CEO of Oura has 4 predictions for the $80 billion wearable tech industry—including growing his customer base by millions of people

SEE FULL BIO“We've always believed that there's a transformation afoot in the way people address their health," says Oura CEO Tom Hale

Courtesy of Benjamin Arthur—HLTH EuropeThe wearable industry is booming

As more people opt for personalized health data, the once-futuristic idea of wearing health daily has become so main that donning an Oura ring or glucose monitor at a party is no longer a rarity. “We’ve always believed that there’s a transformation afoot in the way people address their health, meaning that they’re going to be in charge of it,” Tom Hale, CEO of Oura, tells Fortune on-site at HLTH Europe earlier this month, the continent’s health innovation summit

The wearable company has been at the forefront of consumer interest in personal health data

It recently expanded its features to vide data on women’s hormonal and metabolic health

For Hale, the industry is ripe for innovation, and the element of control is enticing consumers

Hale predicts a growing number of people will wear a health device daily, and maybe even more than one

Hale says he wouldn’t be surprised if people, one day, wear a health earring in addition to a ring. “The amount of data is getting bigger and broader, and the ability for machine intelligence to look over that data and make sense of it is just getting better and better,” he says. “People [are] taking control of their health rather than waiting to see a doctor. ” Here are the CEO’s top predictions for the future of the wearable health industry: Wearable will be the first step to the doctor With doctor shortages and long waits, Hale sees more people turning to wearable first to enter a doctor’s office armed with their own data and questions. “We end up being the front door for you,” Hale says of Oura. “Maybe you want to preserve the doctors for the most important things, but [a wearable device] can vide advice

It can warn you,” he says. “I think care is gonna shift to this hybrid mode, where the device is viding some form of care for you

And that care could be, ‘Hey, you should really see a doctor. ’” Preventive health has become a buzz phrase in the health world, and it will only become more dominant using wearable , Hale predicts

And UK and 85% in China reported purchasing items within the preventive health category, a digital health tool or anti-aging duct, according to a report from McKinsey & Company

AI advisors will give concrete, personalized advice While devices Oura vide real-time insights, recommendations for precisely how to imve a sleep or stress score are less on the platform (beyond supportive gestures “your resting heart rate lowered late last night, could it be that you ate too close to bedtime

In the next five to 10 years, Hale predicts that the models will better predict risk and offer more concrete advice. “We’re not a doctor … but we could get better and better at giving you those warnings and saying, ‘Hey, by the way, here’s a great partner you might want to talk to. ’ ‘Here’s a great clinic,’” he says

In a first step, Oura announced the AI-powered Personal Health Companion earlier this year

It offers advice for ways to take action and speaks directly to the user their health metrics

Women make up the bulk of Oura consumers who have opted in to talk with the health companion

The demographic uses it nearly twice as much and twice as long as men, Hale s. “It remembers that my dog’s name is Jackson, and it’s always telling me to take a walk with Jackson,” Hale says of one user, noting that people increasingly gravitate toward personalized advice that makes them feel seen. “It’s infinitely patient

It’s infinitely empathic, and it knows a lot me,” Hale says of some of his users’ takeaways and why women may be more drawn to the platform, given their underrepresentation in medical re and higher lihood of experiencing medical gaslighting

More all-in-one devices Expect more partnerships within the wearable industry to put all data in one place

Oura recently partnered with a company that vides a glucose monitoring device to add metabolic health to their platform

Customers had said that beyond sleep, exercise, heart health, and stress, they wanted to measure something related to their nutrition and have it all in one place. “Medicine wants to diagnose you with something, so you can get a pharmaceutical to treat you

I think what we’re saying is that you want to feel better, you want to look better, and you want to have energy

How do you look across all the potential ways and the things that you’re doing. ” Hale says

Devices that support, not scare To succeed in the market, more health and wearable viders must understand their responsibility for curbing health anxiety and making user interfaces that support rather than scare

Hale advocates for what he calls “calm ” (think calming colors, supportive language, and muted tones) to encourage people and support them on their health journey rather than berate them with big red doomsday alerts

When asked if there is such a thing as too much data and tracking, Hale says there can be

Because for many, more information isn’t always a good thing

While he notes that the platform tries to synthesize data before it gets to you and der only “bite-sized” insights, customers have come to his desk with concerns of being stressed being stressed or stressed not getting enough sleep

There is even a term for not sleeping well because of a sleep tracker called orthosomnia

For someone who is ne to health anxiety and an unhealthy relationship with their trackers—perhaps compulsively beating themselves up for a score—Hale has some simple advice. “Take it off,” he says. “It’s obviously stressing you out … , don’t do it,” he says. “That’s more or less the response that we have. ” But for now, Hale sees more optimism in the sector than worry. “We’re helping your body say things to you that you can’t hear unless you have the support in this tool

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