Hims & Hers, the telehealth and wellness brand, has announced a surprising and notable hire: Mo Elshenawy, formerly the president and chief technology officer at autonomous vehicle company Cruise, will become the company’s new chief technology officer. According to Hims & Hers co-founder and CEO, Andrew Dudum, the move was strategically planned to accelerate the company’s ambitious artificial intelligence initiatives.
Elshenawy departed from Cruise earlier this year when General Motors, the parent company, decided to wind down its autonomous driving operations. At first glance, shifting from automated vehicle technology to healthcare appears unusual, but Dudum specifically targeted this industry to source an executive experienced in applying sophisticated AI systems in sensitive, heavily regulated, and high-stakes environments.
In his tenure within the self-driving industry, Elshenawy secured more than ten patents related to AI, robotics, and autonomous vehicles. He states that the transition from autonomous vehicles to healthcare is not as dramatic as it may initially seem. Autonomous driving systems utilize AI for real-time decision-making in complex scenarios, requiring intense reliability and regulatory compliance, conditions mirrored precisely within the healthcare industry.
Hims & Hers, launched in 2017 originally under the name “Hims,” began with men’s healthcare offerings such as treatments for hair loss and erectile dysfunction. Following the inclusion of women’s healthcare products, it rebranded to include “Hers” and expanded significantly into a broader telehealth and wellness platform, introducing treatments for mental health support and weight management. In 2021, Hims & Hers became a publicly traded entity via a SPAC merger.
Recently, the company has bolstered its C-suite team, also naming former Amazon executive Nader Kabbani as their new chief of operations. Dudum views artificial intelligence as integral to the company’s future, emphasizing the vast potential of using AI to enhance patient outcomes and healthcare efficiency at scale. Currently, Hims & Hers serves between 10,000 and 15,000 patients daily. The anonymized data gathered from millions of patient interactions—ranging from clinical diagnoses to medication effectiveness—has become an invaluable resource, fueling future AI-driven innovations designed to assist physicians in diagnosis and determining the most effective treatments.
One early example of leveraging such a dataset was MedMatch, an AI-enabled tool developed two years ago to assist clinicians in pinpointing optimal mental health treatments. Yet, despite advances in AI applications, Dudum highlighted the company’s cautious approach: currently, AI systems always retain human oversight, with medical professionals ultimately responsible for clinical judgment and treatment decisions.
Moreover, Dudum emphasized transparency, stating that the company’s AI not only suggests recommendations but explains the rationale behind these decisions clearly to healthcare providers, building trust through transparency. The combined strength of cutting-edge AI expertise and human medical judgment, according to Dudum, aligns squarely with Hims & Hers’ mission to offer more effective, personalized, and accessible healthcare to its customers.
