The career of Simon Salgado, EMBA ’17, is defined by a bold willingness to embrace change and a relentless drive to make a meaningful impact in healthcare. When he joined the MIT Executive MBA program, he was a rising leader at CVS Health—a Fortune 5 company—where he spearheaded initiatives focused on diabetes management solutions. But Salgado sought more than professional growth; he wanted to cultivate the strategic mindset and entrepreneurial edge needed to influence healthcare on a larger scale.
Today, as the newly appointed President and Chief Revenue Officer at Audicus, a venture-backed, mission-driven, tele-audiology disruptor in the Hearing space, Salgado leverages his EMBA-acquired skills to drive commercial strategy, forge strategic partnerships, and expand access to high quality and affordable hearing aids for more Americans.
Why did you decide to pursue an Executive MBA, and why MIT Sloan?
Simon Salgado, EMBA '17
I had always considered getting an MBA, but early in my career, I prioritized gaining industry experience. By the time I reached my early 30s, I had built a strong career at CVS Health, but started to wonder: Is there another way to expand my skill set and accelerate my growth? I didn’t necessarily need an MBA for a promotion, but wanted to broaden my perspective and push myself further. I was curious to learn about what concepts are tried and true, where there’s evidence that they work, and how I could make myself a more complete leader.
The MIT EMBA stood out for a few reasons. First, the program allowed me to keep working while applying what I learned in real time. Second, I loved MIT’s “mens et manus”—mind and hand—philosophy. It wasn’t just about theory; it was about rolling up your sleeves and putting knowledge into action. I didn’t want to just sit in a classroom and pontificate from the ivory tower; I wanted to engage directly with real-world challenges. That really attracted me to the program, along with its strong focus on entrepreneurship. Looking back, it was one of the best decisions I made.
What impact did the program have on your leadership and career trajectory?
Before MIT, I was focused on executing within the corporate structure of CVS Health. The EMBA gave me the confidence to think bigger, to consider how I could make a broader impact. After graduating, I spent two more years at CVS, but through the MIT network, I was introduced to a former Sloan student who was leading a venture-backed health tech startup, Podimetrics. They were focused on preventing diabetic amputations, and I was intrigued by the opportunity to take on a leadership role in a smaller, more agile environment.
Making the leap from massive CVS to “small but mighty” Podimetrics was a big risk. I was the 13th employee, but it was a breath of fresh air joining an agile and high growth company and the EMBA program had prepared me to make that bet on myself. I spent more than three years there, commercializing the product in a new market and helping scale the company from 13 to 130 employees and securing multiple rounds of funding. That experience then led me to my role as Chief Revenue Officer at Welldoc, where I led commercial growth for a digital health platform that supports chronic disease management.
At Welldoc, I came full circle, where we power CVS Health’s diabetes program—the same one I helped start while I was there. It’s been incredible to reconnect with former colleagues and work together in a different capacity. This is the kind of opportunity I couldn’t have envisioned before the EMBA, but the program gave me the tools and confidence to take risks and navigate career transitions strategically.
I look forward to taking my leadership to the next level in my new President level role at Audicus.
How did the MIT EMBA reinforce your leadership style?
I took Professor Deborah Ancona’s Discovering Your Leadership Signature course, a game changer for me as a leader. Before the program, my leadership approach was largely intuitive—I had developed my style organically but hadn’t really put it into words. That course helped me define what made me unique as a leader and articulate it clearly to my teams and peers.
Another key learning was about decision-making under uncertainty. At CVS, there were established processes and layers of approvals, but in a startup, you must make quick decisions with limited data. The EMBA gave me frameworks to navigate ambiguity and think systematically.
What lessons from the EMBA program do you use most frequently in your current role?
Negotiation is a core part of what I do every day, whether it's structuring agreements with health plans or health systems, working on partnerships, or aligning incentives in complex deals. One of the biggest lessons I took from Professor Jared Curhan’s Negotiations and Influence course was the idea of expanding the pie, understanding that negotiations aren’t just about dividing value, but about creating more of it for both parties.
One example was a deal we were working on with a major health system that was hesitant about our pricing model. Instead of pushing for a lower rate or making concessions, I applied what I learned in class and reframed the discussion around value creation. We shifted the focus from product cost to patient outcomes, demonstrating how our solution would lead to cost savings in other areas, like reduced hospitalizations and fewer emergency room visits. By restructuring the agreement to include shared performance metrics, we turned what initially seemed like a price barrier into a collaborative opportunity, ultimately securing a multi-year partnership.
MIT Sloan’s mission is to develop principled, innovative leaders who improve the world. How has this influenced you?
Since completing the program, I’ve been intentional about aligning my work with my values. The EMBA program instilled in me the responsibility to use my leadership skills not just for personal career advancement but to make a real impact in healthcare. Whether it was through the leadership frameworks we studied, the entrepreneurial mindset we developed, or the network of mission-driven peers I met, the program reinforced the idea that leadership is about creating meaningful change.
