Eswar Veluri, CTO of Equinox, discusses the company's tech evolution, data in athlete experience, personalizing workouts, fitness coaching, nutrition, sleep, company culture, scaling teams, and future focus. They explore the integration of technology and coaching, data-driven fitness experiences, engineering culture, collaborative communication, team scaling, and future vision of the company.
Utilizing technology to personalize coaching through data tracking and enhancing user experience in the gym.
Future focus on expanding Equinox's services to include expertise in mental health, nutrition, and aging well.
Deep dives
Symbiotic Relationship Between Technology and Coaching
Utilizing AI generated programs and advanced technology to track metrics and enhance coaching while recognizing the irreplaceable value of human coaches in providing tailored motivation and guidance. Technology aids in better coaching by tracking movement, nutrition, and regeneration to optimize fitness outcomes.
Expanding Services Beyond Movement
Future focus on expanding services beyond movement to incorporate expertise in areas like mental health, nutrition, and aging well to offer a holistic high performance lifestyle experience for members. Plans to introduce new offerings and enhance services across various health and wellness domains within the next five years.
Evolving Data Utilization and Product Experiences
Utilization of data in fitness classes like cycling and cardios to track metrics, provide personalized feedback, and celebrate milestones for members. Creation of tailored coaching products incorporating user progress data and corrective movements to improve muscle strength and overall workout effectiveness.
Team Collaboration and Scaling Strategies
Management style emphasizing collaboration, open communication, and servant leadership within the technology team to foster camaraderie, transparency, and innovation. Strategic team scaling by seeking diverse qualities within team members and valuing retention through careful hiring processes and comprehensive onboarding to ensure early contributions and sense of achievement.
In this conversation, Kyriakos is discussing with Eswar, the Chief Technology Officer for Equinox.
They discuss Eswar's journey at Equinox and the company's technology and user experience evolution. They also delve into the role of data in enhancing the athlete experience and personalizing workouts.
The conversation covers various topics related to fitness coaching, data tracking, nutrition, sleep, technology, company culture, collaboration, scaling teams, and future focus.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
07:19 - Early technology team and growth
09:39 - Core principles: member acquisition, retention, and revenue
14:41 - Personalized class suggestions and streamlined check-in
16:55 - App integration with club's Wi-Fi
20:51 - Custom content on cardio equipment
22:54 - Data-driven product development
26:58 - Coaching product for strength training
29:01 - Data for fitness progress tracking
33:05 - Live data for real-time coaching
35:14 - Role of technology in coaching
39:27 - Leadership
45:29 - Team Culture
47:34 - Building balanced and diverse teams
51:45 - Future focus on aging, mental health, and nutrition
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