This doctor is leading Apple's plan to let your watch know if you're sick before your body does.

Her name is Sumbul Desai . If you're an Apple fan and never miss one of its keynotes, you might find her face familiar: she's often part of the company's carousel of spokespersons announcing the various new products in its catalog. In her case, all those related to health . Although not as well-known as Tim Cook or Craig Federighi, she went quite viral when she explained the importance of sleeping with your smartwatch on. "You lose important data to understand your state about the sleep phases, how much you slept, how much deep sleep you had... Also, if you have any breathing disorders, it notifies you: sleep apnea , for example," she explains during a conversation with El Confidencial in the basement of the company's store in Madrid's Puerta del Sol.

But what can you do with that information other than beat yourself up about not getting enough rest the night before? Desai illustrates this with her personal experience. She stretches her wrist and opens an app. "Last night I flew. I only slept two hours and 56 minutes. I noticed my oxygen was a little low, but that's normal in these situations," she explains. Armed with that information, she decided to reorganize her schedule. "I had dinner planned, and I canceled it ahead of time because I realized I was going to need to rest ." "The idea," she summarizes, "is to give you useful information so you can understand your health and make decisions in your daily life to get back to being well." Desai knows what she's talking about. For almost a decade (she joined the company in 2017), she has been one of the discreet architects of one of the Californian multinational's great ambitions: laying the foundations for the future of personal health and how consumer electronics can help control it.

Although the iPhone remains the star of the house and products such as the Vision Pro or now artificial intelligence are capturing the attention, Tim Cook made it clear how much this goal matters to him in an interview with Wired : "I am clear that if we go too far into the future and look back, and We asked ourselves, "What is Apple's greatest contribution ? It will be in the area of ​​healthcare . That's what I truly believe." From her position as Global Vice President of Healthcare, Desai leads the teams that develop the medical features of the Apple Watch , oversees the research that supports its scientific validity, and even leads the company's internal clinic, where many of these tools are tested before reaching millions of users.

The company's smartwatch is the cornerstone of Apple's personal health plan. According to Desai, the big leap came between 2017 and 2018 with the addition of features like the electrocardiogram (ECG) and irregular heart rhythm notification. It was then that the Apple Watch began to demonstrate its potential beyond general well-being, as a tool capable of offering clinically relevant data . "What happened was we introduced the heart rate sensor into the watch, the movement was accurate, and customers started writing to us saying, 'I was wearing the watch and noticed my heart rate was elevated, I went to the doctor and it turned out I was having a heart attack,' or 'an allergic reaction,'" he says. That constant flow of real-life testimonials was key to Apple's decision to move forward down this path.

From there, the company began adding new scientifically validated medical features : first it improved heart rate monitoring , then it introduced algorithms to detect irregular patterns consistent with arrhythmias, and later it integrated the ECG as a feature certified by organizations such as the FDA in the US and, later, in Europe.

"Both the ECG and the irregular rhythm notification were our first software-based medical features . That's when we started hearing from more doctors and customers telling us what it meant to them, how it saved their lives," explains Desai. Since then, the company has expanded the range with tools like sleep analysis , noise detection, blood oxygen monitoring , and detection of abnormal breathing patterns, such as apnea. "And we've continued to explore that thread to see what else we can do to give you more insight into your health," he summarizes.

QUESTION: At this point, do you see the Apple Watch as a personal wellness device, or are we talking about a clinical device now?

ANSWER: It's a very good question. I still see the Apple Watch as a holistic device that does everything. It does wellness, but also health. For example, it lets me listen to music, text my kids, quickly check my email, or simply track my steps. So it's not just a medical device; it combines many functions, and that's why people use it and love it so much. What we want is for it to be an invisible companion in your life, helping you stay well without you having to think too much about it.

It's inevitable to wonder what the next chapter will be. Experts are already talking about smartwatches that will soon be able to measure blood glucose noninvasively, and some have even dared to release models that monitor blood pressure on the wrist.

But those in Cupertino have a maxim: they never comment on future releases. And Sumbul Desai sticks to it. "Our goal is to continue empowering people to better understand their health and make informed decisions ," she replies when asked what we can expect in the coming years. And she warns: "What we will see in the future is more advancements to detect problems before they occur and help users stay as healthy as possible."

While he doesn't reveal specific features, he does talk about how they work and when they decide it's the perfect time to incorporate a new feature. Desai explains that it all starts with a team of engineers , doctors, and researchers who focus not only on whether the technology works, but also on whether it can actually improve people's health . "If we believe we can be precise and do a really good job from a scientific standpoint, and that we can impact a lot of people , then we start doing initial tests to see if our hypothesis holds true."

He uses the ECG as an example, once again. To validate it, they had people wear a 12-lead electrocardiogram and the Apple Watch at the same time, then compared the results to ensure they matched.

They subsequently conducted tests with men and women of different skin colors, analyzing all possible variations among users. This ensures that the data is consistent and reliable for all profiles, regardless of their physical characteristics. "We don't launch anything just because it's technically possible. We have to be sure that the feature provides real value and that the data it collects is reliable and consistent ," he concludes.

Having something on your wrist with such powerful clinical functions can end up becoming the perfect toy for hypochondriacs , who are constantly meticulous about every metric. "The idea isn't to look at it all the time. The information will be available when you need it. We don't believe in giving you data for the sake of it," the executive assures, while also detailing that the priority, when designing functions or preparing reports, is to explain "when they should be used and when they shouldn't."

"The watch checks some things, not everything. Our goal is never to replace the doctor. We provide information, not a diagnosis. What we want is to help you have a better conversation with your doctor, so you have more information and a more complete encounter," he asserts forcefully when asked about the false sense of security some users may have when they see that everything is fine.

Now, for the AirPods

While the Apple Watch is a cornerstone of the iPhone, the company wants to do the same with another iconic iPhone accessory: AirPods . Last September, Desai appeared at the company's new phone launch to announce a hearing health test and that the AirPods Pro 2 , launched twelve months earlier, could function as clinical-grade hearing aids.

While the hearing loss assessment feature is available in Spain, Apple's headphones have not yet received the green light to be marketed with this seal, unlike in Germany or the United Kingdom. While it has received approval from European authorities, this launch has not yet been possible in the domestic market. The company says it hopes to do so soon.

Experts consulted by this newspaper acknowledged that this solution could solve one of the biggest problems when treating hearing loss: hesitation. "We believe we can reduce the stigma , since many of those who need help already use AirPods to listen to music or talk on the phone," Desai argues. "Only between 10 and 25% of those with hearing loss receive the help they need."

This specialist points out a problem that's often overlooked when discussing this topic: mental health . "Hearing is how I talk to you, how we connect. Therefore, it's key to reducing depression by reducing the feeling of isolation," she argues.

Sumbul Desai, currently Apple's vice president of Health, has a diverse academic background that combines technology, medicine, and communications. She began her studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a minor in Communication. She subsequently earned her medical degree from Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, where she also held positions as a clinical associate professor and vice chair for Strategy and Innovation in the Department of Medicine.