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Tuesday, 15 September 2026 |
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| It’s been a little more than a year since Omada Health went public, and the company reported its first profitable quarter this spring. Now, it's preparing for its first CEO transition. |
| Wei-Li Shao, who joined Omada in 2019 as chief commercial officer and is now president, will succeed co-founder Sean Duffy in January. He’ll be taking the helm as competition surrounding its digital cardiometabolic care business rages on, from the proliferation of GLP-1 telehealth companies to virtual chronic care startups that are expanding into more conditions. |
| Omada is betting on going deeper rather than adding more conditions outside of cardiometabolic care, at least for now. It expects to add labs, diagnostics, prescription drug services, wearables and other devices on top of its existing virtual care programs. |
| “Whereas other companies, or even Omada, in years past would have launched a behavior change program for that particular condition, our strategic intent going into the future is that we're doing that, but we're adding on a more robust stack around it to exceed the needs and expectations of our customers,” Shao told me last Thursday after the company’s first-ever Investor Day in New York. |
| It’s a different approach from other virtual chronic care providers. For instance, virtual physical therapy startup Hinge Health last month said it’s buying digestive health startup Cylinder for $105 million, while Sword Health is buying mental health startup Headspace for up to a reported $300 million. |
| As Americans confront ever-growing healthcare costs, we’ll see which strategy — depth versus breadth — wins out. |
| - Ngai |
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The health angle in the AI discourse |
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We’ve been following the viral AI safety discourse happening in the wake of vocal departures from some of the AI giants. With how fast healthcare has adopted generative AI, what’s the impact of this conversation on the industry? Have you seen it show up in your work? |
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Worldwide made. Thanks for reading.
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