“Some of the best insights, or reminders, were really about focusing on who we build for: narrowing it down to the actual problem, and to the actual end-user—in my case, patients and doctors.”
Can you introduce yourself? Tell us your name, where you’re from, and a bit about your background.
My name is Andres. I’m from Berlin, Germany. My background is in emergency medicine—I trained as a paramedic and later studied medicine. I’ve been practicing as a doctor for about five years now, so I’ve spent over 15 years in the medical field overall.
With your strong clinical background and passion for healthcare technology and policy, how do you see innovation driving meaningful advancements in patient care? Has your experience at ABC Silicon Valley influenced your approach to this goal?
There have been promising developments in health tech—like telemedicine, automated hospital documentation systems, appointment scheduling tools, and symptom checkers. But I still find that truly innovative advancements are missing—the kind that would take healthcare to the next level and significantly improve efficiency.
ABC Silicon Valley definitely helped shape how I approach this. It’s influenced me to focus more on end goals—whether that’s for the patient or the doctor. It’s helped me think more deeply about what kind of improvements I want to drive, how to pitch them, and what networks to build. Even learning about AI agents during the program gave me new inspiration to go deeper into that space.
You’re developing AI-driven healthcare applications, like an avatar-based AI agent for patients and a medical report writing tool. What challenges have you faced during development, and what insights from ABC Silicon Valley will you apply to ensure their success?
Some of the biggest challenges are around data security and system interoperability. The digital tools in healthcare are still far behind what we’re used to in consumer tech—like smartphones or other daily-use platforms. There’s also a lot of skepticism from healthcare professionals when it comes to adopting new digital tools.
ABC reminded me of something very simple but powerful: focus. Who are we building for? What problem are we solving? Startups often fail not because they don’t build good products, but because they overlook the real end-user. That’s something I’ll carry forward.
Why did you join ABC Silicon Valley?
I joined ABC because I wanted to grow my skill set in the startup world, from pitching to customer discovery to networking, and also to learn from corporates and experienced mentors. And I definitely got the insights I was looking for.
