Freakonomics Radio 672. What Makes Judy Faulkner Run?
165 snips
Apr 24, 2026 
Judy Faulkner, founder and CEO of Epic Systems and a pioneering healthcare software entrepreneur, steps out of the shadows. She talks about building a private, mission-first giant, her unusual management style, why Epic avoids Wall Street, tensions over interoperability and antitrust, doctors’ frustrations with health records, and where A.I. could reshape medicine.
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Why Epic Says Open Integration Is Hard
- Judy Faulkner argues many antitrust complaints really demand Epic make third-party products behave like native modules inside one tightly integrated system.
- She says doing that safely across dozens of niche vendors would consume hundreds of programmers and break the consistency customers bought Epic for.
Judy Faulkner Defines A CEO By Company Success
- Judy Faulkner defines the CEO job as company success, not personal brilliance; her role is to take a stance and know who knows the answer.
- She says Epic is not profit-maximizing, spends heavily on R&D, and leaves more money with customers because they need it more.
Epic's Ten Commandments For Building A Company
- Build software that works, keep commitments, reject mediocrity, and stay frugal instead of chasing financial engineering.
- Epic codified this in its Ten Commandments, including do not go public, do not acquire, and do not take on debt for operations.
