Leadership Perspectives
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Farhana Nakhooda: Skilled for broader impact
A pioneer in healthtech and analytics, Health Catalyst’s Farhana Nakhooda took on board roles to utilise her professional know-how for wider impact.
One would think that with the rapid growth in AI and healthtech innovations over the last decade, healthcare adjacent executives would be keenly familiar with digital advancements and the vital role data analytics play in enhancing patient care and outcomes. This was not always the case, as healthcare solutions veteran Farhana Nakhooda discovered on a few occasions.
So when a speaking engagement led to a board opportunity with Asia Pacific Medical Technology Association (APACMed) three years ago, Nakhooda put aside concerns of taking on additional responsibilities, to contribute insights gained from her years at the intersection of medicine, technology, AI and analytics.
A Singaporean with an international upbringing and a global career, Nakhooda runs the Asia Pacific office of Nasdaq-listed Health Catalyst as general manager and senior vice-president, a position she took on in 2019 to lead its regional expansion. An 18-year veteran of IBM’s healthcare and life sciences business, she also serves on the Temasek Polytechnic Board of Governors.
Meeting with CBD at her home-office, where we talk about her unscripted path to balancing a demanding executive career with board work, Nakhooda shares: “I used to almost dread those board meetings because I had to figure out how to add value. But then being an extrovert, I would speak up and share my perspectives. Now, I look forward to and enjoy board meetings.”
Pursuing professional growth
With experience across markets and an intimate knowledge of developments in data-driven healthcare solutions, there is no shortage of value that Nakhooda brings to the table.
“I never thought I would end up doing healthcare technology. It wasn’t my dream,” Nakhooda tells us. “I just wanted to make a difference in the healthcare industry. My current role at Health Catalyst provides broad potential for impact.”
Working with public and private hospitals, Health Catalyst collects data and studies patterns to provide decision support and outcome improvements. One project, for instance, studied the treatment of sepsis to enhanced care, and another studied community-acquired pneumonia diagnosis and admissions.
“We look at all the data that is already being collected in hospitals and advise doctors, nurses and administrators on how to cut unnecessary waste out of their system. We’re using the data in a way that helps them make better decisions,” Nakhooda explains.
Under her charge, Health Catalyst has grown its Asia Pacific footprint, with clients in Singapore, Australia and Malaysia.
The knack for business was honed over 18 years at technology juggernaut IBM, where she grew its healthcare and life sciences arm and worked with hospitals and pharmaceutical companies to leverage its inventory of solutions for improved outcomes.
Transitioning between a large multi-national with 300,000 staff to one that only went public the same year she joined the firm was “one of the best things I ever did” she says.
“In IBM, I was very focused on my healthcare solutions leadership role. At Health Catalyst, because I was hired by a startup to open the Singapore office, you get to see all aspects of the business, from operations, procurement to human resources. Also, in the startup world, there’s a lot more flexibility in the sense that you can take risks, you can do pilots. You have to be nimble.”
Skilled for boarder impact
It was this same need for challenge and fulfilment that led to a “yes” when Nakhooda was approached in 2021 by a former boss and mentor at IBM to consider giving back, or as it was put to her more colloquially, “do national service”. A spot on the Temasek Polytechnic Board of Governors had opened and they were looking for a new board member with Nakhooda’s background and expertise.
Having never considered stepping up to a board role, her knee jerk reaction was to question if she was the right person for the opportunity. She had no professional experience in the education industry after all.
“I think as women, we doubt ourselves a lot. It’s our nature to be humble. We tend to walk into these situations feeling insecure or fearing we might look like a fool,” she says candidly. But self-doubt gave way to pragmatic thinking. “I thought if I did this board opportunity and didn’t like it, what did I have to lose? I would have learnt about education and maybe could guide my kids better after that.”
Today, Nakhooda relishes contributing to the polytechnic’s mission of preparing school-leavers for a future of dynamic change and chairs its Applied Science Advisory Committee. As a leader in STEM, she’s also able to help make connections for student internships.
“I give a lot of input on what the students should be considering when they are applying for jobs. It’s been helpful to bring in perspectives gleaned from both multi-national companies and startups,” she says.
Another piece of advice she has found herself sharing: “It is more important to know what you don’t like to do than what you want to do”. It stems from personal experience in the early days of her career. After obtaining a degree in biology from the University of British Columbia in Canada, she started work as a medical researcher, a role she felt out of sorts in.
“I did that for a few years and absolutely hated it with a passion. I am a people person and love working with people. But I found myself stuck in a lab with rats and microscopes and was very unhappy,” she recalls, with a laugh. Realising that she wanted to apply her biomedical background to business, she obtained a Master of Business Administration, before landing a role at IBM. She hasn’t looked back since.
The right board, the right fit
When the board opportunity with APACMed, which represents manufacturers and suppliers of medical equipment and devices, came knocking, the responsibility felt less foreign but no less daunting – at first.
“I said, ‘Why me?’ I don’t know anything about medical equipment. But I soon realised that I could bring value to the role,” she shares. The industry was undergoing a digital transformation, and manufacturers had to make sense of data streams, patient outcomes, and cyber security risks, all of which Nakhooda was well familiar with.
“Now, when I look back, I dare say taking on the board positions were two of the best decisions I ever made. I have learnt so much, including from other board members. It makes you well-rounded and adds to your own diversity of perspectives,” she says.
Diversity on boards approaching a momentous milestone