In interviews with Fortune, leaders from companies including Salesforce, Visa, Amazon, Zillow and American Express shared which apps they open first after waking up, whether to stay informed, monitor their health or organize the workday ahead.
Weather app
For some executives, the day begins with the forecast. Shibani Ahuja, senior vice president of enterprise IT strategy at Salesforce, said at the Fortune Brainstorm Tech conference in September 2025 that the weather app is the first thing she opens, joking that it helps her decide “How’s my hair gonna behave” that day.
Professional networking remains a daily habit. Visa chief marketing officer Frank Cooper III said that although he tries not to use his phone immediately after waking up, he still opens LinkedIn each morning to keep up with his network.
“I try not to check my phone when I wake up, but I’m addicted to LinkedIn, actually,” he told Fortune.
Icons of smartphone apps. Photo from Pexels
Wellness and sleep apps
Health tracking has become part of many executives’ morning routines. Tom Hale, CEO of Finnish health tech company Oura, checks his biometric data on the Oura app as soon as he wakes up. Lyft CEO David Risher follows the same habit, while Amazon Pharmacy vice president John Love told Fortune that the first thing he checks each morning is his phone’s sleep app.
A 2020 poll by the National Sleep Foundation found that half of Americans feel sleepy three to seven days a week. Cleveland Clinic sleep specialist Brian Chen said digital sleep apps cannot replace formal testing but can give users and their doctors a general picture of sleep duration and disruption.
Slack and messaging apps
Slack, now a core communication tool for many companies, is often checked shortly after waking. Danny Rensch, cofounder and chief chess officer of Chess.com, said he checks Slack first thing in the morning, as does Dana Settle, cofounder and managing partner at U.S.’s venture capital firm Greycroft.
At global design firm Gensler, co-CEO Andy Goldstein reviews his messaging apps early in the morning to decide which ones need immediate replies.
News apps
Keeping up with world events is another priority. American Express chief information officer Radhakrishnan Ravi reads the New York Times app every morning, while real estate firm Zillow vice president of AI Nicholas Stevens said he checks general news or highly technical AI coverage soon after waking.
Despite the rise of messaging platforms, email remains central for many business leaders. Brian Vecci, field chief technology officer at data security firm Varonis, told Fortune that Outlook is the first app he opens each day. Amazon Pharmacy general manager and vice president Tanvi Patel said reviewing emails early helps her plan ahead.
“Usually the Mail app to see if there’s anything I need to be thinking about while I get ready,” Patel says.