

SPONSORED
In this episode of Builders Wanted, we sit down with Dugan Winkie, Head of Commercial Strategy at Cedar, to explore how AI is reshaping one of the most emotionally complex industries: healthcare. From frustrating call center experiences to opaque billing processes, Dugan breaks down how Cedar is reimagining patient engagement with conversational AI, real-time data, and a builder’s mindset.
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Key Takeaways:
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“ There is a lot of information silos, simultaneously, where we're expecting patients to know how to navigate a very complex system. And we think conversational AI and agentic AI is a great manifestation where we can leverage a lot of our core competency and network connections to help answer those patients' questions in a way that is delightful.” – Dugan Winkie
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Episode Timestamps:
*(02:10) - The boldest thing Cedar is building right now
*(03:52) - How Cedar is using AI to humanize the patient financial experience
*(14:24) - Recent patient behaviors that pushed Cedar to rethink the billing experience
*(23:11) - How Cedar designed its AI agent, Kora, to be helpful and empathetic to patients
*(31:10) - How Cedar is balancing AI innovation and healthcare regulations
*(35:40) - How AI has already improved the patient journey
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Links:
Connect with Dugan on LinkedIn
Connect with Kailey on LinkedIn
Learn more about Caspian Studios
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Sponsor
Builders Wanted is brought to you by Twilio – the Customer Engagement Platform that helps builders turn real-time data into meaningful customer experiences. More than 320,000 businesses trust Twilio to transform signals into connections—and connections into revenue. Ready to build what’s next? Learn more at twilio.com.
69 episodes
In this episode of Builders Wanted, we sit down with Dugan Winkie, Head of Commercial Strategy at Cedar, to explore how AI is reshaping one of the most emotionally complex industries: healthcare. From frustrating call center experiences to opaque billing processes, Dugan breaks down how Cedar is reimagining patient engagement with conversational AI, real-time data, and a builder’s mindset.
-------------------
Key Takeaways:
-------------------
“ There is a lot of information silos, simultaneously, where we're expecting patients to know how to navigate a very complex system. And we think conversational AI and agentic AI is a great manifestation where we can leverage a lot of our core competency and network connections to help answer those patients' questions in a way that is delightful.” – Dugan Winkie
-------------------
Episode Timestamps:
*(02:10) - The boldest thing Cedar is building right now
*(03:52) - How Cedar is using AI to humanize the patient financial experience
*(14:24) - Recent patient behaviors that pushed Cedar to rethink the billing experience
*(23:11) - How Cedar designed its AI agent, Kora, to be helpful and empathetic to patients
*(31:10) - How Cedar is balancing AI innovation and healthcare regulations
*(35:40) - How AI has already improved the patient journey
-------------------
Links:
Connect with Dugan on LinkedIn
Connect with Kailey on LinkedIn
Learn more about Caspian Studios
-------------------
Sponsor
Builders Wanted is brought to you by Twilio – the Customer Engagement Platform that helps builders turn real-time data into meaningful customer experiences. More than 320,000 businesses trust Twilio to transform signals into connections—and connections into revenue. Ready to build what’s next? Learn more at twilio.com.
69 episodes
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