Q&A with Salim Ismail: Accelerating change for a new breed of business

Salim Ismail, founder and chair of OpenExO

Photo: Courtesy of OpenExO

Healthcare Finance News: Could you please tell us why you founded OpenExO? What need did you see and what does the company do?

Salim Ismail: Sure, I founded OpenExO to help organizations and individuals navigate and thrive in the rapidly changing world of technology and business. I saw a need for a new way of thinking about organizations, one that leverages technology to achieve exponential growth and impact. OpenExO provides a platform and resources to help organizations transform into Exponential Organizations, or ExOs, which are built on a set of 11 attributes that enable them to scale up rapidly and achieve 10x growth and impact.

OpenExO is the developer of a unique management consulting ecosystem and a software platform built upon the idea that every organization can find a way to harness exponential growth. The company provides in-depth training to a variety of consultants, coaches and freelancers, including a standardized approach to fostering exponential growth within and around an organization. The approaches generally focus on self-disruption, increased technological adoption and overall resource efficiency (assets, labor, capital, etc.). The system is designed to limit internal friction within any legacy operations during the process.

OpenExO was founded in 2017 and has recently entered a growth phase and achieved several significant business milestones. Our purpose is to Transform the World for a Better Future. The OpenExO Community platform consists of 20,000-plus exponential thought leaders, innovation coaches, disruption specialists, startup founders and tech industry gurus from over 134 countries, gathered to transform the world for a better future. Our community is built on the ExO Model, which is MTP+SCALE+IDEAS. This is the foundational Model on which Exponential Organizations is built.  

Our belief is that this is the decade of the ExO, and every organization will need to understand how to leverage Exponential Attributes in order to thrive.

HFN: What is Exponential Organizations 2.0.?

Salim Ismail: Exponential Organizations 2.0 is our new living book. It is an upgrade to our 2014 book, Exponential Organizations. It is a new playbook for achieving 10x growth and impact in the rapidly changing world of technology and business written by Salim Ismail and Peter Diamandis, together with Mike Malone, and it provides updated insights, case studies and strategies for building and scaling Exponential Organizations.

For example, Exponential Organizations 2.0 highlights the importance of leveraging emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, blockchain and biotech to create new business models and disrupt industries. It also provides guidance on how to cultivate a culture of innovation, experimentation and agility within organizations.

Additionally, the book is paired with an AI Chatbot, AI-X, that you can ask any question. AI-X has been trained on the contents of Exponential Organizations 2.0, together with GPT-3.5-turbo. This allows you to have your own ExO assistant to assist you on your exponential transformation.

Overall, Exponential Organizations 2.0 provides a comprehensive road map for businesses and individuals looking to thrive in the fast-changing world of technology and achieve exponential growth and impact.

There are several healthcare case studies highlighted in Exponential Organizations 2.0. For example, one case study discusses the healthcare company Clover Health, which uses data analytics and machine learning to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs. Clover Health's technology platform analyzes patient data to predict health risks, and proactively manages patient care to prevent hospitalizations and other costly interventions.

Another case study features Verily Life Sciences, a subsidiary of Alphabet (Google's parent company) that is focused on using technology to transform healthcare. Verily's projects include developing wearable sensors to monitor patient health, creating AI-powered diagnostic tools and collaborating with healthcare providers to improve patient care.

A third case study looks at the digital health startup Hims & Hers, which offers a platform for telemedicine consultations and prescription treatments for a variety of conditions. Hims & Hers uses technology to streamline the healthcare experience and make it more accessible and affordable for patients.

These case studies highlight the power of technology and innovation in transforming healthcare and improving patient outcomes. By leveraging emerging technologies and new business models, these Exponential Organizations are creating better, more efficient healthcare systems that benefit patients and providers alike.

HFN: What is disruptive technology and how is this good?

Salim Ismail: Disruptive technology refers to a new technology or innovation that disrupts the existing market, often by creating entirely new markets or fundamentally changing the way products or services are produced, delivered or consumed. This can have several positive effects, such as driving down costs, increasing efficiency and improving customer outcomes. I often speak about at least a dozen Gutenberg moments that are hitting us all at once, with technologies such as artificial intelligence, sensors, robotics, drones, additive manufacturing, ubiquitous internet, biotechnology, DNA sequencing, solar energy, battery technologies, augmented and virtual reality, and others all experiencing doubling patterns that are reducing their cost and increasing their efficiency.

For example, solar energy is a disruptive technology that has the potential to transform the energy industry by providing clean, low-cost energy that doesn't rely on fossil fuels. Similarly, digital health technologies like telemedicine and wearable sensors have the potential to improve healthcare outcomes and make healthcare more accessible and affordable for patients.

However, it's worth noting that disruptive technology can also have negative consequences, such as the displacement of workers in certain industries or the potential for privacy and security breaches in digital systems. It's important to be aware of these potential downsides and work to mitigate them while harnessing the positive benefits of disruptive technology.

HFN: What do you see for the future of healthcare technology and AI?

Salim Ismail: The future of healthcare is interesting and exciting, with a number of unknowns, as we still do not completely understand the mechanisms and pathways of a number of body systems and functions. We have a great opportunity to improve preventative healthcare and wellness. As one of our community members, Dr. Michael Friebe, states, "The future of healthcare is preventive, predictive, personalized/precision medicine, requires participation and leads to prolonged health."

There is a great opportunity to leverage exponential technologies to reduce costs and improve service offerings. A number of exponential health technologies were mentioned above and will affect healthcare, from cheap DNA sequencing to new biotechnology breakthroughs. Although other technologies can also improve healthcare. If you look at what zip line drones have done in terms of delivery of blood and medicines in Rwanda, it is crazy. Reducing blood delivery times to rural areas has resulted in an 88% drop in in-hospital maternal deaths due to postpartum hemorrhaging. 

When it comes to AI, it is likely that in the near future all physicians will be leveraging AI as an assistant in diagnosis and prevention. The amount of research in the medical field makes it extremely important for researchers to be able to leverage AI to leverage study results from multiple studies. AI will affect every aspect of healthcare, from understanding human bodies better, discovering new drug molecules, to putting personalized wellness programs together. It is imperative that all healthcare professionals find ways to learn more.
 

Twitter: @SusanJMorse
Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org