AliveCor, a startup company focused on building smartphone apps and devices that monitor users' heart rhythm, selected Priya Abani to serve as CEO, according to CNBC.
Ms. Abani formerly served as the general manager and director for Alexa at Amazon. For more than three years, she developed device solutions for the voice tool. Although Amazon Alexa has begun to enter the healthcare space, Ms. Abani said she was not working on healthcare initiatives during her time at the company.
Ms. Abani's decision to transition into healthcare was a personal one.
"After losing a parent last year, I started to think about working in the healthcare segment," she told CNBC. "The idea of transforming cardiac care was really interesting to me."
At AliveCor, Ms. Abani will lead the company as it develops small electrocardiogram sensors that provide patients ways to monitor their health. The company sells its own heart rhythm monitoring device that integrates with smartphones and a band that fits onto the Apple Watch.
This is the not first time AliveCor has lured away executives from big technology companies. The company's former CEO Vic Gundotra was a top executive Google. He stepped down from AliveCor earlier this year for personal reasons, CNBC reports.