{"id":192253,"date":"2025-11-21T08:41:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T08:41:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/192253\/"},"modified":"2025-11-21T08:41:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T08:41:10","slug":"it-gave-us-the-ick-seeing-zuckerberg-cosy-up-to-trump-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/192253\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It gave us the ick, seeing Zuckerberg cosy up to Trump\u2019 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

With trees, baubles and tinsel, Christmas hasn\u2019t arrived so much as kicked in the door of the usually quiet Dublin<\/a> city centre hotel lounge where Medihive<\/a> chief executive and former Facebook Ireland boss Gareth Lambe<\/a> has agreed to meet me.<\/p>\n

Festive elevator muzak threatens to overwhelm the voice recorder on the table in front of us. All of this less than two weeks after Halloween. <\/p>\n

Lambe has been busy since he departed Facebook owner Meta<\/a> in 2022 after 10 years, most of it spent at the helm of the tech giant\u2019s Irish unit. <\/p>\n

\u201cI planned it for a long time,\u201d he says of his decision to step down. \u201cI gave them a lot of notice and I took over a year off \u2013 a year and four months.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, the transition must have been difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really looking forward to it, but it turns out you can\u2019t just switch the cogs off from working. I probably got a bit impatient for a while. I can tell you, my wife got impatient with me being in the house.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

We\u2019re growing our business at 25 per cent year on year, but at the highest gross margins in the industry because of our platform efficiencies<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Small wonder he found it difficult to switch off. Lambe describes his more than 15-year executive career in the tech sector \u2013 first at PigsBack.com and then PayPal, before heading up Facebook\u2019s European headquarters in Dublin \u2013 as a \u201crollercoaster\u201d of \u201ccrazy hours, travelling a lot, with a lot of responsibilities\u201d. <\/p>\n

During his tenure at Facebook Ireland, the social media giant expanded its Irish headcount from 300 to 3,000, with an additional 6,000 or so contractors. Political controversies, data protection breaches and fines, and a global pandemic were just some of the major issues Lambe and Meta\u2019s executive team at large had to navigate during that time. <\/p>\n

Since his departure, Meta has waded deeper into controversy, particularly on the other side of the Atlantic where Facebook co-founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has, along with the other Big Tech barons, backed US president Donald Trump\u2019s second term. Lambe said it was jarring to see Zuck\u2019s appearance at Trump\u2019s inauguration last January.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s safe to say it gave us a bit of the ick when we saw Zuckerberg, Bezos and all these guys kind of cosy up to Trump,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I think, as ever with this, there\u2019s a kind of nuance to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The subtlety, he says, is that Zuckerberg is a \u201cprogressive liberal\u201d and a Democrat voter, \u201cbut where he falls into the Maga camp is on freedom of speech\u201d. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not all purely \u201cideological\u201d, Lambe concedes. \u201cThe bit that probably is a bit more opportunistic is that they like the way Trump is training his guns on Europe and the regulation, and putting pressure on them, saying that they\u2019re targeting [US companies]. That is opportunistic and helpful to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Happily for him, Lambe isn\u2019t paid to sweat the details of Big Tech and its many moving parts any more.<\/p>\n

After his brief sabbatical, he re-emerged on the public radar in September 2023 as the new chief executive of medical technology company Medihive. Earlier that year, the company made headlines, raising \u20ac7 million in a funding round led by US-Australian medical device giant ResMed that valued the business at a reported \u20ac62 million<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It was a natural choice for Lambe, who says he was keen to join a growth-stage company. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to go back to the bootstrapped start-up,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I also didn\u2019t want something [like a] big multinational. So, it hit the right note for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Covid bulldozed through many sacred cows about what can and can\u2019t be done online<\/p>\n

\u2014 \u00a0Gareth Lambe<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are two planks to the Medihive business, the first and better-known of which is the telemedicine platform Webdoctor. The second element, which Lambe describes as the \u201ccore\u201d of the company\u2019s business, is the software services it provides to other companies indluding ResMed, Axa Health and the pharmacy group Phoenix.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the technology around delivering clinical experiences to patients and doctors,\u201d he explains, in areas such as waiting-list management, patient workflows and scheduling. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat side of the business is going very well,\u201d says Lambe. \u201cGlobally, there\u2019s been huge growth [within health technology] in what they call provider operations \u2013 the front and back-end administrative side of delivering services. That\u2019s our wheelhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lambe isn\u2019t exaggerating the subsector\u2019s growth. A recent Silicon Valley Bank report indicated that provider operations companies have raised $5.5 billion globally so far this year, with another $3 billion or so expected by the end of 2025. It now accounts for about 44 per cent of overall health-tech investment, up from about 19 per cent four years ago, according to the report. <\/p>\n

Against this backdrop, Medihive has hit \u201cvery important financial milestones\u201d recently, Lambe says. \u201cWe\u2019re growing our business at 25 per cent year on year, but at the highest gross margins in the industry because of our platform efficiencies. And we are profitable this year, which is really important.\u201d <\/p>\n

Combined with another \u20ac5 million Medihive raised earlier this year, it means the business has \u201cgood optionality\u201d heading into 2026, according to Lambe. That could be important for a company looking to grow through acquisition, something that is very much on the cards, he admits. But if there\u2019s anything specific in the pipeline, he isn\u2019t showing his hand just yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re at an inflection point now with the revenue milestones we\u2019ve hit and the profitability,\u201d he says. \u201cWe are currently looking at our options for step-changing the business, whether that\u2019s taking in new investment, M&A etc.\u201d <\/p>\n

Medihive\u2019s software business has an international reach. Webdoctor\u2019s customer base, on the other hand, is \u201cpredominantly\u201d Irish, Lambe says. He believes there remains \u201chuge runway\u201d for growth domestically, and \u201ceven in time, through other jurisdictions, more likely through M&A\u201d. <\/p>\n

On the home front, Lambe sees Webdoctor as filling an important gap in the Irish healthcare system, specifically the chronic and worsening shortage of general practitioners. As a one-for-one replacement for GP consultations, telemedicine has its limitations and also its sceptics. <\/p>\n

There are still \u201csome suboptimal telemedicine operators out there, not just in Ireland, but abroad\u201d, with whom Lambe says he \u201cwouldn\u2019t be proud to work\u201d. But scepticism in the technology has waned. Covid \u201cbulldozed through many sacred cows about what can and can\u2019t be done online\u201d, he says. <\/p>\n

Trust is key for companies operating in the space, and the fact that Webdoctor has the highest Trustpilot score of any of its rivals is something Lambe and the company are keen to highlight. <\/p>\n

The score is really a \u201cproxy\u201d for the overall quality of its telehealth service, Lambe argues, the first pillar of which is the quality of the doctors it works with. Despite the dearth of GPs in the Republic, \u201cwe still refuse four out of every five doctors we interview\u201d, he says, \u201cand we see them showing up in other practices and online players\u201d.<\/p>\n

Medihive has invested heavily in its technology to provide same-day services to patients, which happens in 80 per cent of cases, Lambe says. The other 20 per cent are served within one day, \u201cwith no wait time\u201d. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0GP visits decline as patients embrace telemedicineOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Still, there are limitations. \u201cWe\u2019re not the same as bricks and mortar,\u201d Lambe says. \u201cWe don\u2019t offer as full a service. We do offer about 80 per cent of what you can get in a normal GP practice. When the business was launched 10 years ago, that was maybe 50 per cent, so that\u2019s improving all the time through technology, home diagnostic kits, things like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Webdoctor, he says, has now taken \u201ca million consultations off a creaking system\u201d in which \u201ca lot of people can\u2019t get a GP at all\u201d.<\/p>\n

Like the thorny question of social media platform regulation, there are no silver bullets when it comes to solving the perma-crisis in Ireland\u2019s healthcare system, Lambe believes, but he recognises that the \u201cpublic\u2019s patience is running out\u201d rapidly. <\/p>\n

\u201cI suppose, being closer to this, what I\u2019m seeing are the huge benefits and progress we can get from embracing technology,\u201d he says. \u201cEmbracing technology doesn\u2019t mean a reduction in quality or service if done right.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Webdoctor, and Medihive more broadly, are examples of that potential, doubts remain over whether his former employer can deliver on quality.<\/p>\n

Public perception of Big Tech has been deteriorating drastically in recent years as the large platforms struggle to address issues such as misinformation, privacy concerns and child protection, to name just a few. A poll conducted by US think tank the Brookings Institution in 2023 found plunging levels of faith in tech giants such as Facebook, Amazon and Google, \u201cat least partially due to perceptions of how tech companies use and secure private information from individuals\u201d. <\/p>\n

Lambe says public opinion of Big Tech has gone through \u201ca few changes\u201d over the years. \u201cIn the early days of your Metas and Googles, it was incredibly exciting,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThen there was this period of massive hostility, I would say, from particular media and politicians, [and] by implication, the public.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s coming around a bit now, whereby I think people are sort of finding new things to be worried about.\u201d<\/p>\n

That includes artificial intelligence (AI) and the rise of the \u201cdeepfake\u201d and its impact on the sophistication of disinformation disseminated on social media, about which Lambe is quite concerned. \u201cI think young people are more attuned to it,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s actually older people who are less attuned to it … But either way, I don\u2019t know how we\u2019re going to get around it. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0We should all be worried by deep fake technologyOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s going to be an ask, I think, of tech companies to mark or signal if something is AI. I don\u2019t know that that\u2019s ever going to be 100 per cent achievable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Somewhere within this matrix of EU regulation, tech and Maga sits Ireland and its highly exposed economy. Looking beyond the next three years of Trump, Lambe \u2013 a former president of the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland \u2013 says there is a troubling trend emerging. <\/p>\n

\u201cI do think Irish influence in the US and Washington is unquestionably diminishing,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s demographics as well as politics. So, it might mean that we need to change our approach a little bit, not rely on friendship and be a little more functional and even transactional.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regardless of who takes the White House or Congress over the next few years, the lasting impact of the Trump era will be this \u201cslightly more transactional, tit-for-tat\u201d approach to US foreign and trade policy, Lambe thinks, \u201cbecause I think Americans of all political persuasions are seeing that there are some results from it\u201d. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Irish influence in the US is waning, says new report from influential think-tankOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

It\u2019s less about Ireland specifically and more about the deteriorating relationship between the US and the EU, he says. The perception is that US technology is being \u201ctargeted\u201d by European regulation. <\/p>\n

\u201cI do think we need to be careful there,\u201d Lambe says, before adding: \u201cI want to be clear, I am happy and proud that Europe is taking a lead on regulation of Big Tech, but it can\u2019t be at the expense of innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

CV<\/p>\n

Name:<\/b> Gareth Lambe<\/p>\n

Age:<\/b> 52<\/p>\n

Position: <\/b>Chief executive, Medihive<\/p>\n

Lives: <\/b>Monkstown, Dublin<\/p>\n

Hobbies: <\/b>Sports junkie, especially football and rugby, but most sports really. I love watching, attending and playing<\/p>\n

Family:<\/b> His wife, Deirdre McKnight, is a solicitor and they have three teenage children, Conor, Aisling and Emma<\/p>\n

Something you might expect: <\/b>\u201cI like to invest in Irish start-ups; it\u2019s business and pleasure in one\u201d<\/p>\n

Something that might surprise: <\/b>\u201cI am co-owner of ThreeState gym in Monkstown, with professional rugby player Andrew Porter and dietitian Josh Percival\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With trees, baubles and tinsel, Christmas hasn\u2019t arrived so much as kicked in the door of the usually…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":192254,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[107084,79,356,18,2219,877,107083,19,17,1721,1722],"class_list":{"0":"post-192253","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-american-chamber-of-commerce-ireland","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-donald-trump","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-european-union","13":"tag-facebook","14":"tag-gareth-lambe","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-mark-zuckerberg","18":"tag-meta"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115586798949065329","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192253\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/192254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}