From media to medicine to VP of Apple Health, Sumbul Desai's Indian roots are a recurring thread

From a journalism intern at Doordarshan and the Times of India, to one of the most powerful women in global tech, Dr Sumbul Desai has come a long way. The Swedish-born woman of Indian background is one of key players behind Apple's big health pivot seen in the new iPhone and Watch features such as health sharing and monitoring walking steadiness.

Desai’s education and career
Desai joined Apple 5 years ago to support the Silicon Valley company's entry into the field of personal health solutions. Before that, she served as an Associate Chief Medical Officer at Stanford Healthcare and Strategy and Innovation's Vice-Chair, Department of Medicine at Stanford Medicine. Yet, despite her stellar career, those early positions with the Walt Disney Company and ABC News still shine through her CV.


She enrolled at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a renowned university for technological research in New York, mainly because her father was very enthusiastic, but she struggled in the first semester. It was the time when her father relented and told her to follow her desires. After that, she switched to computer science as her major subject, with communications as a minor. Desai's career in the media industry began in this manner, and she then switched to the business side to focus on strategy.

The change in career path
When her mother had a stroke in August 2001 while she was visiting her family in New York, things took an unexpected turn. She fell unwell right afterward and needed to be put on a ventilator in the ICU.

She had to take care of her ailing mother a couple of months later when the ICUs had to be emptied to make room for 9/11 victims. Her mother had to relearn everything, even breathing and walking. At that point, Desai's viewpoint on healthcare changed. That was the inspiration for her later decision to return to medical school.

For her journalism minor, she worked as an intern at Doordarshan and the Times of India. The challenging situations she encountered in Delhi's hospitals cemented her decision to pursue a career in medicine. She interacted with numerous people from throughout India, who were incredibly grateful to her. Although she was aware that she was born in Sweden, the Indian link inside her played a significant role.

Desai now understands her parents' intentions, even though she had previously opposed their desire for her to become an engineer or doctor.

For her, it is an honor that people decide to use these gadgets daily as she has been developing technology that informs thousands of people on their current health based on the data their bodies provide. According to her, the goal is to give people the impression that they are in charge of their health.