Dandy Leadership & Management

Which metric or milestone best captures strength this year — and why is it credible?

Dandy is using technology and vertically integrating to provide a best-in-class, truly digital dental lab experience. The metric that I think about is our speed of innovation, which we call “Dandy Speed.” Dandy is unparalleled at going from idea to execution, meaning we bring customers amazing new features faster than anywhere else. 

In October, we launched our own scanner, Dandy Vision, and in February, we launched the Dandy Cart, our all-in-one workstation. Judge us by how fast we’re shipping!

Where are you strongest competitively — and what proof backs that?

Customers love Dandy because of how seamless and connected the experience is. Our competitive advantage is our unique ability to build world-class technology-enabled experiences in dentistry. Take AI Scan Review, which uses machine learning to provide real-time scanning feedback to the dentist while the patient is in the chair. It prevents errors that would have traditionally required another patient visit and is unique to Dandy.

What expansion bet excites you — and which leading indicator will you watch?

I’m biased, as I lead our international expansion, but 2026 is the year Dandy goes global! We launched in the United Kingdom in January. We will launch in Australia, France and Spain very shortly and have more countries to come later this year. While we track our speed to enter new markets, the most important leading indicator we watch is how customers activate across their first five orders. This engagement metric shows the trust we’ve built through onboarding and whether customers are excited about the product.

What’s a quotable hallmark of good management on your team — and how is it reinforced weekly? 

“Expect feedback and feedback is expected. Our blood pressure should not rise when giving or receiving feedback.” 

I set this expectation with every new team member during their onboarding one-on-one with me and in our onboarding document that all new team members complete. I strive to set the tone that we have a safe and open space, and that without feedback, we are leaving tremendous opportunities for growth on the table. The managers within my team also uphold this expectation as part of their one-on-ones with their direct reports or in other mechanisms. Together, the leaders on the CAD team sync in our weekly meetings and calibrate on the feedback we are giving and receiving to make sure we are balancing our attention.

Which forum or artifact keeps priorities obvious?

Candidly, we are working on it and will always work on it. Keeping with the feedback theme above, the number-one upward feedback that CAD leadership has received from our team members is that our engineers want more visibility into long-term priorities. At the sub-team level, priorities are reviewed in sprint planning ceremonies. There are public artifacts, like our KR check-ins and in our weekly updates, which consist of five to 15 documents, where we surface what the team is working on that’s aligned with the goal. So, while we have mechanisms in place, the outcome is not ideal, based on feedback from our team. Transparency and reflection is a core principle on the team, so I don’t mind candidly saying this is something we can always do a better job at.

What part of the strategy excites people — and what metric shows progress?

Hot topic number one: provo yield. The yield metrics around the automated manufacturing processes at Provo are a major focus right now. Our quality process already ensures that what leaves the door is high-quality, but the metrics we care most about today reflect how much effort goes into getting that high-quality unit out the door. This is exciting because improving those metrics has a direct impact on the scalability of our process and ultimately our ability to grow as a company.

Hot topic number two: internal CAD and AI-assisted design platform. As part of our pursuit to build a dental prosthetic design software platform that enables Dandy to deliver the highest-quality prosthetics with an industry-leading cost structure and turnaround time for doctors, we partner heavily with the ML team. Many of these metrics are co-owned with machine learning.

There are a few key metrics we consistently keep our eyes on within our internal CAD design ecosystem and our partnership with ML: the percentage of prosthetics designed within our own software, the design time and quality outcomes for those units, and how many of those designs were AI-assisted.