • Rose: feedback decoder

Driving Adoption

Most change fails because people feel like it is happening to them. I bring people into the process early. ICs and managers who have to live with the new way of working get a say in building it. That participation is what turns resistance into ownership.

Stopping the swirl

I can take your swirling team and quickly help them find their north star, sync to rhythms, and align on priorities.

Building with AI

Things I've built

Product What it does Links
Capacity Planner

Custom tool for planning how many designers are needed to support a product roadmap. Maps available weeks against project scope.

Rose

AI feedback decoder. Takes ambiguous workplace feedback and helps the person understand what was really said and what to do with it.

Stem

Research intelligence tool that finds and scores articles relevant to Rose’s knowledge base. Human review before anything ships.

Aperi

Quality monitoring tool that scores AI responses for sycophancy, bias detection accuracy, and response calibration.

Get in touch

Let's work together

I'm currently exploring new opportunities where I can drive operational excellence and AI transformation at mission-driven organizations. Open to remote and hybrid roles.