Hear Better, Live Better: How Starkey Turns Hearing Aids into AI Wellness Tech | Brandon Sawalich

Russ Fordyce 🏆 (00:00.898) Welcome back to the Winner's Circle, everybody. I am here today with Brandon. He is from Starkey, and he is another big Innovation Award winner. And they are taking over the hearing aid market with some new innovations, especially around AI. And we are so excited to talk to Brandon. So Brandon, welcome to the Winner's Circle, and congratulations. Brandon Sawalich (00:17.868) Thank you, Russ. I enjoy what I do. As they say, if you enjoy what you do, you don't work a day in your life. We are changing things and really helping lot of people with how to think about hearing health and hearing technology. I'm honored to be here and talk with you today. Let's have some fun. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (00:35.327) Yeah, so before we do anything, let's just step back for a second. Give us a little bit of an introduction on you and about Starkey. You guys have been in the hearing game forever, I think. think Adam first lost his hearing according to Eve, and you guys were there or something along those lines. Give us a little bit of background. Brandon Sawalich (00:46.482) Yeah. Brandon Sawalich (00:50.556) Yeah. Brandon Sawalich (00:54.994) Well, Starkey, there's five hearing aid companies in the world. We are the only U.S. owned and operated. We're privately held. We were started in 1967 by our owner, founder, and who's still actively working with patients and stuff in the company now. Started in the basement of his home. One of those true entrepreneurial American success stories. And as I frame up Starkey, we're legacy built and future driven. We've learned from the past, we've pioneered, we've done a lot of things that were first in the hearing industry, and then we've been building on it. Starkey today is, we operate in 29 countries, we have close to 6,000 employees. We sell and provide products to hearing professionals around the world. And it's a great business because, as I kind of frame it up, we're in the caring technology. and we get to help people hear better, live better. I started in 1994. I was 19 and it was a summer intern job. started in the repair lab and just the entry level. I was going to go to my second year at the University of Minnesota. And I said, well, I kind of like this. So they kind of talked to me if I wanted to extend a couple months and I could go to apply the next semester. And 31 skip years later, here I am. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (02:20.558) There you are in the boardroom at the CEO's table, right? It is a magical story. It's a great American company, great American story. You, know, from the mailroom, repair room, right up to the CEO's chairs. How did that hands-on kind of experience really kind of shape your career there? Brandon Sawalich (02:24.198) Yeah. Brandon Sawalich (02:40.13) I always had a good work ethic and team player in sports and growing up. I think I get asked a lot now for advice from interns and others that we have here. And I took the initiative. I didn't wait around to be asked. And I just helped out. did everything from picking customers up at the airport, taking them to the Mall of America, various other things during the week around the company. So then I learned. I was learning the company. And then I building relationships with Starkey's customer base. And because they were doing a lot of classes here on campus. And those relationships were key because I didn't have, this wasn't my goal or dream or anything close to that. I wasn't going to be in hearing aids. No way. I want to be an astronaut growing up as a kid, right? That was the next frontier. Baseball, yes, I was heavily in baseball, lifelong Cubs fan. So I was going to go up to Wrigley Field. But. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (03:33.224) or baseball, one of us. Brandon Sawalich (03:42.534) I just kept working and working and I gained experience and failure was my biggest teacher. And Starkey allowed me to do that, make mistakes, which I focus on today is it's okay to make mistakes, learn from them. And so I, customers, I went into sales, working more with customers and just various roles throughout the company and the customer facing. and just try to simplify and really focus on our mission statement, which is serve our customers better than anyone else. Because you have to have the product, but it's a relationship business. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (04:22.05) Yeah, you know, I was a marketing guy in another life and you know, you sit behind the scenes in that kind of role and you look at landscapes and you do things to influence markets or influence decision making, whatever, and you're not the face of the customer. Sometimes you'll get an email back, but that usually goes to sales or somebody in account management or something. And it was always such an eye-opening experience when you stepped in front of the customer or you were repairing a hearing You knew the product, you touched it, you felt it. You experienced what that customer felt like, I imagine you did, because you repaired something, they were happy with it. I think there's so many of us in the corporate world especially that don't ever touch that customer. It can be such a foundational and such a pivotal experience, I think, in people's lives, because it gives you just such a different perspective. Brandon Sawalich (05:17.97) It's the best opportunity. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (05:19.602) it is. And so if you're in a corporate job, go touch the customer, go figure out how you can get in front of the customer with the sales team or repair truck or, you know, or somebody just to see their experience with your product. Because it is, it's just, it's such a, it's such a mind blowing experience because it is so transformational, at least it was for me. Brandon Sawalich (05:38.234) And it's the littlest things too, because I'm very self-aware that I don't want to be insulated from what the customers are saying or our employees, the team. our classes we have up here, I go to other events or conventions or customer's offices and talk to them. And you reply to an email, like you mentioned. I get some emails and I'll reply direct. Or a patient will send a letter asking a question or this product hasn't worked for me, and I'll call them. And it makes all the difference. and they remember it. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (06:08.194) Yeah. Well, you guys are sitting in a very interesting intersection right now. You've got an aging population. I think we talked to a few folks that are in this market. One of our overall winner in the Big Innovation Awards this year was Alcon, and they developed a machine that did eye surgery faster, better, cheaper. And it's this market that's really growing, this aging population, especially in the United States and other European countries. a lot of Asia, where there's this growing boom in the need for this stuff. You also have a very rich environment for investment in technology and some amazing technologies, especially coming out of the United States, other places of the world. How is that kind of impacting your roadmap and as you navigate this new kind of politically uncertain world, how are you navigating all of this kind of good and bad? Brandon Sawalich (07:02.29) Yeah, in the US there's around 45 million people that have hearing loss, globally 480, yeah, aging population. And my focus around the hearing healthcare and hearing technology is first we have to get back to the basics and the messaging is, hearing is essential. It connects people to people. And usually in the stigma around getting hearing help, has been from old ads, media, TV, movies, really stereotyping a hearing aid, whistling or what do you first think of if you need a hearing aid? Most people are gonna say, I'm old, right? And it's a superpower. I that's the way I look at it today and that's what Starkey has been driving towards is a multifunctional device, not just a singular amplifier that's gonna amplify noise. You can get those types Russ Fordyce 🏆 (07:44.654) Yeah. Brandon Sawalich (08:01.512) of cheap, cheaper products, poor quality, because they're going to amplify everything. know, this, what we're doing is making complex simple where we have to put, you know, there's 310 components in here and it's lithium ion rechargeable, Bluetooth radio. It's, you know, industry best processing and circuit technology. And it's a little computer. It's your personal assistant. So. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (08:14.785) Wow. Brandon Sawalich (08:29.67) You know, what we look at and what I set out for Starkey is we want the best hearing aid. We to be the best. And not the largest market share. We'll focus on revenue. To me, that's just table stakes in what you do in business. Let's be the best at what we do and how can we reinvent it? And it starts with hearing a noise. People need help hearing a noise. So it's starting to change the mindset of, it's not just a hearing aid, it is that personal assistant that's gonna help you do just a little bit better every day in your life. It's gonna give you that edge. Doesn't matter if you're 70 or 80 or you're 50. If you're working, family, whatever it might be, you wanna be just a little bit better. And there's different... types of hearing losses and different makes and models for what we could do. But we were changing the conversation on that hearing healthcare because as you mentioned, yes, aging population, you have your pretty much traditional patient that goes into the office and is in that baby boomer generation. And then you've got the digital patient. that's coming in, right? Everything is on their phone or iPad. So we're adapting to both types of patients to serve them better as more and more people move into that hearing loss age. But the other thing is, I'm sorry, go ahead. I was gonna say, the other thing, so we talk about the hearing loss and that population's growing, but right now, one in six teenagers have a hearing loss. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (09:40.109) Yep. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (09:52.886) Yeah. Now you... Go ahead. No, you go ahead. Brandon Sawalich (10:07.758) It's a no pun intended, but it's a silent pandemic because of AirPods and all the noise. And once you lose your hearing, you can't get back. You can't get it back. it is. No. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (10:07.842) Russ Fordyce 🏆 (10:19.022) Well, that's really not good. mean, the number before, you had about 12 % of Americans, of all Americans, right? Roughly, I'm not sure if I'm at a right? 10, 15%, right? You said 40 something million of whatever. And now you're talking about one in six kids. Brandon Sawalich (10:34.418) Yeah, 45 million. Brandon Sawalich (10:41.008) And it's nothing, so it's nothing we're proud of or I'm sitting here like, boy, business is gonna be good. Starkey then also is having initiative and products helping protect healthier with our sound gear products. And so we don't want hearing loss. We'll serve those that do, but it's also educating on the importance of hearing and protecting the hearing you have. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (11:06.83) Now, you guys have put all those 300 components into that little tiny box or tiny pod. And now the innovation that you were awarded with was now you've brought AI into the mix. So you've launched this Omega AI last year. Give us a little bit of background of how you got there and the problem it's solving. Brandon Sawalich (11:23.014) Yes. Brandon Sawalich (11:32.082) Back in 2017, we were at a point where needed a game changer. I like taking risks. I like being bold. I like to shake things up. And in our industry, since it's somewhat small, people do jump around to company to company. And you could hire executives and people with institutional knowledge, but you're going to get the same thinking. That's where I was. And I needed a new chief technology officer and kind of started remodeling and redefining Starkey. And so I went outside of the industry. I started a search for 400. Of course, they come back with all this list. And there was one name on there. And they said, this guy is at Intel. He reports to CEO. They're on the AI revolution. They're working on technology there. He's not interested in leaving me be a good fit. I said, no, I want to talk to him. That's the one I want to talk to, the one they tell me not to. called him up and hired him, Dr. Achin Bommack, who's still here and we work closely together. And we started, what can we do with AI, with hearing and hearing technology, in order for the product to be helping others hear better and sifting out noise from what you want to listen to. So we came out with a first hearing aid with AI, hearing technology, back in 2018, and we're on our fourth, fifth generation. And it's gotten better each time. And we've been leading in AI technology and what we can do with the products when we launched our Omega AI product last October. And it is the industry leading technology. It's the best one you can do. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (13:25.57) Well, I think it's super interesting because you guys are mimicking the human brain with a neural network. So if people don't understand that, good, because I'm sure I'm right there with you. But I know that the neural networks are super important in AI. Google's built this huge neural network with chips. So tell us what that means in the Starkey world. Brandon Sawalich (13:47.612) Well, I could. I won't even say I'll dumb it down because this is how I explain it and I understand it because I have 800 people that are really good at talking at that high level or getting it done. But think of it as, again, I'm listening to you and with hearing loss, think of it as it's scanning and the product knows that I'm talking to you. I could program it to whatever setting if I want to hear more direct speech, if I want to hear if I'm in a crowded noise. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (14:17.582) Hmm. Brandon Sawalich (14:19.016) adapts to my environment. And what we do is with our deep neural networking and think of it like you have this, there's tiny little holes in the processing of your hearing and we're filling those holes in based on the environment and what you're asking the product to do for you. So AI has helped us, you know, again, quicker processing, better listening, easy listening efforts, and then again filtering out where our new Omega AI with the DNN processing and working, mimicking the brain, I have the, I call it the 3D surround sound effect, right? Russ Fordyce 🏆 (15:02.594) Mm-hmm. Brandon Sawalich (15:03.408) where if I'm talking with you and I know that I think right now and I could hear my fan right above me, you know, it's allowing me to choose what I want to listen to. Instead of, if I'm talking to you, then the fan would be overcoming the sound of our conversation. And if I hear a noise out in the hall, know, directionally, I can understand or I immediately know where it's coming from. And in the past, again, think of it just like a, just a flat line. You would just be hearing a lot of everything and trying to locate where the sound was coming from was very difficult for people 10, 15 years ago. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (15:28.696) Hmph. Brandon Sawalich (15:42.47) So we're bringing a 3D hearing. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (15:42.856) Have there been studies done on people who, like I have a challenge, difficulty processing audio. And so when, especially when there's complex audio, meaning multiple sources of audio coming kind of at me. So not a party so much where there's a roar, that's okay, or a stadium. But if I have a dog barking. you know, a doorbell being rung and somebody asking me a question, usually, you know, three things or more, brain shuts down, panic ensues. And it is a learning difference for me that I know I have and I do certain things. But what you just described to me sounds glorious. It's, you know, from a different standpoint of being able to be in a room and going like, let me just talk to Brandon and kind of push everybody else out. Brandon Sawalich (16:22.756) Yeah. Well, yeah. Brandon Sawalich (16:34.706) It is. Brandon Sawalich (16:42.002) Right. And I know it sounds too good to be true. You know, here's the CEO pushing his product, how great they are. I'm the type, and I think one of the, you with our customers, I have the respect and integrity in the industry. If it's not good, I'm going to say it. I mean, you know, I could get up in front of, you know, 300, 3000 of our customers and say, we have the best because I know what we're doing. Our competition is good. I respect our competition, but competition business, Russ Fordyce 🏆 (16:43.758) out. Brandon Sawalich (17:10.256) should drive you. It drives me, it motivates me. I guess that goes back to my sports days and stuff because I want to be better, want to be the best, and I'm always pushing Starkey to do more, not work harder, but where do we need to focus for the impact? Russ Fordyce 🏆 (17:26.156) Yeah, well you guys have also added some of those other health features into the product too, which I mean if you have access to ear canals and blood vessels, you can do some other cool things. So tell us about kind of the other stuff that you added, because it all goes hand in hand with it's kind of a whole body approach. Brandon Sawalich (17:43.314) Correct, it's really think of it in three channels. We have better hearing, so that's the hearing aid component I just described. Then we have our health features. So it's an overall wellness, so we have features that, yeah, think of it like the ears of the new wrist. know, step counting. One of the features for a certain demographic that we incorporated, and we're the only ones that haven't and continue to, is our fall detection. So obviously we all know there's a high risk of falls as we age. And our product, if it's activated, they choose so, they could set it up to text three individuals. And if there's a fall, somebody falls, Russ Fordyce 🏆 (18:02.958) Yeah. Brandon Sawalich (18:30.448) the hearing aid will detect the fall and text their loved ones that a fall has been detected so they could check on them. I've had numerous stories of people saved their lives. Somebody, veteran and how... Russ Fordyce 🏆 (18:44.078) I had this happen to my mom last year and if you think of fall as a broken hip, wait until they hit their head. It is not, it is a serious deal. Brandon Sawalich (18:57.636) And I remember, you know, there's always discussion when you're putting features and trying something, you know, people aren't going to use this. You how many people are, you know, is this worth the time for the number of people? One, exactly. That's what I said. If we help one person, it's worth it. And we've saved numerous people's lives. I mean, I've received the letters, the calls. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (19:06.056) One. You got one. Yeah. Brandon Sawalich (19:17.304) And so, you know, we're always pushing what we can do and what people will use and what's relatable. don't because I didn't want to be I didn't want to be seen as like we're being gimmicky, you like a mood ring. I want something valuable and that people can use and choose to. They have an option to. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (19:29.964) No. Brandon Sawalich (19:35.378) The third is our AI personal assistant. As I mentioned earlier, I'm with my son who's now 19, but I've seen every Marvel movie. And so the way I liken this is it's gonna be the Jarvis in your ear. And that's where we're taking it. Because right now we can translate 72 languages. I could tap and ask, what's the weather? What's the temperature outside? 10 degrees. it's, again, you have to start somewhere. And it might sound, I've heard it all. We don't need all this stuff. You got to start somewhere. And what we're finding out, starting somewhere is working pretty well for us. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (20:22.21) Yeah, you have to figure out what's working and what the customer wants or what they're going to accept. It's interesting because you, I imagine you have to balance this care and innovation cycle speed, you know. Brandon Sawalich (20:25.244) That's on Univate. Right. Brandon Sawalich (20:39.664) Yeah, yes. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (20:40.17) algorithm pretty closely because you're, you you're, it's, you want to jam new features, new tech, quick, quick, quick, get to market, but then you do have this, this care element that's a little slower in cycle. How do you balance that, you know, kind of in your innovation cycles? Brandon Sawalich (20:56.252) Well, it's, you know, one thing that I outlined for the company, you know, 10 years ago and been, you know, consistent on is taking risks and being innovative. You know, not just following, because in our industry, it was just incremental improvements about every 18 months from everybody, you You call it, it's a small tweak. And then any company, including Starkey, you'd have a big campaign around just incremental improvements. And, you know, I like to swing for the fences. So like I mentioned, redefining a hearing aid, hiring the right CTO, having a great talent here. And, you know, now as we say, you know, Starkey's, you know, setting the speed of innovation in our industry. And we do have to watch it. You know, you want to come out with new things, but we want to come out with what's going to be of value and it's the right thing to do at the right time. So what used to be, you know, every 18 months, you know, has been about every year now. But, you know, I know what's coming over the next, you know, four or five years, and it's pretty incredible. It's hard not to want to push more out sooner. But we're as far as what technology allows us today. And then balancing that, it's the experience of me knowing the industry, the patient, and the team. Not just myself, but everybody that's at Starkey and making those decisions. Out of all the companies, we have the most experienced executives and directors and people here in our R &D of audiologists and. that just know the industry and what's right for the patient. Being privately held, we do what's right for the patient. That's the priority one. Priority two is the customer. Priority three is Starkey. It's not the analyst. It's not the stockholder. It's not the board. So that's part of Starkey's secret sauce is being privately held where we can be agile, move quick, and do what's right. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (22:53.474) Yeah, it is a value. The corporations do spend a lot of time trying to add shareholder value, and a lot of that, as we've seen, is not always in the best interest of customers. You think it is. I've been in those meetings, and you tell yourself it is. Brandon Sawalich (23:09.308) Yeah. Brandon Sawalich (23:14.096) No, it is. Well, it is. And that's just business. Some of them, that's what they have to do, of course. And one thing that I'm always asking the question, but we will not sacrifice quality for cost. I've been opinion like, well, OK, we'll save here, but what's that due to the performance or the quality and reliability? We'll not sacrifice quality for cost. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (23:38.902) And I know everybody puts Steve Jobs on a pedestal, but he was a big advocate of that, of you're doing this for the customer. The customer has to feel the quality, understand it, make their life better. If that's not your goal, then you're in business for the wrong reason. And you won't be number one. You definitely will not be number one. Brandon Sawalich (23:52.273) Right. Brandon Sawalich (23:55.878) Exactly. Right, and that's where I get to, well, what's our goals? If you chase money, that's what you're gonna be doing. You're gonna be making poor decisions. So again, going back to the patient, it's making the right vision for the company be the best and doing what's right for the patient. And then everything else is gonna follow. we're fortunate that right now that's the way it is. We had our starkey's record year in 2025. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (24:28.908) Yeah, well congratulations on that. You guys are definitely innovating in the field and you mentioned something earlier, your Starkey Cares program. You guys follow it up with a lot of community-based kind of support and also kind of supportive education. Tell us a little bit about that initiative. Brandon Sawalich (24:46.994) Yeah, our core value is caring. And that's really started by our owner and founder, Bill Austin. When he started selling hearing aids here in the Twin Cities in 1961, February 10th. So next week is our Founders Day, 65 years. He was doing that, working for his uncle to pay for college at 19. And he, the first appointment that he went on was an older gentleman, bad hearing loss, and he wanted the product, but he didn't have the money. So Mr. Austin gave it to him for free. His very first appointment, he paid for it. So that mindset and how he approaches business and humanity, I've learned a lot from myself. And it's really the type of company we are where we're helping other organizations. want to be a strong local community citizen, good corporate citizen. We want to help others that need hearing but don't have access or can't afford it. So we give... Hearing hearing aids the best ones away every year here in the US We partner with the Starkey Hearing Foundation who gives away You know has given away millions upon millions of hearing aids around the world to people that can't afford it so Philanthropy and caring and giving and just a random, you know kindness random acts of kindness and being kind to people is What you know is it within our foundation and what I talked to our employees about is it's also how we hire You know, I have the philosophy is, you know, hire for attitude, develop the talent. I want caring attitudes. People that understand and want to be here and care about what they're doing. Because you can develop talent, but you can't develop a bad attitude. mean, fix a bad attitude. So it permeates the company. And as I said, I don't like the hierarchy type approach. We work as a team. You know, there is structure. You have to have that. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (26:40.896) No. No. Brandon Sawalich (26:52.466) But it really is a team approach. And when I talk about the Starkey family, a lot has to do with, we want people that want to be here on campus, proud of what they do. And again, they know that through our Starkey CARES and other initiatives, the work they do matters to the patients and the customers we serve. But we're also providing products and better hearing to people that would not be able to have that opportunity. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (27:17.164) Yeah, know it is. It's such an important thing you're doing. know, there is hearing is just as important as vision. You know, it's and we get glasses. So let's not be afraid of going and getting hearing aids if you have hearing loss and let's help people out. We help people out with glasses. I'm glad you guys are doing this. What a great initiative. So now you're my you're my ear guy. Now I have Frank over at Alcon, who's head of R &D at Alcon for my as my eye guy. I can't imagine a better eye guy. So now Brandon Sawalich (27:28.048) No, it's one of the most, yeah. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (27:47.128) I can't imagine a better ear guy. If somebody's listening and thinks they might have early signs of hearing loss, what does that look like and what do they go do? Brandon Sawalich (27:57.01) You know, they probably their spouse is going to notice it first or significant other We know that right and we've all been asked those questions Usually it takes about seven years from somebody to I think I have a hearing loss to want to do something about it And we're shortening that journey because of that stigma and educating people in the public on today's technology. You go to Starkey.com. We have the information. You take an online test, but it's best to find a professional in your town or community. We have a location finder on our website. Put in where you live, and it'll direct you to one of our customers' locations. And we're going to test. I hear you. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (28:37.612) Yeah, and I wasn't kidding. As somebody who had ear problems, the ear tests are not a big deal either. It takes, yeah. Brandon Sawalich (28:44.25) No, no, takes, I mean, not even 30 minutes. It's just the look inside your ear, make sure the ear can get everything's healthy, you're not plugged up with wax, because sometimes it can be plugged up and that's causing some hearing loss. But it's a quick test and then you just get educated on what your options for solution. Russ Fordyce 🏆 (29:02.594) Yeah. Yeah, well, I encourage everybody to go do it. mean, especially as you age. I love the fall component to it. I love the other stuff that I know you're going to put into it is coming. I mean, there's obvious stuff that needs to go in that. And it sounds like you guys are headed that way. you know, congratulations again, Brandon. This is super interesting now that I have an ear guy. I'll find some other people to help me with my health, but really appreciate the conversation. Great to catch up with you and about your technology and the overall industry. So thank you. Brandon Sawalich (29:12.402) Well, yeah. Brandon Sawalich (29:23.206) your guy. Brandon Sawalich (29:33.244) Thank you, Russ, I appreciate being on air and sharing it.