Sumbul Desai Is the Woman Behind Apple’s Billion Dollar Quest to Improve Your Health

Do you track your own health obsessively?

I absolutely do. If I think I’m getting sick, I really pay attention to my heart rate. My heart rate is so sensitive if I’m dehydrated or if I’m sick, so I will see changes. I’m obsessive about my cardio fitness. I ran my first marathon two years ago, and I’ve been planning on running one this year. And so that’s a big one. HRV [Heart Rate Variability] plays a role for me too, for training and looking at if you’re over training. I pay a lot of attention to my sleep too, because my sleep’s a good sign of whether or not things are moving in the right direction. I use the products I make—it’s not lip service.

Talk to us about the hearing work you’re doing.

It’s actually been something we’ve worked on for a number of years, like four or five years. Hearing is such a big part of shaping how we communicate and how we connect. We started with AirPods introducing some small features, like conversational boost, over the years. And then, when the administration changed legislation around over-the-counter hearing aids, we thought, how powerful would it be to use the devices that you listen to music on could also augment your hearing? We actually started testing the hearing test on AirPods and introduced the hearing aid feature. It was the science and design coming together in a really lovely way.

What’s your proudest achievement, professionally or personally?

Professionally, it’s been bringing our engineering design and clinical teams together. ECG was one of our big first accomplishments. When we get letters every day from users telling us that their Apple Watch helped them in some way or another, I feel that we are actually having an impact in a way that I was hoping.

Personally, the thing that I’m probably most proud of is that I’m a working mom with three kids. I’m a big part of my kid’s life as well as my family’s life. I take care of a parent, and I still get to do this amazing job. Sometimes, it’s so easy to put yourself down and feel like you’re not doing enough. But every day that I pull that off, that’s a big achievement, honestly.

What time do you get up?

Usually, 5:50 a.m. I wish I got up at 5:00.

Even the fact that it’s got a 5 in it is inspiring. What’s your typical morning routine if you’re up at 5:50?

The first thing I do is, actually, prayer and meditation. I always take a few minutes to do that to just kind of reflect and be grateful. And then, I go downstairs and my coffee is the second thing. My coffee’s number two.

How do you take your coffee?

With cream, and I use monk fruit. I savor my coffee. Those 15 minutes when I drink my coffee, I will listen to the news. I usually listen to CNBC in the morning, and I’ll read a little bit and glance at email. And then, I try to get a workout in depending on the day. My daughter started running recently, so we try to run in the evening together, too, which is throwing a bit of a wrench in my morning routine! And then it kicks off with the kids—making them breakfast, getting them out the door…