Keeshin Database Services

What Keeshin Database Services does

Keeshin Database Services, LLC (kDS) is a privately held, founder-led data technology services firm headquartered in Evanston, Illinois. Founded and operated by David Keeshin as chief data architect and application developer, the company has historically delivered data and application architecture design, SQL Server database administration (installation, configuration, monitoring, optimization, disaster recovery, security, storage management), and technical leadership services. Its legacy client roster includes named enterprises across financial services (CME Group, Adams Street Partners, Transamerica Distribution Finance), healthcare and insurance (Blue Cross Blue Shield), technology (CDW Corporation, Epsilon), professional services (McDermott, Will & Emery), and industrial sectors (UL, Woodward-Governor).

Beginning in Spring 2024, the company developed the kDS Data Source Discovery (DSD) App, an AI-powered enterprise data discovery platform that maps organizational data sources to a four-level hierarchy (parent to subsidiary to business unit to role) through GPT-4-powered subject-matter-expert interviews. The platform runs on a proprietary eight-schema PostgreSQL architecture (stage, client, model, interview, analysis, admin, reference, temp) with a Python/Flask web layer and Jinja2 prompt templating. The formal methodology underpinning the product, Organizational Data Flow Architecture (ODFA), was published as a white paper in February 2026 and is positioned as a complement to established catalog tools such as Collibra, Alation, and IBM. Automated three-script deployment enables approximately 30-minute production deployment on Digital Ocean droplets at $12-24 per month per environment.

The DSD App is commercialized via an enterprise beta program opened in January 2026, structured as a seven-phase implementation (6-7 weeks) targeting CDOs, CTOs, and data governance leaders in mid-to-large industrial manufacturers (2,000-15,000 employees), mid-market B2B SaaS companies (500-5,000 employees), and mid-size data and analytics consulting firms (200-3,000 billable staff). Revenue mechanics are annual or multi-year SaaS subscriptions with beta preferential terms; pricing is not publicly disclosed and deployment options include Digital Ocean managed, customer cloud (AWS/Azure/GCP with support fees), or on-premise for data sovereignty. The company is entirely founder-funded, has 1-10 employees, has raised no institutional capital, and discloses no revenue or ARR.

Name

Keeshin Database Services

Legal name

Keeshin Database Services, LLC

Website

https://keeshinds.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2024

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Keeshin Database Services is a founder-led data technology firm building the kDS Data Source Discovery App, an AI-powered enterprise platform that maps organizational data sources via GPT-4-driven SME interviews, alongside legacy data architecture and database administration consulting services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Evanston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. SaaS Subscription - Enterprise Data Discovery Platform: Annual or multi-year subscription for access to the kDS DSD App platform, including deployment, AI interview processing, analysis pipeline, and support. Beta program participants receive preferential pricing terms. Tiered based on organizational size and discovery scope.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Keeshin Database Services (kDS) delivers the AI-powered kDS Data Source Discovery (DSD) App, an enterprise platform that maps organizational data sources through GPT-4-driven SME interviews and an eight-schema PostgreSQL backend, producing compliance-ready documentation. The company complements this with data and application architecture consulting, SQL Server database administration, and technical leadership services for enterprise clients in financial services, technology, manufacturing, healthcare, and marketing.

Product overview

Keeshin Database Services, LLC (kDS) is a data technology services firm delivering the kDS Data Source Discovery (DSD) App — an AI-powered enterprise data discovery platform. The core product uses GPT-4 to conduct structured SME interviews, mapping organizational data sources to a four-level hierarchy (parent → subsidiary → business unit → role). This is complemented by data/application architecture consulting, database administration services (SQL Server focus), and technical leadership services. The company also publishes the Organizational Data Flow Architecture (ODFA) white paper as a theoretical foundation and maintains an extensive design/development blog archive documenting the platform's evolution across 26 technical posts. Major clients span financial services, technology, manufacturing, engineering, marketing, and human resources sectors.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• kDS Data Source Discovery (DSD) App: AI-powered enterprise data discovery platform that maps organizational data sources, captures tribal knowledge, and generates compliance-ready documentation through structured SME interviews powered by GPT-4, built on PostgreSQL, Python/Flask, and Digital Ocean infrastructure.

Products and services

• kDS Data Source Discovery (DSD) App AI-powered enterprise data discovery platform that maps organizational data sources, captures tribal knowledge via GPT-4-powered SME interviews, and generates compliance-ready documentation. Built on PostgreSQL (eight-schema architecture), Python/Flask, and OpenAI GPT-4, with per-client dedicated Digital Ocean infrastructure. Targeted at enterprise CDOs, CTOs, and data governance leaders in manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, pharmaceuticals, and SaaS.
• Data and Application Architecture Services Consulting services for data and application architecture design, delivered by the firm's technical leadership team to enterprise clients.
• Database Administration Services Database administration services covering all versions of SQL Server including installation, configuration, monitoring, maintenance, optimization, licensing, disaster recovery, security, storage management, and virtualization strategies.
• Technical Leadership Services Technical guidance, project management, and empowerment strategies for IT management and technical teams.

Quantifiable outcome

• Discovery timeline reduced from months/quarters to weeks
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core infrastructure and core technology.

• Digital Oceancore infrastructureTechnology or IntegrationRecommended cloud infrastructure provider for kDS DSD App deployment. kDS has built automated three-script deployment system for Digital Ocean (setup_kds_servers.sh, setup_firewalls.sh, setup_app_server.sh). Production droplets cost $12-24/month. Partnership enables rapid 30-minute deployments for beta participants.
• OpenAI (GPT-4)core technologyTechnology or IntegrationAI technology provider powering the kDS interview engine and analysis pipeline. GPT-4 used for role-specific interview question generation, topic-level summarization, cross-interview synthesis, and executive report generation. Core to platform differentiation.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Informatica: Large enterprise data integration and governance suite including data catalog, lineage, and quality. Operates as a broad incumbent covering data discovery as part of a much wider portfolio rather than specializing in kDS's organizational-context approach.
• Talend (Qlik): Data integration and governance platform (now part of Qlik) addressing data catalog, lineage, and quality at enterprise scale. Broad incumbent with overlapping data governance buyer base.
• Microsoft Purview: Microsoft's unified data governance and compliance suite spanning data catalog, lineage, and policy. Targets the same enterprise data governance buyers (CDOs, CTOs) that kDS addresses, bundled into the broader Microsoft ecosystem.

Direct peers

• Alation: Data intelligence platform providing a data catalog with collaborative documentation and search. Closely comparable to kDS on the data-catalog/discovery axis, with named competition in kDS's own positioning materials.
• Collibra: Enterprise data catalog and governance platform offering data lineage, stewardship, and discovery. Direct competitor to kDS DSD App's data discovery and governance positioning, though with a far larger installed base and broader feature set.
• data.world: Cloud-native data catalog with knowledge graph capabilities for enterprise data discovery. Direct overlap with kDS's data discovery value proposition, with an established enterprise and cloud-data-warehouse customer base.

Emerging players

• Atlan: Modern data catalog and governance platform with active discovery and collaboration features. Comparable as a more recent entrant in enterprise data discovery with overlapping buyer personas and AI-driven features.
• DataHub: Open-source metadata platform for data discovery, lineage, and observability. Comparable to kDS on the discovery/metadata axis, especially for enterprises that prefer open-source deployments.
• Euno (formerly Stemma): AI-powered data catalog and discovery company targeting mid-market and enterprise data teams. Closely comparable as a smaller, AI-first entrant pursuing the same data discovery wedge that kDS targets.
• Monte Carlo: Data observability platform providing data reliability, lineage, and discovery. Adjacent but increasingly overlapping with data catalog/discovery tooling, targeting similar enterprise data teams.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• GitHubgithub.com/kds-github/dsd_beta

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Keeshin Database Services