Phoenix-based startup taps ASU alum to develop digital coach to help with menopause
ThePause.AI is an Arizona technology company, founded by entrepreneur Susan Sly, that has created Harmoni, a personalized digital coach powered by artificial intelligence for women experiencing menopause and perimenopause. Nate Kelly, a data scientist and alumnus of the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University, helped develop the application. Graphic created by Kelly deVos/ASU using AI
It started with secret conversations behind the scenes at technology conferences.
But Susan Sly and her colleagues weren’t discussing the latest operating systems or the newest releases of computer hardware — the women were asking each other questions like, “How much sleep are you getting?” and “Are you having hot flashes?”
And … "Have you started menopause?"
It was 2018, and Sly herself was a woman in her late 30s who was beginning to experience perimenopause, so she had personal insight into the health concerns women face as their bodies enter the natural end of their reproductive years.
But Sly is also a startup founder and an entrepreneur with a background in the deployment of large-scale computer systems. She began to wonder if emerging advancements in artificial intelligence could help women better manage menopause.
In the U.S., more than 6,000 women reach menopause each day. Sly says that 50 million American women are currently experiencing the condition and, by 2031, 1 billion women globally will be in one of the stages of menopause. Some research has found that women have an elevated risk of depression and anxiety during this transition.
“Globally, menopause is the only inevitable health condition every woman will face,” Sly says. “It felt like a problem that needed to be addressed in a different way, so I decided to start a digital health company to help women as they navigate menopause.”
In 2023, she founded ThePause.AI, a Phoenix-based AI startup. After assembling key medical experts — including Mia Chorney, a specialist in women’s cardiology and genomics — Sly put together her technical team. The firm’s first hire was Nate Kelly.
Artificial intelligence creates real solutions for women’s health
Kelly is a data scientist and an alumnus of the School of Computing and Augmented Intelligence, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University. He graduated in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and then participated in the Fulton Schools Accelerated Master’s program, earning his computer science master’s degree in 2020.
After graduating, Kelly worked at a few startups before connecting with Sly, first serving as the founding data scientist for ThePause.AI and then moving into the head of product role.
He and the team have been working hard to realize Sly’s vision for an AI-powered menopause coach. The company has created Harmoni, a subscription-based mobile application that supports women through the different stages of menopause.
First, the app guides new users through a process designed to identify their stage of menopause and track their symptoms. Harmoni combines a type of AI that uses large language models, or huge stores of text-based data, with user information and expertise from the medical team at ThePause.AI. The app can then make health recommendations, assist with meal planning and engage users in supportive chats. It can even sync up with wearable devices like the Apple Watch and the Oura Ring to provide even more accurate insights.
Harmoni also tries to help women have fun by offering a bit of friendly competition. The app provides 30-day challenges that inspire women to get more sleep, limit alcohol intake and exercise each day.
Kelly is excited for the next stages of the app development where the team hopes to use AI in even more impactful ways.
“We’re collecting important data, and I think we can start going into more of the line of the predictive models of AI,” Kelly says. “Can we predict if you’re going to have a hot flash episode tonight? With user-reported data, can we predict if certain foods or alcohol are major contributors to symptoms?”
Kelly says his degree from the Fulton Schools paved the way for his current success. He also says that the research opportunities he participated in as a student helped prepare him for his role in supporting a startup.
While a student, he worked in the Interactive Robotics Laboratory assisting Heni Ben Amor, a Fulton Schools associate professor of computer science and engineering, on various research projects.
“I think being in a research lab gave me certain skill sets and especially ignited a creative spark,” Kelly says. “Research is at the edge of the domain of knowledge, and you have to be self-directed to figure out how to solve a problem. You need that same mentality in a startup.”
Accelerating growth
Earlier this month, ThePause.AI was selected for the next cohort of the Mayo Clinic and ASU MedTech Accelerator. Each year, the highly competitive program chooses a handful of promising innovators in the health care sector and connects them with important resources such as world-class scientific and engineering experts, helping to navigate regulatory pathways and tools for product commercialization.
As the company continues to grow, Sly says that she’d like to hire more Fulton Schools alumni.
“ASU students, especially those in computer science, are very different,” she says. “They’re very curious, very entrepreneurial and very focused on asking questions for advancement.”
Sly also says that AI has more to offer women’s health. Last month, the company launched in-app guided meditations to help women in menopause manage stress and anxiety, and further innovations are in the works.
“We’re going to keep talking, keep listening and keep working,” Sly says, “until women have the support they need and deserve.”
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