ABC Fitness, one of the fitness and wellness industry’s largest software providers, has hired SweatWorks founder Mohammed “Mo” Iqbal as its chief strategy officer, the company announced Tuesday.
In the newly created role, Iqbal will establish a strategic consulting practice within ABC Fitness to advise the company on partnerships, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and general innovation, including artificial intelligence (AI). Iqbal will work closely with ABC Fitness chief product officer Finn Hegarty in the new role, the company said. He’ll be based in Arlington, Virginia.
“Mo brings a wealth of experience and a visionary approach to the fitness industry, leveraging his expertise in strategy, partnerships and technology, “ ABC Fitness CEO Bill Davis said of the appointment. “ABC Fitness is already helping over 30,000 fitness operators around the globe, and with Mo’s leadership, we will establish a strategic consulting practice that will help support our customer’s increasingly specialized needs and the wellness industry as a whole.”
Iqbal comes to ABC Fitness with high-level experience in digital innovation, consulting and entrepreneurship. He founded SweatWorks in 2012, a digital agency specializing in fitness technology that’s worked with top brands including EGYM, Flex and Pvolve.
Iqbal has served as the CEO of SweatWorks since founding the agency in 2012; he’ll now transition to a chairman role, advising SweatWorks on long-term strategy as his day-to-day focus shifts to ABC Fitness as chief strategy officer.
“There are only a few companies in the world I’d consider joining, and ABC Fitness was certainly at the top of that list,” Iqbal told ATN, praising the software firm for its large client roster of gyms and studios, and its commitment to establishing long-term partnerships with fitness operators.
In his early days on the job, Iqbal will focus on setting up the strategic consulting arm within ABC Fitness, with a particular eye on partnerships, M&A opportunities and driving innovation around AI.
“ABC Fitness is going to be diving heavily into AI in various capacities,” Iqbal said. “We already have some good partners in the AI ecosystem, and AI is going to be something you’ll be seeing and hearing a lot from ABC Fitness over the next year.”
As fitness and wellness brands race to integrate AI into their digital offerings, Iqbal believes ABC Fitness has a leg up on the competition thanks to data – the software firm’s products serve around 40 million members and over 30,000 fitness businesses across the world.
“In order to build truly good AI that’s structured in the right way, you need data,” Iqbal said. “The scale of ABC Fitness allows us to innovate in ways – especially leveraging AI – that no other company in our category can today.”
