Stefano Tazio, CEO of Builtdifferent, explains how artificial intelligence is redesigning the world of nutrition and fitness
Prevention and self-care cease to be an exclusive privilege to become a choice within everyone’s reach, breaking down the historic cost barrier. In an Italy where almost 6 out of 10 citizens do not practice sport and over 30% declare a completely sedentary lifestyle (due to frenetic pace and economic obstacles), technological innovation is rewriting the rules of personal well-being. Driving this silent revolution is artificial intelligence, capable of democratizing access to tailor-made, high-level fitness and nutrition paths, once the prerogative of a few.
Through the digitalisation and scalability of services, thehealth-tech transforms health care from an individual expense into a pillar for the sustainability of tomorrow. Among the most promising emerging companies in the sector, the Italian startup Builtdifferent stands out, supported by a community of over 150 thousand users and selected by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the prestigious Innovit program in Silicon Valley. The CEO and co-founder of Builtdifferent, Stefano Tazio, explained how the algorithm can become the best ally of human sensitivity, restoring value and accessibility to everyday life.
In Italy almost two out of three people are sedentary and the costs of personal trainers and nutritionists make prevention a “luxury for a few”, especially among young people. How does Builtdifferent’s artificial intelligence allow us to reduce costs and offer tailor-made routes accessible to all without losing professional quality?
We are living a paradox: on the one hand there is enormous media exposure to «wellness» and young people are very attentive to the issue of health; on the other, real data tells us that the majority remains sedentary. Why? Because between the desire to feel good and action there is a wall, that is, the cost of a personalized path. The solution is not to lower the fees of professionals by emptying the quality of the service, but to use technology to create efficiency on scale, what in economics we call “leverage effect”.
In Builtdifferent, the technology does the computational work. Cross-reference food databases, calculate macronutrients, structure exercise load variables. These are all repetitive operations that would take up precious time for a nutritionist. Having delegated this “mathematical labor” to the algorithm, the professional has all the time to dedicate himself to the only truly irreplaceable aspects: consultancy, empathy and the psychological adaptation of the path.
Physical inactivity costs global healthcare systems more than $27 billion per year. What role can Italian health-tech startups play in transforming prevention from a private cost into an investment for the sustainability of public health?
Even if, according to new WHO guidelines, we are increasingly moving from an interventionist approach to a preventive one, to date the National Health Service almost always intervenes when the damage has already been done. It is an approach based on cure, not prevention. The paradox is that primary prevention, i.e. eating well and exercising, has so far been a cost passed almost entirely onto the individual’s pocket. In fact, those who have the financial means pay nutritionists, personal trainers, osteopaths, physiotherapists to take care of themselves; those who don’t have it often give it up, potentially becoming sedentary and, in twenty years, a huge cost to the state coffers. Health-tech startups do not cure sick people, but facilitate access to tools to take care of their health.
In your model, the algorithm does not work by «standard protocols», but builds a dynamic system. How do we prevent artificial intelligence from generating too rigid patterns and how does the algorithm learn from the individual’s daily habits?
The secret is, paradoxically, not to ask him to “be human”. The mistake of many tech narratives is to make people believe that they can interpret the psychological complexity of a person or their daily sensations. At Builtdifferent we have drawn a clear line. Algorithms do the quantitative work: they automate the collection and processing of medical history data, formulate the plan structure, and calculate the mathematical progression of training loads.
A person’s daily life and needs, however, are not just made up of numbers, they are made up of stress, tiredness and above all unexpected events. This is where direct contact with our professionals makes the difference. In addition to the monthly structured checks, the user has daily points of contact via chat or teleconsultation with their nutritionist or trainer. That’s where real contextualization happens. The software provides the perfect architecture, but it is the consultative sensitivity of the human professional that adapts that structure to the user’s real life, making the path truly sustainable over time.
Between extreme fitness trends and social shortcuts, the “all or nothing” mentality is often promoted, with risks of injuries and eating disorders. How does Builtdifferent’s technology stand out as a safe and ethical alternative to the trends of social network algorithms?
On social media the extreme often wins: the “magic formula”, the “physical transformation in a week” and the zero carbohydrate starvation diet. Algorithms reward this content because it polarizes and captures attention. We deal with misinformation of this type every day. Unfortunately, telling the truth is commercially much more “boring”: to obtain results you need consistency, patience and you have to do your part, shortcuts simply don’t exist.
However, our technology has always been anchored in ethics and professional ethics. How does this translate into practice? With precise product choices. For example, we decided early on not to offer yet another “calorie counter” feature. Putting a tool in the hands of a user to obsessively calculate every single gram independently, without the right context, only risks generating anxiety and encouraging the development of eating disorders. We do the opposite: we deliver a pre-structured food plan, exactly as a nutritionist would do in his office. Especially for those starting from scratch, the first few weeks include a real nutrition education journey.
She argues that technology should drive scalability, but that value lies in human interpretation and sensitivity. How does the synergy between artificial intelligence and human professionals materialize in your platform?
Usually, when we talk about these platforms, we only look at the user interface. In reality, much of the innovation happens in our back office. Historically, a professional wastes an infinite amount of time jumping between Excel sheets, WhatsApp and medical records. We have created a centralized ecosystem in which algorithms automate repetitive processes and Artificial Intelligence does the synthesis work: it aggregates data, progress and interactions, eliminating the dispersion of information.
Having automated this management complexity, our professionals can focus on the true added value: the training-nutrition combination. The technology centralizes the user’s knowledge, allowing not only to interact with him in a targeted way, but ensuring that the nutritionist and trainer can collaborate and discuss the same path in real time. The algorithm handles the volume of data, human professionals ensure cross-interpretation to achieve desired objectives and results.
