Veterinary Innovation Podcast

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.