#077 The Data Was There. The System Wasn't. Building Preventative Cardiac Care with Shawn Kumar

Built For This Podcast, with Carly Pepin

August 31, 2026 by

Carly Pepin

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In this episode of Built For This, Carly Pepin sits down with Shawn Kumar, CEO and original architect of Rhythm Science, to explore how better use of cardiac data could help healthcare move from reacting to emergencies to identifying problems before they become critical.

Shawn's mission was shaped by witnessing a patient die after a defibrillator failed to resuscitate him. The experience left him with a powerful question: could the data and technology already available have helped identify the problem earlier?

That question became part of the foundation for Rhythm Science, which transforms complex cardiac data into actionable information healthcare teams can actually use. Shawn explains why collecting data isn't enough, and why successful healthcare technology needs to make clinicians' jobs easier rather than adding another layer of complexity.

Carly and Shawn also explore building the company during the pandemic, bootstrapping before raising capital, working with healthcare systems including Cedars-Sinai, developing leaders internally, and how Shawn's role has evolved as the business has grown.

It's a conversation about healthcare innovation, leadership, data, and building technology that has the potential to make a meaningful difference when timing matters most.

In This Episode

You'll discover why data only creates value when someone can act on it, how healthcare technology can reduce friction for already overloaded clinicians, and why founders need to know when to empower their teams and when it's time to zoom back into the details.

About Shawn Kumar

Shawn Kumar is the CEO and original architect of Rhythm Science, a company focused on turning cardiac data into actionable intelligence that can help move medicine toward more preventative care.

A biomedical engineer, AI developer, and cognitive scientist with patient care experience, Shawn combines technical expertise with firsthand understanding of the challenges facing healthcare professionals. His mission is to build technology that helps identify critical cardiac insights earlier, giving healthcare teams better information when it matters most.

Memorable Quotes
"There's a difference between the ability to record and monitor data and actually making it useful."
"You have to nurture yourself too, though, and do the things that inspire you to keep it going for the long run."
"One of the things I think as a founder, what you look at is, where are you right now and where do you need to be?"

Shawn Kumar