Veterinary Innovation Podcast

Hosted by Veterinary Innovation Podcast

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Episodes

100

Latest episode

May 2026

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About the show

The Veterinary Innovation Podcast covers the most interesting, exciting, and controversial topics in the industry today. Veterinary technology entrepreneurs Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zakharenkov chat with industry leaders and innovators about the biggest challenges they're facing - and how they're overcoming them.

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60 recent

May 14, 2026Episode 32218 min

322 - Neshmeen Faatimah | Nuzzle Technologies

This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak catch up with Neshmeen Faatimah, the founder and CEO of Nuzzle Technologies, Inc., to discuss how AI-powered simulations are transforming veterinary communication training. After losing her cat during a complex care journey marked by communication breakdowns, Neshmeen set out to solve one of veterinary medicine's most overlooked challenges: teaching vets how to navigate difficult conversations with clients. Nuzzle's platform allows veterinarians to practice realistic case scenarios with AI-simulated pet owners, helping teams improve trust-building, treatment discussions, cost conversations, and clinical decision-making in a low-stakes environment. This episode is a fascinating look at the intersection of AI, behavioral science, education, and the future of veterinary mentorship. Learn more about Nuzzle Technologies. Neshmeen recommends "Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In" by Roger Fisher, William L. Ury, and Bruce Patton, a foundational text on negotiation and alignment that helps reframe vet-client interactions.

May 7, 2026Episode 32120 min

321 - Guilherme Coelho | Maven Pet

This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak welcome Guilherme Coelho, Co-founder and CEO of Maven Pet, to discuss how AI-powered pet wearables are helping owners better understand their pets' health between vet visits. They discuss how Maven combines sensor data, app-based inputs, and artificial intelligence to build a "digital paw print" for each pet and detect early signs of illness before they become critical. Guilherme explains why the modern pet owner is moving beyond simple GPS tracking in favor of deep health insights that provide peace of mind, especially for pets with chronic conditions. Learn how Maven is changing the conversation in the vet office by empowering owners with continuous data that supports more accurate diagnoses and effective treatment monitoring. Learn more about Maven Pet. Guilherme recommends the Youtube - Head of Growth (Anthropic): Anthropic is automating its own growth for insights into rapid AI scaling.

April 30, 2026Episode 32019 min

320 - Dr. Lisa Beagan | Your Vet Direction

This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak welcome Dr. Lisa Beagan, founder of Your Vet Direction, to discuss how AI-supported triage can bring more structure, consistency, and safety to veterinary intake. The conversation explores one of the most overlooked risks in practice operations: asking front-desk teams to make triage decisions without the clinical tools or training to do so confidently. Dr. Beagan shares how her platform, Your Vet Direction, helps guide CSRs through the right questions, prioritize urgency, and support better decision-making while keeping humans firmly in the loop. The episode offers a practical look at how structured AI can reduce variability, improve efficiency, and help veterinary practices modernize one of their most critical workflows. Learn more about Your Vet Direction. Dr. Beagan recommends "The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century's Greatest Dilemma" by Mustafa Suleyman for its insights on AI guardrails.

April 23, 2026Episode 31919 min

319 - Marisa Hoskins | Paws Abroad Inc

International pet travel is one of those topics that sends both pet owners and veterinary teams into a quiet panic. This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak sit down with Marisa Hoskins, the founder of Paws Abroad Inc., to discuss the growing need for better infrastructure around global pet travel. Drawing on her experience moving internationally with her rescue dogs—a journey that also inspired her book The Adventures of Harley and Kalinda: Harley and Kalinda Go to Thailand—Marisa shares how she's turning a frustrating, high-stakes process into a more structured, manageable workflow for both pet owners and veterinary teams. The conversation explores why international pet travel creates so much administrative strain for clinics, where the biggest compliance breakdowns happen, and how technology can help reduce errors, improve communication, and make travel planning less overwhelming. If your practice has ever struggled with travel certificates, shifting regulations, or clients who need guidance on moving pets across borders, this episode offers a practical look at a problem many clinics know all too well. Learn more about Paws Abroad Inc. Get free early access to the Pawsabroad Vet Portal. Marisa recommends "The Forever Dog: Surprising New Science to Help Your Canine Companion Live Younger, Healthier, and Longer" by Rodney Habib and Dr. Karen Becker for its insights into proactive pet health and nutrition.

April 16, 2026Episode 31823 min

318 - Dr. Ragen McGowan | Petivity by Purina

This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak chat with Dr. Ragen T.S. McGowan from Petivity powered by Purina about how the brand's Smart Litter Box Monitor provides a voice for cats. They discuss how AI-powered tracking of weight and elimination patterns can alert owners to changes that might indicate early signs of illness, such as FIC or urinary blockage, before they become clinical emergencies. Dr. McGowan shares insights into Purina's massive research initiative, involving 300,000 data points to create an objective "window" into feline health. This episode is a must-listen for veterinary professionals looking to bridge the communication gap with cat owners and utilize longitudinal home data to improve clinical outcomes and patient welfare. Dr. McGowan recommends "Affective Neuroscience: The Foundations of Human and Animal Emotions" by Jaak Panksepp and the TED Talk "Could an Orca Give a Ted Talk?" by Karen Bakker.

April 9, 2026Episode 31719 min

317 - Brendan Baker | PawthosX

This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak welcome Brendan Baker, founder and CEO of PawthosX, to talk about why the next generation of veterinary tech isn't more tools — its orchestration. Brendan shares how PawthosX acts as an AI-native operating system, coordinating over 45 AI agents to handle scribing, SOAP notes, reminders, and reporting, so clinic teams can reduce the heavy cognitive load by automating administrative tasks and coordinating real-time clinical workflows. By focusing on "calm" and simplicity, Brendan's vision allows veterinarians to move away from fragmented, legacy tech and return their focus to high-quality patient care. Learn more about PawthosX. Brendan recommends "Greenlights" by Matthew McConaughey for its perspective on reframing problems as signals and moving toward "green lights" in life and business.

April 2, 2026Episode 31618 min

316 - Eric Humbert | Invoxia

Veterinary medicine has long relied on "snapshots" of health taken during clinic visits, but what happens during the months in between? This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak speak with Eric Humbert, Head of Science & AI at Invoxia, about how wearable technology is helping veterinarians monitor pets more continuously and more objectively. Eric explains how the Biotracker uses advanced signal processing and AI to track heart rate, respiratory rate, activity, and recovery trend outside the clinic — and how the Biotrack veterinary platform gives clinics a dedicated dashboard to monitor all their patients remotely. From earlier detection of chronic disease deterioration to post-op follow-up and treatment monitoring, the episode looks at how remote monitoring could support more proactive care while also opening new opportunities for client engagement and recurring revenue. The episode offers a practical look at where wearable data may fit into real veterinary workflows, what still needs to be solved, and why continuous monitoring could become an important part of the future of care. Learn more about Invoxia. Discover more at Biotrack Invoxia. Eric recommends "Hackers & Painters: Big Ideas from the Computer Age" by Paul Graham for its stimulating ideas on technology, independent thinking, and the power of startups.

March 19, 2026Episode 31518 min

315 - Dr. Asaf Dagan | PetPace

This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak welcome Dr. Asaf Dagan, Chief Veterinary Scientist and Co-Founder of PetPace, to discuss how continuous monitoring is expanding clinical visibility outside the exam room. The conversation explores how real-time physiological data can help veterinarians detect changes earlier, better understand chronic conditions, and support more informed follow-ups between visits. From pain detection to seizure monitoring, continuous data is adding a new layer to how patients are assessed and managed. The episode offers a practical look at how these tools are already being used and what this shift could mean for everyday clinical workflows. Learn more about the PetPace. Dr. Dagan recommends "The Great Equations: Breakthroughs in Science from Pythagoras to Heisenberg" by Robert P. Crease, which explores the 10 most influential mathematical equations in history.

March 12, 2026Episode 31422 min

314 - Sebastian Gabor | Digitail

This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak welcome Sebastian Gabor, co-founder of Digitail, to talk about what the latest wave of AI investment means for veterinary medicine and how this momentum could accelerate the arrival of better, cheaper, and more capable AI tools for clinics. With visits down across the industry, they discuss how technology can help strengthen client retention, reactivate patients, and build a more connected hospital. Sebastian also shares how Digitail is approaching holistic AI, where each major function in the practice has its own assistant supporting the team's daily work. They also unpack a practical question many practices are asking today: what should AI actually do in veterinary medicine? From human-in-the-loop workflows that support medical teams to fully autonomous tasks that handle follow-ups and communication, the episode looks at where automation adds value and where humans must remain central. Learn more about the Digitail. Discover more preventive care insights with "Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity" by Peter Attia. Sebastian recommends "Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter" by Liz Wiseman for leadership and team empowerment.

March 5, 2026Episode 31321 min

313 - Ryan Leech | First 100

This week, Shawn Wilkie and Dr. Ivan Zak welcome back industry growth consultant and Bird Bath host, Ryan Leech, to talk about what 2026 might look like for veterinary medicine. After the biggest conferences of the year, a few themes kept coming up: vet care affordability, rising salaries, corporate consolidation, and growing pressure on margins. Ryan challenges the profession to stop searching for a "silver bullet" in AI or telehealth and start embracing the uncomfortable lessons of operational efficiency. From the "Walmart-ification" of vet med to the shrinking middle class of pet owners, this episode is a reality check on the economics of being a veterinarian in 2026. Learn more about the First 100. Discover more at The Bird Bath. Ryan recommends Huge* If True with Cleo Abram.