DGTL Voices with Ed Marx: SmartSense Disruption in Healthcare & Simple Hacks to Become a CEO (ft. Guy Yehiav)

Date: January 1, 2025
Host: Ed Marx
Guest: Guy Yehiav (CEO of SmartSense)

Episode Overview

This episode of DGTL Voices features an insightful conversation with Guy Yehiav, CEO of SmartSense and a serial entrepreneur, about the transformative power of IoT-driven data in healthcare, the SmartSense platform, and leadership lessons from his career. Guy and Ed discuss real-world healthcare use cases, innovation principles for technology leaders, and tangible advice for aspiring CEOs—including candid stories, actionable hacks, and memorable moments from Guy’s global background.

Key Topics and Insights

1. Guy’s Musical Taste and Company Culture (00:35–03:22)

• Music as Icebreaker:
  Guy shares his eclectic gym playlist, blending contemporary pop, 80s/90s rock, country, and Israeli/European hits. He recommends adding Israeli artist Mergi to Ed’s Digital Voices playlist (01:42).
• SmartSense Conference Band:
  Guy highlights the creation of an impromptu SmartSense band at a user conference with employees and customers, fostering collaboration and partnership.

  “At our user conference, Hartford Health CIO Joel said, how about we'll put a customer band together because he is an amazing guitar player...We had 12 songs at the last user conference, and it was amazing.” — Guy Yehiav, (02:25)

2. Life and Career Background (04:46–08:20)

• Raised in Israel, Belgium, and the UK, Guy views himself as having a "South Boston accent" (04:55).
• Background in computer science, industrial management, and process improvement (TQM).
• Built his first company during an eight-year, practice-oriented MBA at Babson College.
• Israeli army service focused on electronics and electronic warfare, which he describes as “a fantastic professional experience” (06:53).
• Early career in print-on-demand systems, innovating with digital hardware before internet delivery was possible.

3. Serial Entrepreneurship & Track Record (04:46–10:10)

• First company (1998): Demand-driven supply chain planning for major brands in varied industries—including Wendy’s (real-time menu planning) and Johnson & Johnson.
• Built and sold Profitech, a prescriptive analytics company, to Zebra Technologies; learned about harmonizing hardware and software in IoT.

4. SmartSense: Company, Vision, and IoT Disruption (08:20–15:56)

• SmartSense’s Core:
  IoT-powered sensing as a service for real-time data intelligence.

  “We are an IoT company, but really, if you ask me, we are a data company... What sensors do is they generate data.” — Guy Yehiav, (08:25)

• Problem: Fragmented IoT Ecosystems:
  Guy details challenges with too many siloed applications and sensors—both in homes and industries. He saw an opportunity to create a unified “ERP for IoT” (13:00).
• Vision for an Interoperable Platform:
  Focus on integrating both SmartSense and competitors’ sensors, benefiting customers with a backbone approach rather than hardware lock-in.

  “What if our app can connect to their sensors, connect to other competitor sensors, connect also to our sensors... I'll help them and add value from a backbone perspective.” — Guy Yehiav, (15:11)

• Leadership in Growth:
  Accepted SmartSense’s CEO role with a mandate to double company growth in three years—successfully achieved.

5. SmartSense in Healthcare: Real-world Impact (15:56–20:21)

• Adoption in Retail Pharmacy:
  Major US pharmacy names (CVS, Walgreens, Kroger, etc.) use SmartSense.
• Critical Healthcare Applications:
  • Blood plasma supply chain: Ensuring shipment integrity and efficacy.
  • Hospital cleanrooms & operating rooms: Monitoring differential pressure and air quality for patient safety.
  • Patient comfort: Monitoring bed and room temperatures; CO2 and O2 levels.
  • Neonatal intensive care: Ensuring incubator and breastmilk storage are precisely monitored to protect vulnerable infants.

  “We save lives. When you have the infant being born... we make sure they don't get yet a third strike by making sure the milk that was for them is also in the right temperature.” — Guy Yehiav, (18:30)

• Platform Value:
  SmartSense enables customers to leverage existing devices and sensors within one management ecosystem, breaking down expensive, complex “best-of-breed” silos.

6. Customer-Driven Innovation (20:21–23:02)

• Collaborative Development:
  SmartSense’s advisory board includes innovative customer voices shaping the roadmap 6–24 months out.
• Next-Gen Products:
  The SmartSense “Voyage T1”—a credit card-sized, cellular-enabled device for temperature, humidity, light, and real-time location (intended for home care equipment, asset utilization, and theft prevention).

  “You can analyze on a KPI perspective efficiency and effectiveness of the use of all of those equipments...if the nurse hide it somewhere on third floor in a closet, no one can use it besides him or her.” — Guy Yehiav, (22:08)

7. Leadership Hacks & CEO Advice (23:02–27:38)

• People Power:
  Taking care of employees and customers drives success and personal fulfillment.

  “If you take care of your employees, they will take care the same way to their customers... It's all about the people.” — Guy Yehiav, (03:42)

• Perfection vs. Progress:
  “Perfection is the enemy of innovation. When you innovate, fail fast and improve.” (23:35)
• Learning from Loss:
  Analyze failures more deeply than wins: “You can learn more about a loss than about a win, right?” (24:14)
• Practice-focused MBA:
  Recommends embedded MBA/executive programs where students apply lessons to real business challenges.
• Mentorship:
  Emphasizes learning from multiple mentors with diverse expertise and styles.

Memorable Leadership Story (25:56–27:38)

Guy recounts a pivotal early-career lesson in customer-centric passion during a pitch to Mattel, where his mentor redirected the conversation from “command and control” rigor to passion and customer outcomes.

“Bill immediately shot me down and he says, listen, when you walk in our office, you can feel the passion for supply chain... that's what we care about, is our customers’ success.” — Guy Yehiav, (26:35)

8. Final Nuggets: Leadership and IoT Principles (28:22–30:16)

• Leadership is Influence, Not Title:
  “Leadership is not a role. Leadership is not a title. You can be a leader by, from the side, impacting others.” — Guy Yehiav, (28:25)
• Vision for IoT:
  Advocates for business IoT as effortless and scalable as consumer tech—“no cables, no wires, no batteries, no power... easy to train and scale.”
• Innovation for Scale:
  “Whatever you innovate around, make it kind of consumables, commercial type, ease of use and make it ready for scale.” (29:20)

Notable Quotes

• "It's all about the people. Not just with your employees, but mainly with your customers." — Guy Yehiav, (03:42)
• "Perfection is the enemy of innovation. When you innovate, fail fast and improve." — Guy Yehiav, (23:35)
• "Leadership is not a role. Leadership is not a title. You can be a leader by, from the side, impacting others." — Guy Yehiav, (28:22)
• "We save lives. ... we make sure they don't get yet a third strike by making sure the milk that was for them is also in the right temperature." — Guy Yehiav, (18:30)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Music & Culture: 00:35–03:22
• Word to Live By (People-Oriented Leadership): 03:42
• Career Background & Early Lessons: 04:46–10:10
• SmartSense Company Vision & IoT Growth: 10:10–15:56
• SmartSense in Healthcare: 15:56–20:21
• Innovation Process & New Product: 20:21–23:02
• Leadership Lessons: 23:02–27:38
• Leadership Influence Beyond Titles: 28:22–29:20

Episode Summary

Ed Marx’s conversation with Guy Yehiav offers a dynamic look at SmartSense’s disruptive approach to healthcare IoT, the pitfalls of fragmented technologies, and how intentional leadership and people-focused culture drive innovation and business growth. Guy’s anecdotes, from music-infused company events to mentorship moments, inform his view that technology—and leadership—are ultimately about human experience and impact. This episode is valuable listening for digital health leaders, innovators, and anyone aspiring to lead with practical wisdom and passion.