Inside CTOx with Yoemy Waller (Part 1) (Final).m4a Mon, Nov 17, 2025 0:00 - Yoemy Waller When the whole areas of the universe get together, then that's how I came to be Part of CTOx. I believe I'm one of the few very first people that joined, and I'm really happy about that. Since then, I've learned so many things. It's amazing. 0:22 - Donna Welcome to Inside the CTOx Podcast. I'm Dana, Head of Membership and Partnering. We're stepping Inside the minds of some of the most innovative tech leaders out there. This isn't just a podcast. It's a place where CTO journeys come alive. Where stories of struggles, breakthroughs and growths unfold. We're here to unpack the experiences of real CTOs navigating through our CTOx accelerator and membership program. So sit back, tune in, let's get into the story. Welcome to the Inside CTOx. Today we are so excited because we have the fabulous Yeomy Waller with more than 25 years as a healthcare data scientist and now a fractional CTO helping health systems worldwide harness AI for impact. She guides organizations through AI power transformations from payment integrity to NLP to disease detection, all with a deep focus on patient outcomes. Known to most as a fearless AI evangelist, she combines clinical precision with a traveler's curiosity and compassion. Driven by passion for equity and innovation, UME builds ethical, intelligent systems that heal, empower, and support. And get this, a global citizen who has visited over 160 countries and counting, speaks seven languages. Wow. We're all blown away by that. Yeomy brings cultural influence and human centered design to every engagement. Wow, Yeomy. That's amazing. Welcome to the podcast. 2:14 - Yoemy Waller Thank you, Donna. So nice to be here. Really excited. Love it to be here. 2:20 - Donna Yeah. Well, out of the seven languages, what's your favorite to speak? 2:26 - Yoemy Waller The one that I speak the most is English, but my favorite is Italian. 2:32 - Donna Oh, beautiful language. Beautiful. Well, we're all like super impressed when we heard all of those stats. So that's amazing. 2:42 - Donna All right. Well, let's get in. I'm excited to, to get into this with you, you and me now thinking back back to before joining CTOx. I always like to get a little bit of background, but what was the real catalyst for joining CTOx? Was it just the raw ambition? Was it burnout, curiosity, just something you hadn't even thought about before? What was the thing? 3:07 - Yoemy Waller A combination of things. I've been in the industry for so many years. Most of the time was working for somebody right? Different companies. I worked with, you know, hospitals. I worked with insurance companies. I worked, you name it, all the gamut. For the last past 10 years, I have been working on my own, you know, pretty much, you know, doing projects, doing, you know, data, analytics, all that kind of things. And I felt that I had reached a plateau and I wanted to scale. So I say, okay, there is something I need to know on how, you know, probably the techniques or what else, what can I do to improve my game? And by serendipity, I found Lior, and it seems like everything clicked, you know, at the same time. It's like, oh, wow, this is what I needed. As they say, you know, when the student is ready, the, you know, the teacher appears. I would say when the whole areas of the universe get together, then that's how I came to be Part of CTOx. I believe I'm one of the few very first people that joined, and I'm really happy about that. Since then, I've learned so many things. It's amazing. 4:37 - Donna Your journey has been truly amazing. Yeah, you were in right at, right at the start, early C2C DOx. Uh, one thing that a lot of people tell us, um, particularly those that kind of come in, um, early on is that there was always just a moment where it was super hard. This is all new to, to a lot of people. Was there something particularly that you like thought, this is almost going to crack me, but it didn't. You fought through it. 5:06 - Yoemy Waller I would say. In the mindset of having to do the sales and the promotion of the services and getting out there, right? Whether it's through the social media or whether it was with the, you know, with the different systems that we have for, you know, contacting people, that was out of my comfort zone, 100%, right? I was, you know, from the beginning, getting my clients mostly from conferences and speaking engagements, which for other people, that is like, I don't want to speak in front of people. But to me, that's natural. Oh, I love to do that. But sending a cold email, it was like the chills. I don't know what to do. Why should I send this? Why do people get angry? It was all these things because I was not used to it. And of course, You got to keep with the program. Let's do this. Right. And things starts, you know, working, of course, you know, in my industry, uh, the processes for, you know, the sales process is very long because the healthcare industry takes a lot of time. Uh, they might want your services, but they have to wait for the next budget cycle to be able to get you in and things like that. So you have to be keeping at it to be able to, you know, to, to reach that momentum. And, uh, That was something that I think continuing and keeping up with it helps, but also understanding that you have to get out of your comfort zone. 6:45 - Donna Yes, getting out of your comfort zone. I think that's one thing that really resonates with people like them for sure. And it's not just a professional growth, we also see a lot of personal growth. So like for you, what was the most, say, unexpected shift personally through your journey here? 7:11 - Yoemy Waller One of the important things, and when I was talking both with Leo and Marisa, was when they focused and asked me, what is it that you want to do? Why are you doing this? You know? Is not because of the money, it's not because of things. What is it? You know, what is, what is the thing? And my answer was, I want more time for myself. You know, I want to continue traveling, you know, that takes a lot of time traveling. And I want to do something that it can be scaled without me having to invest, you know, 20 hours a day. And they say, well, that's possible because you, you got to focus on that. So that was a big, revelation kind of, you know, exploded my mind, because I was never, it didn't even pass my mind before. Yeah, no, before Marisa said that, I was like, is that something possible? Not even thinking, you know, and they say, yeah, because you will purposely focus on that, that you want more time, you purposely look for clients that will allow you. So It was a mind shift and a personal growth for me because it taught me that I can continue doing my business, but I also have to take care of myself. Yes. So it's huge, huge. 8:39 - Donna Yes. Yes. That's so amazing. And I think, you know, the old adage of just work harder. It's just, it's just not the thing anymore. That's just not a way to get success. To your point, like, yeah, just working 20 hours a day. Seven days a week, that doesn't cut it. Yeah, it doesn't cut it. It's not how we get success. And yeah, you mentioned Lior and Marisa, two wonderful people here at CTOx, everybody's favorites. You know, the community and the coaching and everybody is so strong here. We're such a close-knit group, but was there a particular relationship that you particularly connected with or like and, you know, tell me a little bit about them. 9:24 - Yoemy Waller I would say that all of you guys are fantastic. I don't have a favorite. The whole CTOx is my favorite, I would say. Because everybody brings something to the table. And then that synergy really helps, you know, all of the members. And I really appreciate that. You know, when you're talking about, you know, CTOx Accelerator, really accelerates. And people do, if you follow the program, you're going to get where you want to be. And for me, it would be one thing, for somebody else, it would be something else, right? And being very clear, because you guys help us understand what is it that you want, where do you want to get, right? Sometimes you are just too busy working, working, trying to, you know, trying to make it, right? But not really thinking, am I running in the right direction? Is that where I want to be? Or I'm putting myself in a cage and then I'm not going to be really able to get out because I might have signed contracts and then all of a sudden, you know, curtails my main purpose at the beginning. So I think the whole team is great because everybody brings something really good to the table. And I really appreciate that because that diversity is what really helps, right? It's not just one person's point of view, but, you know, the different angles. And I really like that. 10:54 - Donna Exactly that. And it's not, yeah, it's not one person's view. It's not one person's, um, program. It's not one person's path. And I think that's really what we tried to get across. It's like, you need to be on your own path. You can't just follow, well, Yeomy did this and she was, I should just, if you're not a public Speaker, and I think you can attest to this. Yeah. Do not go into public speaking. 11:16 - Yoemy Waller Exactly. And, you know, some people might say, oh, how do you get clients? And they say, oh, public speaking in front of 500, 6000 people. And they'd be like, oh, no, no, no. They don't do that. 11:27 - Donna They don't do that. 11:27 - Yoemy Waller But I'm perfectly comfortable, you know, comfortable with that. And it depends. Some people might be okay, maybe I just do the, you know, call email thing, or just, you know, get your, your network activated, things like that. And it's okay. It's okay because it depends on their own needs and how, where they are. Um, and, and I like that, that, you know, we understand that, that thing is not like, Oh, do these or else it's gotta be, you know, it gotta be a consensus, a choice, basically. Choice. 12:04 - Donna It's gotta be their own choice in their own journey. You can't walk in. Is anybody else's path. No, it's, it's super important, um, for them. Um, what was the one thing that you would like to go back and change if you could? 12:19 - Yoemy Waller Um, I would say being able to attend more meetings because sometimes, you know, you get busy and then you miss something and then you're thinking you're going to be able to catch it up later on the, on the, you know, the videos, but then, and you want me comes in, trying to catch up, right? I will, that will be one of the things that I would change, you know, not not missing meetings and being able to attend each one of them. Even now, you know, just lately, I have been missing some meetings because I am trying to close another deal. So it's a lot of meetings and analysis and things that I have to do. But I think that that is key, you know, seeing the rest of the team, seeing everybody, there is a synergy that creates there, you know, that momentum that helps everybody, right? When we're talking about what are the wins of the week, what are the things that have happened, I think those are priceless. 13:21 - Donna Yeah. 13:22 - Yoemy Waller And so good to see it. That will be one thing that I will change is not missing the meetings. 13:29 - Speaker 1 And it's so funny because like things come up those meetings that are just, you know, hard lefts. And you're like, Oh my God, like I never would have thought of that. If I was just doing just one-to-one coaching or just working this on my own, it's having that group and having all these different backgrounds, all these different experiences, all these different challenges that are in the room right now. And so fun to kind of explore all of that. Then just kind of, you know, just looking at, at just your world, you know, Exactly. I'm watching your videos. Cancel Netflix. There's no more Netflix. You're just going to binge watch Lior on CTOx now. 14:12 - Yoemy Waller I should do that. Probably binge watching some of the things that we have done. It's funny. I don't even have time to watch television. My television is there. It's not even connected to the wall. Not even, it's like crazy, but it's okay. 14:35 - Donna Oh, that's really good. That's really good. Um, I'm really interested to know what is, what is an insight or a principle from CTOx that you'd like to share here that has become a non-negotiable? Something that, you know, either through the program or something you've always sort of like held onto, but something that you would defend in any room against any boardroom against any CEO like what's that one thing that one principle of yours? 15:09 - Yoemy Waller There are several but I think the most the one that has helped me the most has been activating my network because at the beginning I was thinking oh I should not be bothering my friends or my you know my acquaintances why would I you know I feel awkward at the beginning thinking, Oh, you should not do this. But then I realized that people appreciate that you are seeing them as, you know, as a connector, as somebody that can help. And, and then it's a whole flip, right? I'm thinking, Hey, these people are actually happy to reintroduce me to so-and-so. And, and, you know, it's like, Oh, wow, I never did that. And then you start thinking, well, it makes sense, right? But then it's sometimes you don't do that. I wouldn't have done it if it was not Part of this program, right? Because it kind of forces you, okay, this is one of the tools, you could use it, this principle. And then you're there. I was there in the beginning, hesitating. Oh, you don't want to bother anybody. But I did exercise anyway. And then that got me introduced to people. And then those people, they introduced me to other people. So it was wonderful. Absolutely. The second thing was the idea of actually what we're doing right now, the podcast, and inviting people and guests to speak. It's amazing how easy people say yes. For you to interview them, it's like amazing because you're making them feel important. And that's a huge thing, right? That opens a lot of doors. So all of these things, you know, together, I think those two principles are two winners for me. 17:06 - Donna I love that. I love that making people feel important. And I think that's something you overlook because I hear this a lot. It's like, oh, I don't want to pester people. I don't want to reach out. But yet we all We all love it when somebody asks for advice. Exactly. Exactly. Somebody comes and asks for any sort of recommendation or, hey, do you know anybody? We love to be that go-to, oh, she must know, because she knows everybody. We all want to be that person. And yet, we're all so afraid to reach out to other people and give them the joy. That opportunity. That opportunity. Yeah. It's so interesting. It's so funny. So who was, from everybody you've reached out to, who was the one surprise? Who was the somebody that either introduced you to somebody you thought you wouldn't or introduced you to somebody that was totally like, wow, I wasn't expecting that. 17:58 - Yoemy Waller It was somebody that I worked with a few years back. And, you know, we have kept kind of friends, but not like buddy buddies, anything like that. Right. But, you know, we kept friendships. And I said, hey, listen, I'm doing this. Would you be able to introduce me to your CEO? And she was just so glad to do that. It was like, oh, of course I help you. It was amazing. And I was just so hesitant. And she was like, absolutely. I'll help you with that. No problem at all. So it was amazing. And that kind of switched me. You know, on the mentality thing, why I was scared of this? Why? You know, and sometimes it's, you know, it's just your beliefs, not really what the reality is. You believe you're going to be bothering people, you believe it's not going to work, and then you don't do it. But the reality is these people are super happy because they will feel, oh, yes, you know, I'm the one to introduce you to so and so. And there we go. Perfect, right? So it's amazing how things work out. But when you are, especially when you are, I would say studying technology, right? Everything is very rigid. Everything is very, you know, your code, your things, you know, your infrastructure, your hardware, you know, the data, it's very rigid. You know, very, very cold, I would say. But these different techniques that CTOs have introduced are more on the human side. 19:45 - Donna Yeah, that's true. 19:47 - Yoemy Waller And those are the ones, the things that we really need to be able to connect with others to be able to move the business forward. Because it doesn't matter if you are Nobel Prize in technology, whatever, you know, it doesn't matter If you're not a personable and you don't connect with people, you don't get the business, period. That's it, right? So you have to be able to do that, to grow yourself to the level that you become that personable, nice, connecting with people, talking, and so on and so forth. It's Part of the deal. Otherwise, you don't get anywhere. You'll be struggling all the time. 20:31 - Donna And it's so, I so love this. You are the AI evangelist, and yet you're here saying, you need to be human. You need to be. Yeah. I think you forget to be human sometimes, you know, with all this. 20:42 - Yoemy Waller I think you gotta be human all the time, right? The main thing is, you will use technology to improve humankind. If you're just thinking as technology per se, oh, because I want to implement these models, want to do this AI, I want to do the latest, you know, machine learning, you know, super duper model. Just thinking on that side is not going to get you anywhere, because you're not going to be solving real life problems. You're going to be probably blindsided, right? I have, you know, when I'm solving problems for people, and they are very related to AI to data and analytics. It's funny to find that people don't think. They just believe that you do this, you're going to get that. But it doesn't work that way. Reality is different. So as much as you can use different models to try to, you know, predict reality, there are many other factors that you're not taking into consideration in those models. There's the human factor we were talking about, that people might react in a different way from what you're saying. For example, I have had doctors that say, over my dead body, I will use AI for anything, and that's your perception. Then, when we show them them, you know, Dr. So-and-so has been using this thing and be able to predict, you know, sepsis and therefore save 25 of his patients real quick. How about that? 22:35 - Donna Yeah. 22:36 - Yoemy Waller Really? Can you do that type of thing? And then, and then they kind of get in the, in the, in the, in the thing. So you gotta, you got to show them the benefits. 22:44 - Donna You gotta show them other humans using AI and that it's more belatable. Okay. Or the data. 22:52 - Yoemy Waller You know, there is always the fear of what you don't know, right? The unknown is always something, oh, you know, the AI is going to take over the world and what have you, all these, you know, negative doomsday stories. What I believe is that's just a tool. 23:07 - Yoemy Waller It's the same as computers. 23:08 - Yoemy Waller It's the same as everything else. 23:10 - Yoemy Waller You know, it's based on mathematics and statistics. 23:13 - Yoemy Waller You just have to understand what to use it for, right? 23:18 - Yoemy Waller And as much as I I always try to, you know, promote and show people that this is, you know, the best set of tools. 23:30 - Yoemy Waller I always incorporate that Part now as, okay, what do you want for your patients? 23:37 - Yoemy Waller What is it that we're trying to accomplish here? 23:39 - Yoemy Waller Do you really want people to get better or do you just really want to, you know, what, what is it that you want to do? 23:45 - Donna You want to just be right. 23:46 - Donna Do you want to just keep doing what you were doing before so that you're right? 23:49 - Donna or do you actually wanna focus on patient? 23:51 - Yoemy Waller Exactly, and again, science is trial and error. 23:57 - Yoemy Waller All of the discoveries of science and experiments, you got to do it and then do it again, see if you can replicate the results and continue doing like that. 24:06 - Yoemy Waller So if you're a real scientist, you gotta be able to do those experiments and figure out, oh yeah, it does work this way, but all of a sudden you can do something and then it doesn't work. 24:17 - Yoemy Waller Then you gotta tweak it. 24:18 - Yoemy Waller figure it out. 24:18 - Yoemy Waller Why is it not working? 24:19 - Yoemy Waller Then, oh, maybe I'm not having enough data. 24:21 - Yoemy Waller Maybe I'm not having what it takes. 24:24 - Yoemy Waller Maybe I'm biased on my model because I have to add these other factors into it. 24:30 - Yoemy Waller So, it's a trial and error situation. 24:33 - Yoemy Waller It's not like, oh, I designed this and it's up for you and ready to roll. 24:38 - Yoemy Waller And that mentality is one of the things that we have to deal with with clients a lot because they think that Either 100% they don't want it, or they want everything AI. 24:52 - Donna One extreme or the other. 24:55 - Donna Oh, my goodness. 24:55 - Yoemy Waller There is no in between. 24:57 - Yoemy Waller They want everything AI. 24:58 - Yoemy Waller Hold it. 24:59 - Yoemy Waller Where is your data? 25:00 - Yoemy Waller All of a sudden, that data is in 27 systems. 25:03 - Yoemy Waller They don't talk to each other. 25:05 - Yoemy Waller It's not together. 25:06 - Yoemy Waller It's a mess. 25:07 - Yoemy Waller OK, we have to work from the beginning and put that together and be able to get you AI ready, because you're not AI ready. 25:15 - Yoemy Waller It's a whole process in that. 25:19 - Yoemy Waller And the important thing for me is always, what can I do using technology to be able to do something better for humankind? 25:32 - Donna Thank you for listening to Part one with you, Yoemy Waller. 25:35 - Donna Wow. 25:35 - Donna What great insights. 25:37 - Donna Join us next time for Part two, when we dive further into AI, into leadership and our special segment.