By Zeynep Young, CEO, Otto

Veterinary medicine is in a pivotal moment. Clinics are being asked to do more with less—manage higher caseloads, meet rising client expectations, and keep teams energized—all while working across tools that rarely talk to each other. The promise of AI is real, but in healthcare, it only matters if it’s practical: safe, accurate, and woven directly into the way you already work.

That’s why we’re introducing Pilot, Otto’s new AI engine that powers a system of action for clinics. Pilot isn’t about novelty for novelty’s sake. It’s the next step in a path we’ve been on for years: listening closely to veterinary teams, interpreting where the market is going, and building technology that turns everyday friction into meaningful time savings and better outcomes.

Our roots are in listening and responding to clinic needs. The company was founded months before the pandemic, and we immediately focused on telemedicine and curbside pickup/drop off to help clinics deliver critical care, while keeping staff safe. As in-person care returned, clients’ expectations around digital communications grew. We invested accordingly, evolving Otto into the most automated and highly customizable communications platform in the market—so practices could meet modern pet-owner expectations without burning out their teams. Each step reflected what clinics told us they needed most: tools that lighten the workload, not add to it. We also grew our staff, adding more Otto team members who came directly from clinics and had a deep understanding of our customers’ needs.

Otto Pilot builds on that same DNA — identifying the friction points that slow clinics down, automating the repeatable work, and keeping teams in control every step of the way.  Pilot is not a separate product; it is the intelligence layer already running beneath Otto Flow today, powering capabilities like AI Scribe and Auto Response. With Pilot now formally launched, clinics will see these AI-enabled features grow steadily more powerful over time. And because each clinic can choose how much or how little to automate, every practice determines how – and how much – Pilot assists their team.

1) Unmatched PIMS connectivity—more data in, better data out
Great AI depends on great context. Otto’s breadth and depth of PIMS integrations enable us to safely access key clinical and client signals that make automation smart: species, breed, age, visit history, reminders, medical notes, and more. Crucially, we don’t stop at reading—we write rich, structured data back to the record when it’s appropriate.

What this means in practice:

• Communications, tasks, and documentation can be triggered with the right patient and owner context—no manual lookups.
• Completed actions (e.g., a confirmed appointment, updated contact info, a documented follow-up) don’t live in a silo; they flow back into the PIMS, keeping the medical record complete.

2) Automation that respects each clinic’s workflow
Every hospital runs differently—and that’s a feature, not a bug. Over the past several years, we’ve specialized in aligning automation with each clinic’s unique workflow, including who should be notified, when escalations happen, how approvals work, and which channels (SMS, email, voice) fit best. We’ve moved far beyond the standard “rigid triggers” that are simply time-based, to smart automations that match how your team actually thinks and how your clinic actually works. Otto currently utilizes over 50,000 automations each day, keeping client communications personalized and clinic workflows efficient.

What this means in practice:

• Otto doesn’t just “suggest” tasks—it acts as a co-pilot by completing them based on your clinic protocols and handing off when human judgment is needed.
• Protocols and logic are based on your clinic: curbside vs. in-clinic flow, specialty vs. GP, single-doctor hospital vs. multi-location group, and everything in between. The platform is trained by your workflows, rules and training to be a thoughtful helper to your team.
• Teams gain quality time to interact with clients and pets—fewer reminders to chase, fewer duplicate calls, fewer sticky notes, more care.

3) The industry’s deepest data and workflow expertise
Otto has supported millions of pet owner communications across various appointment types, life stages, and clinical scenarios. That gives us unmatched expertise in best practices – what works and what doesn’t.

What this means in practice:

• Otto starts with proven templates and best-practice flows, then personalizes content based on your clinic protocols, the pet, the owner, and the context.
• Clinics can choose from the largest library of templates in the category and fine-tune copy, tone, and rules in minutes.
• Over time, Otto learns even more from your results, your responses, your rules—so your automations get sharper, not louder.

We’re building Pilot on principles that put clinics first:

• Human-in-the-loop by design. Clinicians and staff stay in control. Drafts and decisions are transparent, auditable, and easy to override. Each clinic decides how much or how little it wants AI to do for the clinic.
• Data stewardship. We respect clinic and client data. Integrations are secure, permissions are explicit, and data is used to deliver value back to the clinic.
• Outcome-oriented. The metric isn’t “messages sent.” It’s fewer phone tags, higher show-rates, faster discharge follow-ups, clearer financial conversations, and more time for medicine.
• Ethical and sustainable: It’s not only about building smarter AI—it’s about pairing innovation with accountability, offsetting our carbon footprint through our technology partners, for a healthier planet for the animals and people we serve.

• Turn intent into action. Convert a care plan into scheduled follow-ups, owner reminders, and documented notes—without re-typing.
• Communicate like a concierge. Send the right message, on the right channel, at the right time—tailored to the pet’s status, due care, and owner preference.
• Close the loop. When owners respond or tasks complete, Pilot logs the outcome back to the PIMS so nothing gets lost.
• Scale your standard of care. New associates and relief doctors benefit from built-in playbooks and consistent touchpoints.

Pilot is the engine that powers veterinary teams: a layer that understands context, suggests steps on your behalf, and frees humans to do the work only humans can do—exam rooms, care conversations, clinical judgment, and team culture.

We’re proud of how far the profession has come in a few short years. We’re even more energized by what’s next: less administrative drag, more medicine, and better experiences for teams, clients, and patients. That’s the future Otto is building—one practical automation at a time.

Want a sneak peek? Join the early access list and help shape what ships next.