The Journey of Eon: A Healthcare Revolution (ft. Dr. Akrum Al-Zubaidi)
14 May 2025 · 23 min
In this episode of the Digital Voices podcast, host Ed Marx interviews Dr. Akrum “Aki” Al‑Zubaidi, founder and CEO of Eon, a health‑tech startup that automates follow‑up on diagnostic signals to prevent missed or delayed care. The conversation begins with personal ice‑breakers—music preferences and a family mantra “drop water, not bombs” inherited from Aki’s late father, a nuclear physicist and humanitarian. Aki recounts his immigrant upbringing in Virginia, early exposure to medicine through shadowing an ER doctor after his mother’s accident, and his career path through emergency medicine, a stint in Las Vegas, and an academic role at National Jewish Health. Frustrated by systemic failures—particularly a case where a 36‑year‑old lung‑cancer patient missed a life‑saving intervention—Aki left clinical practice in 2020 to build Eon. He explains Eon’s core product: identifying abnormal findings from emergency department work‑ups (e.g., incidental nodules) and ensuring the appropriate next steps (e.g., scheduled CT scans) are completed, effectively acting as a safety net for clinicians. Early validation came from the Cleveland Clinic, which served as a pivotal reference client. The discussion moves to Eon’s five core values—“keep it 100,” “junkyard‑dog,” “relentlessly optimistic,” “wear your hat backwards,” and “defy disease”—each framed with emojis and personal anecdotes. Aki shares his leadership philosophy centered on humility, apprenticeship (“co‑tailing”), and learning from seasoned mentors. He reflects on hard lessons about people management, the danger of over‑optimism, and the importance of matching talent to role. The interview also touches on his personal life: two children (ages 10 and 7), his wife, a newfound love for skiing and camping, and his daughter’s participation in an adaptive ski program. The episode closes with Aki’s succinct advice—“do the right thing”—and a reaffirmation of his commitment to changing the world through Eon.
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Thanks for tuning to Digital Voices Podcast, where we chat digital transformation challenges and opportunities across healthcare and life sciences. And now, your host, Ed Marx.
Welcome to another edition of Digital Voices. Hey, it's Ed again, and I'm so thrilled that you're with us and helping us to become as popular as we have. And it's all about our guests and our listeners. So thank you so much for taking the time. And we have another great guest today, Dr. Aki, CEO of Eon. Dr. Aki, welcome.
How you doing, Ed, man? Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
You know, this could be great. This is a fantastic, uh, conversation. But as you know, Dr. Aki, the most important question we have is our, is our very first one, and that's what kind of songs do you like to listen to? What songs are on your playlist?
Oh man, I'll tell you what, Ed, I like, uh, Rufus DuSoul, His Burning Man DJ set. It's on YouTube. It's amazing. Juvenile, Tiny Desk, like minute 19:54 where he starts the song, Back That Ass Up. I don't know if we can say that here or not, but I'm saying it. It's amazing, man. I like surf rock when I'm chilling with the kids or stuff that makes me feel like I'm at the beach. That's my happy— that's my—
Yeah. Awesome. We do have Digital Voices Spotify. I don't think we had any Rufus on there, so we'll definitely—
He's awesome.
Some of that to it. Yeah, it'd be a nice. It's good. It's a good playlist. What about life message or mantra? Are there words that sort of guide you?
Yeah, you know what, man? My dad passed earlier this year, and I'm gonna say his mantra, which is drop water, not bombs.
Love it. Tell me more.
He's a nuclear physicist, and you know, a humanitarian, and it was a big influence in my life. And you know, even as a young age, to everybody, he'd come in, be peaceful. Drop water, not bombs. And it was just something he always said over and over, and I, it stuck with me, man.
Love it. No, I love that. 'Cause that, that can apply not just the obvious, like in terms of a, like a war thing, but it's like how you work with people and treat people.
That's right.
You drop, absolutely drop love and not hate. And yeah, I, I like it. I like your dad already. I'm sorry that he's gone though.
I appreciate that, man.
So tell us more about you. Uh, like who are you? What's your story? 'Cause we'll get into all the, you know, Eon things in a minute, but I wanna know more about you. Tell, tell me about yourself.
Yeah, I grew up in Virginia and had 2 parents who were immigrants. And just, I think I had an interesting childhood. I think everybody has their own unique childhood, but, you know, 2 people who, one of them had difficulty assimilating, but they really had high stress on education and unconditional love. So regardless of the environment, right, I got those 2 things hammered into me. And I'm so thankful for that. And so, you know, out of Virginia, decided to become a doctor. I did breast cancer research and then moved to the Bay Area out of Virginia and, you know, became a doctor and started Aeon. And that's me, man.
Yeah, that's cool. Tell us more about your name though. Is there— what's the meaning? Is there a meaning behind the name?
Yeah, Akram is my real name and it means the most generous. And, you know, Aki was a nickname that was given to me at a young age because where I grew up, they thought that would be difficult for people to pronounce. So they just shortened it and made it Aki. And that was a nickname that stuck with me.
I love that. And yeah, it's interesting, you know, we've had several guests that are sons or daughters of immigrants like myself. And it, it really interesting. It does make for a unique upbringing, you know, because you get this other world perspective, right? That, that you otherwise wouldn't get. And it impacts you, it shapes you as a human. So that's pretty cool. I, I really respect that. So yeah, what happens next?
Yeah, well, I wanted to be a football player, Ed. And so, uh, you know, my dad educated me about, you You know, career-wise and the likelihood of me becoming a football player, and reality struck. But really, really what he really did, and the biggest favor that like started my career, was that my mom got into a car accident when I was about 16, and he asked the emergency room doctor, could, could my son shadow you?
Mm-hmm.
And so I had the opportunity to shadow an amazing emergency room doctor, and I ended up doing that like every shift that the doctor had that I wasn't in school. And, you know, that really prepared me, you know, obviously in academics I could do well, but then to understand what I was getting myself into career-wise, it was like an apprenticeship, right, at an early age. And so ended up going to med school and became a doctor. I started my career actually in Las Vegas, and Las Vegas has a unique healthcare environment. I mean, just immense volume and pathology that you see from all over the world. Also some things that aren't great either. Right? And moved out to Colorado and noticed that, hey, like some of the issues with healthcare, they don't just exist in that environment that's Las Vegas, it's everywhere.
Yeah.
And so that really opened my head that like I can move, but the problems are still there. Then I went to an academic center at National Jewish Health after that. And I thought that academics would be another environment in which that, you know, some of the problems wouldn't exist, but there's still some of the same healthcare issues. And so that's when I stopped, you know, be practicing as a physician in 2020. And the major reason was that I felt that I could actually change healthcare not practicing as opposed to practicing as a physician.
Yeah, man, it makes a lot of sense. But before we get into then the evolution of Eon, so you've lived in a couple different places, and it sounds like— did you surf like when you were out in California? You also been in Vegas, and now you're in the mountains, right? You're in Colorado.
I'll tell you the funniest story, man. So I'm from Virginia, kind of like a— I describe it like a hoodrat country guy, right? And I— you see California on TV and you think it's surfing, but I moved to the Bay and I saved up all my money working over the summer to move into a place that was close to the beach, thinking that I would do that surfing. Yeah, man, I got into that water and it was the coldest thing I've ever been in in my life. I did zero surfing in California, my friend.
No, that's, that's cool. So, Eon comes up. So, you realize, okay, I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna give up my daily practice and I'm gonna— I'm going all in to really try to change healthcare because you've seen all these issues no matter where you've been, academic, non-academic, geography. So, tell us how that happens.
Yeah, you know, it was just, you know, getting pissed off, right? I told you about the things that I thought were wrong with healthcare, but really it was like in my specific subspecialty, which was lungs, and then more specifically lung cancer. And so there was a kid my age at the time— I'm older now, but he was 36— and, you know, one of those things happened wrong in healthcare where he had something to where if it would have been acted on appropriately, the kid would have had a chance, right?
Yeah.
He would have had a chance of survival, but instead, you know, it was a death sentence, right? And I didn't want that to happen anymore. And really, this whole thing around E.ON sparked around this frustration and anger, right? Around those things happening and then saying, hey, maybe I can do something about it.
Yeah. So I get it. So you're, you're practicing and you're seeing these things that don't have to happen and people are losing their lives as a result. And it, it gets you upset and you're, you're going to do something about it. So yeah, tell us what E.ON does and how it's helping avoid situations like the one that we just spoke about.
And so, Ed, like you go and you get into a motor vehicle accident, you fall off your bike, you hurt your ribs, whatever it may be, you go to the ED, they do a ton of testing, right? And they're looking for one thing, but maybe they uncover other things that are signals that could become cancer or something else catastrophic down the line. When those things, those diagnostic tests are done, like 70% of the time, the right next step doesn't happen. And so what Aeon does is it identifies those signals of things that could be catastrophic if they're not followed on, and they ensure that the right next steps actually happen. We tell your doctor, hey, this happened to you after this motor vehicle accident. Actually, you need a CT scan in 6 months to make sure you don't have cancer. You need to get diagnosed. You need to do this. And then we make sure that we keep them accountable and we make sure the patients have awareness and that they actually show up. To get those next steps done.
Yeah, I, I think everyone listening probably has their own story and can relate to aspects of what you were just describing. And we tend to look at things very episodically, right? Which is for that one thing. And that's, I'm a specialist in this, that's all I'm looking at. And I can see these other things, but man, I'm focused here. And no one, if there's no system, if there's no automation, if there's no, dare I say, AI or something, That will help you like triangulate, take all these data points, even though it may not be my specialty, 'cause I'm not an oncologist, I'm working on your heart, but I see some markers, some tracers that you sh— I should counsel you and send you this other direction as well. That part's not happening for the most part. And that's where Eon comes in and really can be this huge difference maker and really a partner to the clinician, right?
Yeah, man. Like, I'll tell you this, like the, there's an old saying, right? Like thumb doctor doesn't talk to the pinky doctor. The pinky doctor doesn't talk to the thumb doctor. Right. And so like a lot of times, like we help with desiloing what exists in healthcare. That's one portion of it. But as a physician, I feel like I can lay my head to bed at night knowing that there's this safety net that's out there. That's if my patient goes to the ED and I don't even know they go to the ED or I get some huge packet that's full of noise or signal noise. That I know that if something catastrophic is in there, there's this technology and the system that's gonna pull it out and just constantly let me know, hey man, the right thing's happening, the right thing's happening. Hey, you missed this. And it lets me like actually put my head down at the pillow and not worry about that stuff as a physician. Yeah.
No, that's good. No, and it really resonates too for myself personally. And I was very fortunate where it was my cardiologist that caught my completely unrelated cancer.
That's right. And all the time.
Right. And so they— I love the description of Eon being like sort of the safety net that can, you know, catch all this because you're taking data right from multiple different sources. And so you're able to get a whole person view. So no matter if you're the pinky doc, you're still getting the whole person view and you can help that person because that's what we're here to do. And instead, we miss it a lot and we have very tragic consequences as a result. So, I can see why this resonates in the marketplace. Tell us about some of your early success.
It's funny because it's one of your old shops, the Cleveland Clinic, right? I mean, it's funny because I started at my own shop, right? Number one, just to solve the problem in the community that I served. And then, I was like, hey, this is a great idea that everybody needs. And, I started going out there and they go, hey, look, You doing this in the mountains of Colorado, that don't mean anything. You need to get like Mass General, Cleveland Clinic, or somebody else. If they do it, then come back and talk to me. Man, Cleveland Clinic was our second client. And we did this for them. It worked. You know, Cleveland Clinic was huge early on in validating that, hey, this is a real problem. And this is not just a niche solution at some small shop. That's like, you know, relying on a human being or one person. It worked at the clinic. You know what I mean? Yeah. And that took us for a couple of years where like we leaned on the clinic's brand and experience there to help us actually, you know, expand out past those first 2 clients.
Oh yeah. And I'm sure by doing that, you get a lot of new ideas and fresh input. So I'm all about values. And it sounds like when you talked about sort of that your life mantra that came from your dad, you know, you sort of resonate the same way. Aeon has 5 core values and I was very fascinated by them. And so curious how you decided them, because I, because I like your style. I think people will understand as soon as you say what those values are, you know, they kind of get more flavor for your personality and style. But yeah, I, I thought they were unique. I, I liked them. So I thought it'd be interesting as the founder, you know, to explain a little bit about those values.
Man, uh, they're emojis, which is, I think, unique, right? And, uh, but listen, I had a tribe and I'm me. Right? And people need to understand how you're going to behave, right? And what you're about. And I'm about it is what I'm going to say. These core values, I'm so about it. And that's me. And anybody who knows me knows that these core values is who I am. And everybody that I work with at Aeon, I think we feel this way, man.
Yeah.
Keep it, keep it 100, right? There's a difference between being nice and kind. And if you really want to help humanity, help yourself, help other people, help your friends, help your family, Man, you got to keep it real. So that's where that came from.
Yeah.
And then, I mean, look, I still got my friends from elementary school. I'm a junkyard dog. We're junkyard dogs, right? And there's this mentality where healthcare is being challenged in terms of what they own, who gets leverage to make, you know, make different decisions and impact healthcare. Man, that's my realm. That's my yard. And I'm a junkyard dog healthcare. And that's, that's one of the second value. And then look, man, like everybody's been through tough stuff. Like life is peaks and valleys, right? And you get into a valley, how the hell do you dig yourself out? How the hell do you accept the rope of help? You gotta be relentlessly optimistic. If you're not optimistic, man, you're gonna quit, right? And so that's the third value. The fourth is wear your hat backwards. And it's more, man, I love to party. Rufus DuSoul will tell you that, like, that's on my playlist. I like to have fun. But what's really most important about that is that are you willing to experiment boldly? Right? And do things that are a little bit outside of the box, wear the hat backwards. And that's what that means. And then finally, it comes down to putting the patient in the middle of the healthcare equation where they're lost. And Defy Disease is what that represents. Every single decision we make, every single product we build must have impact that's beneficial to the patient. Yeah.
No, I love that. That's why I wanted you to share those because, yeah, it's real. A lot of times, we get all sort of corporatized and all this BS. It makes me sick. And they all look the same. And so, I really appreciated the style because that and the values because the values actually emanate throughout AEON and the way you operate. And so, these things are real. It's not—
It matters.
Yeah. So, it's cool. Hey, let's talk about leadership. So, You already talked about one thing early in your life that really set you on a direction. And that was, you know, when you were 16 and your mom was in this accident and you were able to shadow this doc and it really kind of shaped you. What else, you know, what else happened in your youth that kind of shaped who you are today and as a leader?
You know, putting myself out there. I fail a lot. I think that, you know, I've been punched in the gut so many times, told no so many times, been in situations where I've had autonomy where, you know, at an earlier stage than most people have autonomy. You know, it's really just getting knocked down. Yeah, man, that, that's been the biggest thing, quite frankly. You know, I don't know what else to— I mean, I could, I could tell you all the circumstances of when I've been punched in the gut and knocked down, but like, you know, it's just repeatedly putting yourself out there.
Yeah, it, it builds resilience. And so you, you need, I think, to be successful as a human, and especially, you know, being an entrepreneur and sort of leading new waves of thought and Tech is you've got to be resilient. You gotta be able to go with the ups and downs and take negative things and turn 'em to positive, be, have that optimism and just knowing that you're gonna get through it. You've, you've gotten through it before and you'll get through it again. So yeah, that, that's great. What would you say to anyone else? Like maybe some peers, maybe physician peers, non-physician peers who are thinking about starting their own company? What would be, you know, one or two words of advice?
Man, I'll tell you, it's like humility is the biggest piece of advice. And I'll give you like how I handle that, right? You put yourself in the student role, right? And like back in the day, apprenticeships were a huge thing. And I call it coattailing, right? Where you coattail somebody. People don't value experiential wisdom enough, right?
Yeah.
And so what I did is I always try to find a gap that I have, right? Or somebody who's just a superhuman. They're really freaking good at something that I value. And what I do is I put myself in this, I wouldn't say submissive, but it's a student role. And I apprentice, like, kind of like Japanese culture a little bit. Like, if you're trying to learn how to sharpen knives, man, they take it to the extreme where it's like 2 decades worth, right, of apprenticeship.
Yeah.
But like, what I'm talking about as a leader, what I think you should do if you're starting a business is get other people who've been there and done that before, and then actually listen to them, Ed.
Yeah.
Just being around them doesn't work. You gotta listen to them and realize there's different pathways to a result. And so when you talk to them, you give them a circumstance and you see how they would solve the circumstance versus how you would, and you make a decision.
Not enough of that goes on, right? And then we end up making the same mistakes, you know, over and over and those sort of things. Uh, yeah, I've been there. What are one or two things that you're most proud of right now? So obviously you've had some success now with Aeon. What other things sort of make you proud about what you've accomplished to date?
Man, I'll tell you, number one is that I think that I'm an excellent father. And to me, that's what I'm most proud of. You know, and obviously Aeon, right? I mean, look, like, I didn't tell you my mantra, but it's about sea change. And I want to— like, this doctor from Cleveland Clinic actually asked me in the early days, like, do you want to change the world or make money? And it was the easy answer, man. I want to change the world.
Yeah.
And I think that I, I've created something from nothing that actually hasn't sold out and has an opportunity to do that. Have we done it yet? No, but I have the opportunity to do that. And those opportunities don't fall at everybody's door. And I'm very proud of what I've done to be able to have that opportunity.
Yeah. No, I love it. How many kids do you have?
I have 2 kids, 10 and 7. I'll give a shout out to Nene and Layla.
Awesome. Yeah, I bet they're great kids. What are one or 2 things you learned the hard way? We already talked a little bit about this, you know, the school of hard knocks, getting punched in the gut, humility, you know, how to, how to work your way through failure. Is there anything else that, uh, we didn't cover on this topic that sort of, you know, had to learn through that school of hard knocks?
Yeah, people is probably the number one thing, you know. Look, like when you're running a business and you have other people in which you're responsible for putting food on their table and they are too, you know, you have like, there's a difference between aspiration and ability, right? And I'm so optimistic sometimes that I feel, and I also think that like people don't need a box. I used to think this a lot early on, right? Don't put somebody in a box. Like you're not, you're going to limit potential. You're going to limit the upside. But some people operate very well in the box and people want to do well at their jobs. And if they step out and you haven't given them the right support, man, you waste humans and waste opportunity and it hurts people. And I've done that with friends even, right? I've brought friends into the company. And so it's been, you know, to me, like, holy smokes. Like, there's just this learning lesson about people and situations that you put them in and what you don't to not have a guaranteed outcome that's negative to both.
Yeah, it makes a lot of sense. So obviously you're super busy. You're married, you've got kids, you're leading this company, all these different things going on. How do you recharge your batteries? Like, how do you chill? How do you remain fresh?
You know, I wasn't a skier. I snowboard, but my wife and my family love skiing. So I had to learn skiing and riding at 30 years old. And we go out and we're on, you know, Vail Mountain almost every single weekend during the season. I'm in Colorado, so I've like learned to camp. It's like totally different of what I would assume I would be doing. Like from like, if you asked me when I was 16, would I be doing camping and skiing? I would tell you, heck no. All right. But I love camping, skiing, and I love the beach. You know, on a day-to-day basis, I hang out with my family and my crew. Right. And that's how I recharge.
Yeah. So are your 10 and 7-year-old, that was their ages, right? 10 and 7?
Yes, that's right. Yep.
Are they on blacks yet or double diamonds or still on greens and blues?
My 10-year-old's on the Vail ski team and she does freeride and she's awesome. My youngest, she's on the spectrum. It's Autism Awareness Month too, and she's in the adaptive program at Vail. And I'll tell you what, I didn't think she'd be able to ski, man. She skis excellently now and I'm very thankful to that program.
Yeah, no, that's cool. I love skiing myself and Vail Mountain's a great place to ski and I remember the age when my kids started surpassing me. That's why I was asking, you know, I was like, they thought I was a cool dad because I was on the blues, you know, and every once in a while I would hit a black diamond. And then as they got older, they were like, oh man, that's old man stuff. Yeah.
She's going off cliffs, man. I'm not doing that.
Yeah. That's crazy. No, that sounds really cool. Hey, we talked about a whole lot of things, everything from music to the, to your fabulous dad, Drop Water, Not Bombs. We talked a lot about you growing up under— with an immigrant family, how that helped shape you. We talked about your career and how you've just been focused on changing healthcare, just not accepting the status quo. And we talked about sort of the formation of Eon, what it does, and how it's helping others. We talked a lot about the values of the company, which obviously are core to you as well, you know, humility and having a learning sort of mindset. And we talked about things that you're super proud of, which is being a dad. And of course, E.ON, which you're also the father of. And a lot about people and just, you know, the importance of downtime. What did we miss? Or is there anything you want to double down on? I'll give you the last word.
Yeah, thanks, Ed. I'll tell you, it's real simple for me. Do the right thing. Just do the right damn thing, Ed. Right? And it's never too late to do the right thing. Yeah. Right? And that's it. Like, it's real simple.
Yeah. Dr. Aki, you're a great person. And I know E.ON's a great company as well and, and helping save people's lives. That's what I'm all about. That's what Digital Voice is all about. Thank you so much for being our guest.
Hey man, thanks, Ed. Thank you for listening to Digital Voices Podcast with Ed Marx. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe on your preferred streaming service and leave a rating and review. And most importantly, thanks again for listening.
