On the ATN Innovation Summit, health leaders confirmed how AI is shifting from buzzword to backside line
As AI continues to dominate headlines in 2025, two panels on the ATN Innovation Summit 2025 made one factor clear: transformation in health takes greater than tech hype.
Leaders from throughout the trade pulled again the curtain on the operational realities behind innovation, from reinventing outdated information methods to rethinking loyalty methods and scaling personalization with out dropping the human contact.
Personalization With out Dropping the Human Contact
Within the session titled “Extra Than a Buzzword: How AI Is Remodeling Health Proper Now,” moderated by Eric Malzone, host of The Way forward for Health podcast and ATN’s “Master Knowledge” series, panelists didn’t waste time on hypotheticals. With the AI health and wellness market projected to hit $35 billion by 2031, the main focus was squarely on execution.
Dana Milkie, basic supervisor at EGYM, mentioned the aim isn’t to exchange trainers however to scale their influence.
“We sit on over 9 million exercises and greater than 500 million assessments,” he mentioned. “By layering AI on high, we’re creating hyper-personalized applications that modify to each the member’s information and the stock of the fitness center itself.”
That personalization is already seen in EGYM’s new Genius AI system, which tailors exercise plans primarily based on out there tools and person targets. The platform doesn’t simply generate routines; it supplies weight suggestions and rep ranges primarily based on ongoing assessments.
Natalie Jones, senior director of enterprise operations at Future, emphasised that even with AI, the human connection stays irreplaceable.
“It’s actually onerous for an AI persona to say to you, ‘I get what it means to lose 20 kilos, to try to get constant when you have two children,’” she mentioned, including that the human connection is invaluable and one thing folks will proceed to pay for.
Nonetheless, AI is turning into extra subtle in complementing that relationship. Future now makes use of AI to research teaching interactions, flag when a message must be despatched and recommend customized check-ins – primarily turning into a sensible assistant for human trainers.
Joe DeMarco, co-founder and CEO of SalesRevv, mentioned automation is remodeling health gross sales as effectively. His firm builds AI-powered sales agents that interact prospects through textual content and electronic mail utilizing brand-specific language, serving to operators scale back labor prices whereas enhancing consistency.
“Our AI isn’t just communication – it’s truly doing the work,” DeMarco mentioned. “It’s reaching out, attempting to get them booked to that first appointment, displaying them the schedule.”
All three panelists acknowledged the rising pains of integrating AI into current operations however agreed it’s now not elective, a degree emphasised by Milkie.
“We’re sluggish to undertake tech on this trade,” he mentioned. “AI isn’t a sometime software. It’s right here now, and we have now to lean in.”
From Fragmentation to Fluidity
Whereas the primary panel targeted on AI, the “Match Tech Playbook: Insights From Grasp Operators” session, moderated by Alta Tech Group managing associate Al Noshirvani, zoomed out to look at how health firms are rebuilding legacy methods, prioritizing information technique and managing tech investments amid rising shopper expectations.
“All people needs to do one thing with AI,” mentioned Ryan Hawk, chief expertise officer of Vasa Fitness. “However AI is barely nearly as good as the information you feed it. In case your methods don’t discuss to one another, you’re caught.”
Hawk mentioned his crew’s first step was constructing a centralized, AI-ready information platform that pulls in info from fragmented methods.
“We use that to run unsupervised studying fashions that may determine member segments that may be significant primarily based upon all of those options that we have now in our information retailer,” he mentioned. From there, the corporate can check churn-prevention techniques, advocate lessons or set off reward incentives through its cell app.
Stephanie Tucker, chief buyer officer of Hapana, echoed that sentiment.
“We’ve undoubtedly come a great distance as an trade from the sign-in sheets at check-in,” she identified, including that as they develop new options, Hapana is balancing broad trade themes like personalization with the precise wants of smaller buyer segments.
Kari Saitowitz, chief advertising and artistic officer at New York Sports Clubs, mentioned personalization has turn out to be desk stakes: “We used to ship the identical communications to all people… and now we ship totally different communications relying on how folks work together with the enterprise.”
She added that AI isn’t simply influencing electronic mail and SMS. NYSC can also be utilizing an AI advert platform to automate hundreds of inventive variations for digital campaigns, tailor-made to totally different prospect behaviors.
For Good Match chief expertise officer Alex Gregianin, scale calls for effectivity. With over 1,500 golf equipment throughout Latin America, his crew makes use of machine studying to optimize when members ought to go to primarily based on fitness center site visitors and private preferences.
“We will just about advocate the most effective exercise for that point, the most effective train for her or him,” he mentioned.
Smart Fit has additionally constructed its personal cell app ecosystem, together with a social networking function that helps customers join.
“Everybody is aware of that when you have folks engaged, they keep longer,” Gregianin mentioned. “So we added group options the place members can chat, plan visits and monitor progress collectively.”
Purchase or Construct? It Depends upon the Mission
As membership operators experiment with all the pieces from gamification to rewards applications, the query of whether or not to purchase or construct stays high of thoughts.
“If it’s a commodity – one thing available available on the market and never core to our enterprise – we’ll usually purchase it,” Gregianin mentioned. “But when it straight shapes the member’s digital expertise or is a part of our each day operations, we desire to construct it ourselves. That means, we are able to customise it and tailor the expertise to ship the very best consequence for our members.”
Hawk agreed however added that inner capabilities can shift the method.
“Do we have now the interior experience? Is it one thing proprietary to us? Can we get it to market quicker if we construct it? Velocity issues, and inner suggestions loops allow us to study and iterate extra shortly than counting on exterior distributors,” he mentioned.
Saitowitz, in the meantime, emphasised strategic partnerships, comparable to NYSC’s on-demand content material from Les Mills and tapping Garmin for challenges and perks.
“We will’t construct all the pieces ourselves,” she mentioned. “Partnerships maintain us related with out diluting the model.”
The Way forward for Loyalty Is Knowledge-Pushed
When requested how they’re fascinated by loyalty, panelists returned to at least one theme: information unlocks motion, monitoring check-ins and purchases to engagement with in-app challenges to set off rewards or re-engagement provides that match member conduct.
Good Match’s loyalty mannequin is equally gamified. Members earn perks the longer they keep, with tangible advantages, Gregianin mentioned. The corporate can also be investing in options that encourage social interplay, aiming to show solo exercises into communal experiences.
For Tucker, loyalty begins with lightening the load on workers.
“As we use expertise to work smarter, not more durable, it permits us to remain targeted on what issues most – delivering high-touch, customized experiences. This can be a high-touch enterprise, and we’d like to verify our time and vitality go the place they’ve essentially the most influence,” she mentioned.
Throughout each panels, one message was clear: AI and tech aren’t simply buzzwords, they’re enterprise levers. Whether or not it’s segmenting customers, personalizing exercises, enhancing retention or lowering churn, the operators main the cost are these investing in information infrastructure, forging strategic partnerships and empowering groups to adapt.
This text relies on a stay dialogue held throughout the ATN Innovation Summit 2025, a two-day occasion devoted to the way forward for health and wellness. See here for Extra Innovation Summit protection.
