Midi Health, a virtual healthcare provider for menopausal women, has undergone a fundamental transformation driven by artificial intelligence, its CEO Joanna Strober revealed. Founded in 2021 and recently valued at over $1 billion, the Palo Alto-based company now leverages AI to scale its operations and enhance clinical training.
Speaking at Business Insider's The Long Play event in San Francisco, Strober stated, "I thought I was starting a menopause company, but it turns out I'm building an AI company." The shift has enabled Midi Health to serve more than 20,000 women weekly, translating to millions of patient consultations per year.
Building a Specialised AI Model
The transition required developing a proprietary AI chatbot, as general-purpose models proved inadequate. "There's a lot of old, outdated data," Strober explained, highlighting the sparse and sometimes disproven research in women's health. Midi Health's solution was to train its AI exclusively on high-quality, vetted medical data to ensure accurate and reliable support for its providers.
This custom-built system is now used to train thousands of the company's healthcare providers on how to effectively answer complex patient questions about menopause and related conditions.
AI Integration Across Business Operations
The company's AI adoption extends beyond clinical support into internal administrative functions. Strober has personally engaged with staff, including nurses, to integrate AI tools into their workflows. In one instance, she introduced a nurse struggling to standardise hundreds of contracts to Google Gemini, reducing a projected month-long task to approximately 10 minutes.
To further this integration, Midi Health has instituted dedicated "AI office hours," where software engineers assist various teams in automating and enhancing their processes.
Augmentation, Not Replacement
Strober emphasised that this technological shift is designed to augment employees' capabilities rather than replace them. "It's not threatening — it's really about augmenting their jobs," she said, indicating the strategy focuses on efficiency and scaling care delivery without mass layoffs.
The company's February 2025 funding round, which propelled it to 'unicorn' status with a valuation exceeding $1 billion, underscores investor confidence in this AI-driven healthcare model.