Will Ahmed: Founder & CEO of WHOOP β Physiology, Prevention, AI, & The Future Of Health
The Gstaad Guy Podcast
Building the Team: Hiring Criteria
Will describes hiring traits: intensity, humility, grit, ambition, and newly 'AI readiness'.
The Gstaad Guy sits down with Will Ahmed, founder and CEO of WHOOP, to explore how understanding the human body became the foundation for one of the most influential platforms in modern health. From overcoming the stigma of medical-looking wearables to deliberately taking the tech out of the product, Will shares how solving a real physiological problem led to a system that helps people build awareness, balance, and long-term resilience.
The conversation moves through heart rate variability, the autonomic nervous system, and the interplay between parasympathetic and sympathetic activity, unpacking how sleep, recovery, strain, and consistency shape performance and longevity. Will explains how WHOOP enables an ongoing conversation with your body rather than a one-time snapshot, reframing prevention as a daily practice rather than an annual checkup. They explore the rise of longevity culture, health tracking as high status, and the growing role of AI in education, customer experience, and medical insight, alongside candid reflections on the limits of todayβs healthcare system, building high-performance teams, and how continuous data can move from optimisation to life-saving impact.
Filmed in the One&Only One Zaβabeel Royal Suite.
Chapters:
(00:00) Intro β¨ποΈ
(01:38) The Challenge Of Building Whoop π§ββοΈπ
(02:05) Taking The Tech Out Of The Wearable ββ
(03:48) WHOOP Today πβ
(04:28) βThe Problemβ βπ§©
(07:32) The Prototype π§ͺπ§
(08:31) Heart Rate Variability (HRV) β€οΈπ
(11:22) Controlling Your Autonomic System π§ ποΈ
(14:32) Interpreting The Data ππ§
(16:10) Sleep, Recovery & Strain π΄π
(19:42) WHOOP Age πβ
(22:24) Daily Journal πποΈ
(26:01) Sleep Consistency π π
(27:17) βLongevity Cultureβ π§¬β³
(28:42) Developing An Obsession For Health πββοΈπ₯
(29:58) The Healthcare System π₯βοΈ
(31:35) Lifestyle Hacks π οΈπΏ
(34:47) Whoop As A Status Symbol βπ
(37:27) Health Tracking As High Status ππ
(40:54) AI For Customer Experience & Data π€π
(42:51) Saving Lives πβ€οΈ
(44:08) Building A Robust Team π§±π₯
(46:38) Work Culture π’π±
(50:30) βAI Readinessβ π€β
(52:26) From Ideation To Delivery π‘π¦
(56:52) How Blood Pressure Monitoring Works π©Έπ
(58:48) The Next Chapter πβ‘οΈ
(59:53) No More Annual Health Checkups ποΈπ«
(1:00:51) The Power Of Prevention π‘οΈβ€οΈ
(1:02:46) Γ La Poubelle vs. Fantastique ποΈβ¨
(1:04:20) Replacing Or Complementing The Healthcare System ππ₯
(1:05:17) Mistaking Good Habits For Bad π€π
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