The Future Is Now: Gregory Wagner of RYAH Group On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up The Tech Scene
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
I learned to embrace the word “no,” and it’s a very valuable lesson. You can’t say ‘yes’ to everything. You will only end up wasting your time.
As a part of our series about cutting edge technological breakthroughs, I had the pleasure of interviewing Gregory Wagner.
Gregory Wagner is the Chief Executive Officer of RYAH Group, Inc. (CSE:RYAH). Mr. Wagner is a 20+ year financial markets global head and intrapreneur. He has held executive roles in both the United States as CEO of ABN AMRO’s broker dealership, and in London as Head of Equity Prime Services for the Royal Bank of Scotland. He left Wall Street in 2015 and subsequently co-founded and built a number of startups. Mr. Wagner has a demonstrated history of transformation in the fintech and financial services industries. He holds an MBA in Finance from Fordham University, and a Certification in Innovation and Strategy from Harvard University.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I have spent most of my career with financial services companies, which primarily use their technology to service clients and make themselves unique from their peers. In fact, everyone in finance is technology driven these days, and I’m no different. The reason I came to RYAH is because I saw an incredible amount of data on plant-based medicine that had been collected over a period of time, but hadn’t been put to efficient use. I also saw the advancements of plant-based medicine therapies, but the associative technology linked to them was far behind, so I felt that RYAH was in a position to become the leader in a space that did not normally rely on technology or data. Outside of a few players who have created some excellent devices, there wasn’t really any linkage between technology and the capturing of raw patient data and feedback. So understanding the power of technology from the financial services sector, and seeing the potential of RYAH to help drive plant-based medicine forward, led me to join the company as CEO.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
In the spring of 2009, right in the thick of the financial crisis, I had been moved from NYC to Greenwich, Connecticut as a result of the RBS / ABN AMRO merger. I was a local product head for a sales / trading department. My superior was the global Head of Equities located in London. He contacted me and asked me to move to the UK to co-manage a newly combined business. We had just moved to a new house in the suburbs of Long Island. Like many, I had become increasingly concerned with the systemic challenges in the financial markets, especially in the UK, where government takeovers of banks were becoming very real, which could have left me stranded without a job and in the UK if things went sour. I respectfully declined the position. The next week, the Global Head called me and politely asked me to reconsider the offer and join them in the UK. After thinking about this extensively, and speaking with my peers and family members, I respectfully declined the position again. The third week, my manager called me and told me to “get on a plane, now”. Within six weeks of that call, my family and I had moved to the UK and spent three amazing years there.
Can you tell us about the cutting-edge technological breakthroughs that you are working on? How do you think that will help people?
We have a number of device technologies coming out, and one of the more advanced and ambitious projects is RYAH MD. The RYAH MD platform is a remote device session control portal, making it much more than a standard doctor/patient portal. We believe it is the first of its kind in terms of enabling remote recommendation solutions and device locking for administration in plant-based medicine. A doctor can go onto the RYAH MD platform, prescribe a milligram of dosing, and select one of the RYAH devices to administer that dose. The end state of RYAH MD is when the patient will actually see that prescription recommendation on the RYAH app, and if they accept that prescription, the app will actually lock the session and temperature according to the doctor’s recommendation — as far as we know, that has never been done before in plant-based medicine. RYAH MD allows the doctor to see the patient’s session activity in real time by providing multiple data points including the full lab results of the formulation used, temperature, session history, and patient feedback. We think this is a breakthrough technology that will take down a lot of barriers, one of which is converting a doctor’s recommendation or prescription into actual patient medicine administration.
How do you think this might change the world?
We like to think about the RYAH ecosystem and those using our RYAH MD platform as participating in the largest anonymous live virtual study ever to be conducted on this type of product. This data will be used to help close the plant-based medicine data gap for regulators, so they can make more informed decisions. Patient information is anonymous and privacy is further protected on a HIPAA compliant cloud. Not only will the doctors benefit in providing a more accurate and safer session regime, but they are also participating in providing anonymous data, which is critical in helping drive the plant-based initiative forward.
Keeping “Black Mirror” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about this technology that people should think more deeply about?
There is always the question of acceleration of adoption. Plant-based medicine treatment has not yet been adopted holistically, and this has a lot to do with the current state of legal regulations that exist in the United States. Regulators are uncomfortable with navigating through that network, and at RYAH, we are becoming part of the solution to, optimize regimens, help mitigate illicit use and misuse at scale. It’s always something to think about in terms of ‘Big Brother is Watching,’ but RYAH does not collect personal data. Our products sit on a HIPAA compliant cloud server.
Was there a “tipping point” that led you to this breakthrough? Can you tell us that story?
The tipping point occurred when we stopped selling devices to doctors and clinics, and started asking how we can help them solve their problems. For example, through interaction, we recognized a disconnect between how doctors prescribed or recommended medicine (i.e.. THC in 10mg doses per day) versus what the patient could actually intake (milliliters of vapor inhaled). By creating a conversion curve for doctors to easily see what milligrams in a prescription meant in terms of patient milliliters to be inhaled, we were able to eliminate another barrier limiting advancement of plant-based therapies. The moment we became a solutions provider, instead of a product seller, changed everything.
What do you need to lead this technology to widespread adoption?
We need to effectively demonstrate to doctors how these devices function. Wider adoption from a regulatory point of view is also needed, and helping clinics create a more interoperable framework where they can share best practices and move towards closing the data gap. Every patient who participates in our program will be contributing to closing this gap in plant-based medicine, creating a more accurate and safer dosing regimen.
What have you been doing to publicize this idea? Have you been using any innovative marketing strategies?
We have senior medical directors and doctors who are participating in data tests, and that is the best use case scenario validation, and ultimately marketing, for the firm, as they are positioned to provide constructive feedback on the evolution of RYAH MD. We also have targeted campaigns that include press releases, live stream events, round table discussions with doctors, and more.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
That would be my parents. I grew up in an environment where you had to earn your keep, and I was taught to be independent and have ambition. From a very young age, I focused on emulating the qualities of people I respected to create a more holistic version of myself, and I have also been very fortunate in that I worked with many senior and smart individuals on Wall Street who have been great role models and had superb character traits. For example, one of my managers in equities at RBS was an excellent orator and public speaker who I tried very hard to emulate. Another manager had strong empathy, while someone else had amazing organizational skills and ran a tight ship. These are all people who helped mold me into who I am today.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
Through RYAH, I am focused on making the best and most accurate products that will change people’s lives for the better.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why. (Please share a story or example for each.)
- I learned to embrace the word “no,” and it’s a very valuable lesson. You can’t say ‘yes’ to everything. You will only end up wasting your time.
- You are never too young or too old to make a difference.
- Get out of your comfort zone. Try new things, it’s the only way to grow.
- Emulate specific qualities in people that you admire.
- Dress as if you are a leader, and you will become one.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
Start a National Reality Weekend — no personal social media use at all, for a full weekend.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“Tough times come and go, but tough people last forever.” I learned a lot through the last financial crisis. It was an exercise in stamina, and made me significantly more resilient. As a result, I no longer get too high on the ups, or too down on the lows.
Some very well-known VCs read this column. If you had 60 seconds to make a pitch to a VC, what would you say? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
RYAH is a pioneering IoT device and digital care platform. The company is here to help doctors and clinics create highly customized and highly personalized dosing regimens through powerful data analytics. We aspire to be the first and only plant-based device company in the world with hardware and software that is certified as a medical device. RYAH will change lives through preventing misuse and illicit use of plant-based medicine, and help drive the end of opioid addiction through its replacement with plant-based therapies.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Twitter:
LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/ryah/
Thank you so much for these excellent insights! We wish you continued success in your work.
The Future Is Now: Gregory Wagner of RYAH Group On How Their Technological Innovation Will Shake Up… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
