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Newsweek
6 days ago
- Health
- Newsweek
Joint Commission CEO Breaks Down New AI Certification
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. This is a preview of Access Health—Tap here to get this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox. I've settled on my word of the week: transparency. Over the last seven days, my schedule has looked like a patchwork quilt, spanning several distinct sectors of the health care industry. But from the government's roundtable on prior authorization reform to my conversation with Joint Commission CEO Dr. Jonathan Perlin (read on for more on both of those), transparency has emerged as a common thread. Health systems and insurance companies must be transparent with one another; health systems and insurance companies must be transparent with patients. And, of course, health care companies must be transparent with their employees and customers—especially when deploying AI. Monday through Wednesday, many of my colleagues were in sunny Sonoma, California, for Newsweek's cross-industry AI Impact Summit. Senior Reporters Lauren Giella and Katherine Fung kept eyes on the health care side of the agenda, which included speakers from Kaiser Permanente, Hospital for Special Surgery, AdventHealth and UMass Medical. "Transparency was a big theme for AI adoption in health care—not only when dealing with medical records and personal data, but also for why and how organizations are implementing automation tools," Giella wrote. Dr. Allen Chang, ACMIO at UMass Medical, warned the audience not to neglect employees' concerns about losing jobs to AI, nodding to last year's strike by the California Nurses Association. "A lot of us say that we're not going to be replaced by AI, we want to believe that, but in medicine, we can't just invoke this and expect that to address the underlying drivers as to why people are asking about this," Chang said on Tuesday's health care panel. What could those underlying drivers be? I found some clues in Wolters Kluwer Health's new generative AI readiness report, released at the start of the month. Their survey of health care stakeholders found that 76 percent cite "reducing clinician burnout" as a major priority, and 85 percent say "recruiting/retaining nursing staff" is top of mind. But only 45 percent of nurses responded "yes" when asked if generative AI can reduce clinician burnout. I asked Dr. Peter Bonis, chief medical officer at Wolters Kluwer Health, to help me make sense of that gap—or "disconnect," as he called it. "Our survey is indicating that there's an opportunity to work with allied health professionals and clinicians to deeply understand their needs and where some of these technologies can help; to have them on participatory boards as they themselves get educated on what these tools can do; and to select these tools so that they are optimizing their workflows, and they have agency in this process," he said. I've been reporting on a lot of AI-related "disconnects" lately, both within health systems' AI deployment efforts and in external communications with vendors. I asked Bonis: Do these lapses indicate that we're taking the wrong approach to AI deployment in the health care industry? He told me that this isn't exclusive to the health care industry, and that every business is wrestling with the same sort of issues. (Phew.) But, he acknowledged, health care is a high-stakes game, and it's important to deploy AI safely (and transparently) for the benefit of employees, patient care and overall health equity. He believes health systems will succeed if they focus on patient care and bolster that foundation with sound operations and a successful business model. "The fusion of those two directives is what creates a future-ready health care system that understands how to use these advanced technologies to advance their operations—to do that thoughtfully—and then to have a coherent pathway to start to use these tools to advance that higher stakes domain," Bonis said, "and that's the journey that we're on." I also spoke with Dr. Perlin, head of the Joint Commission, about that journey to a "coherent" AI pathway. Read on to the Pulse Check section to see what he said. Essential Reading Aiming to improve the prior authorization process, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz hosted a roundtable of health insurance executives and stakeholders on Monday. on Monday. Attendees agreed to six reforms: (1) standardizing electronic prior auth submissions, (2) reducing the volume of services that require prior auth, (3) honoring existing approvals during insurance transitions, (4) improving transparency and communication around decisions, (5) implementing real-time approvals for most requests by 2027 and (6) ensuring medical professionals review all denials. (1) standardizing electronic prior auth submissions, (2) reducing the volume of services that require prior auth, (3) honoring existing approvals during insurance transitions, (4) improving transparency and communication around decisions, (5) implementing real-time approvals for most requests by 2027 and (6) ensuring medical professionals review all denials. These companies were included in the discussion: Aetna, AHIP, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Centene Corporation, The Cigna Group, Elevance Health, GuideWell, Highmark Health, Humana, Kaiser Permanente and UnitedHealthcare. Together, they represent about 75 percent of Americans with commercial or Medicare Advantage plans. The Lown Institute has released its highly anticipated index of America's Most Socially Responsible Hospitals. This year's honor roll comes at a critical time, as hospitals work to maintain equitable care amid potential Medicaid cuts, rising costs and ongoing workforce challenges. Duke Regional Hospital topped this year's acute care ranking, marking its fifth year on the list. Eli Lilly's once-weekly insulin efsitora displayed promising results in Phase 3 clinical trials, reducing A1C and meeting safety standards for adults with Type 2 diabetes, according to detailed datapublished by the company this week. The new drug hopes to simplify diabetes management by reducing the frequency of insulin injections. Diabetes is becoming more prevalent in the United States , affecting nearly 15 percent of adults. By the end of 2025, Eli Lilly plans to submit the drug to global regulatory agencies for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. reducing A1C and meeting safety standards for adults with Type 2 diabetes, according to detailed datapublished by the company this week. The new drug hopes to simplify diabetes management by reducing the frequency of insulin injections. Artisight, the NVIDIA-backed health tech company specializing in AI-powered "smart hospital" infrastructure, announced a $40 million investment from a dozen health systems. It's an unprecedented level of support from some of the nation's largest, most forefront integrated systems and academic medical centers. (The list of names was reviewed by Newsweek but is not being released to the public at this time.) Pulse Check Dr. Jonathan Perlin is president and CEO of the Joint Commission. Dr. Jonathan Perlin is president and CEO of the Joint Commission. Joint Commission If you've been paying attention to the news lately, you may have had the same question that I did: What on earth is going on at the Joint Commission?The independent health care accreditation and certification organization has launched a couple high-profile, high-tech partnerships in recent weeks. First, it announced a long-term relationship with Palantir, intending to use the company's AI platform to streamline accreditation/certification processes. Then, it joined forces with the Coalition for Health AI to establish a "suite" of AI best practices playbooks and a new certification for hospitals. Now, if you work at a hospital, you likely live by the Joint Commission's standards. That's why I called Dr. Jonathan Perlin, president and CEO of The Joint Commission, last Friday. There was a bit of "geeking out about AI," as Perlin put it. But mostly, we discussed the recent CHAI partnership—and what it could mean for quality/safety standards and hospital certifications. Editor's Note: Responses are lightly edited for length and clarity. AI is so different from other components used to assess quality. Each health system uses it in a unique way, and applications vary between hospitals, departments and even patient populations. "Good AI" can be tough to quantify. How do you plan to create a standard with this new certification program? CHAI's lane is really the technology itself, and ours is the organization's governance process for the responsible use of that. You may have seen our Responsible Use of Health Data Certification that has six attributes, and this is really an extension of that. What we anticipate—and this is a work in progress—is that building from the Responsible Use of Health Data [Certification], there'd be requirements for de-identification or privacy that could be data controls for security. There should be some mechanism for transparency with patients. Most importantly, there would be like an oversight or governance structure that addresses the algorithm's or the AI's performance. The notion is that an organization can look to CHAI and to the market to identify an AI tool, but it has to have an active and ongoing governance process to look at the performance of that tool in their environment. To give an example, I think there are three essential components. One is technical: Is [the tool] valid and reliable in a sort of mathematical sense? Second, is it valid and reliable clinically? Does it present the right clinical information? And third, is it valid and reliable in a demographic sense, that you're not applying an AI trained specifically for detection of sepsis in adults to children. To make that clear, if CHAI's lane is really the external performance of the algorithm and the assurance aspects outside of health care, the way we do this [new certification] is not specifically directed at the certification of the AI tool, but the certification of process for the organization's own governance and oversight of the use responsible use of that AI tool. Will this certification assess tools that health systems developed internally, vendor tools that they deploy, or a combination of both? What else will you be looking at within each hospital's AI ecosystem? We anticipate that the certification, which would be given to health care organizations, would be based on the governance structure and the oversight structure I described [above]. We expect it would be applied both to homegrown and off-the-shelf technologies. Our focus is on continuous governance. Let me give an example that's literally closer to home. We just finished a renovation [at my house], and we had an electrical inspection after the work was completed. The wiring of the house is not going to change over time, but the wiring of AI, if it's retrained, if it drifts, etc., may change over time—so the organization needs to have a mechanism for periodic review of the performance of its "electrical system," to use the analogy, not just at inception, but periodically, or frankly, for the life of the use of that technology. Any advice for health systems that are currently building up their AI governance structures, to ensure they're on the right path ahead of the Joint Commission and CHAI's certification? Take a look at our Responsible Use of Health Data Certification , because it really provides insight into the concepts of governance as the regulatory frameworks are emerging. Despite the fact that device drug approvals are static, they are viewing the use of device (good outcomes or bad) as the responsibility of the clinicians and health care organizations that use those. Having come from operations and large systems myself, it's really important to have a set of externally validated standards that demonstrate what "good" looks like for responsible governance and oversight. I think organizations like ours are hugely excited about the potential, but we want to set up common standards to assure that we realize that potential responsibly. If you liked this sneak peek, remember to check out next week's edition, which will include more of my interview with Perlin. C-Suite Shuffles Joseph Impicciche is retiring as CEO of Ascension, after six years at the helm of the St. Louis-based system. Eduardo Conrado, the health system's current president, will become its new CEO on January 1, 2026. Conrado was named to Ascension's executive team in 2018, after five years on its board of directors. Throughout his tenure, he has also served as the system's chief digital officer and chief strategy and innovation officer. The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) has selected Dr. John Marymont as its next provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. Currently, he serves as vice president for medical affairs and dean of the medical college at the University of South Alabama. Lovelace Health System is undergoing its fourth CEO change since 2022, the Albuquerque Journal reported. President and CEO Troy Greer resigned last week after two years in the role. The health system—one of the largest in New Mexico—declined to comment on his exit. Executive Edge Dr. Leigh Vinocur is a thought leader on stress management amongst health care professionals. Dr. Leigh Vinocur is a thought leader on stress management amongst health care professionals. Dr. Leigh Vinocur Dr. Leigh Vinocur tells me that she considers herself a "lifelong learner." She's spent her career learning different elements of medicine, starting as a urology resident, becoming a board-certified emergency physician and serving as chief medical director for a major health system, overseeing more than 100 providers in the mid-Atlantic region. Now, she is the medical director of a men's health clinic and works part-time in clinical trials at a nutraceutical company. But throughout her working life, Vinocur has also learned a great deal about stress. After leaving her big-box health care role, she dealt with a "corporate medicine hangover." On July 12, she's releasing a book about her journey: Never Let Them See You Sweat: How Science Can Help Us Harness Stress for Success. This week, I connected with Vinocur to learn what her research—and personal experiences—taught her about stress in the health care setting. Here's what she told me: Editor's Note: Responses are lightly edited for length and clarity. "Today, in this political climate, we're seeing changes to health care, erosion of public health. It's making it even more difficult [to work in health care leadership]. There were always issues as a physician, fighting with insurance companies—but as physician executives, it's that kind of double bind that they're in, because they're caregivers, but they're administrators. They have rules they're enforcing, fiscal and institutional constraints, but they have to put their patients first, too. And it's stressful. "Not all stress is always horrible and bad. It gets you to your tiptop performance, you know. Stress was an evolutionary development and advantage to keep us safe. If you were out there being chased by a predator, all those reactions from the hypothalamus, the pituitary, the adrenal release the cascade of hormones for that fight or flight. Whether you're a runner in the Olympics standing in the blocks, or whether you're an ER doctor waiting in the resuscitation room for those accident victims to come in, that little boost of stress gets you at your top performance. It's just this continued stress that is so challenging. "I tell executive leaders that they need some buffer in between meetings. You need to create little micro-breaks during the day that are just for you to calm down. Whether that's meditation (there are apps on our watches and our phones), deep breathing (like box breathing, where you inhale through your nose for four seconds, hold it for four seconds and exhale for four seconds through your mouth), or leadership mentoring (where you have open dialogue and create a safe space to talk about some of the ethical dilemmas you may be facing). Whether that's meditation (there are apps on our watches and our phones), deep breathing (like box breathing, where you inhale through your nose for four seconds, hold it for four seconds and exhale for four seconds through your mouth), or leadership mentoring (where you have open dialogue and create a safe space to talk about some of the ethical dilemmas you may be facing). "All throughout the book, there are discussions on things you can do in nature, like 'forest bathing.' Study after study says that if you can get to a green space, like a park, that can lower your blood pressure. Just being out in nature, getting outside—you don't even have to exercise—can be a great relief." This is a preview of Access Health—Tap here to get this newsletter delivered straight to your inbox.
Newsweek
7 days ago
- Business
- Newsweek
AI Impact Summit 2025: Attendees Reflect On Three-Day Tech Event in Sonoma
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. After three days of cross-industry conversations and many glasses of California wine, attendees of Newsweek's inaugural AI Impact Summit reflected on their biggest takeaways from the event in Sonoma. Many admired the accessibility of the tech event, which featured leaders from health care, government, finance and retail. "Unlike a lot of the conferences I've been to in the past, there were a lot of concepts that were much easier to grasp," Lijay Shih, the vice president of technology at Wells Fargo, told Newsweek on Wednesday. "It's interesting to see how people can take this type of technology and apply them to so many different fields and sectors." Shih pointed over to Dr. Wei-Cheng Chen, the chief secretary of the China Medical University Hospital, as an example. "It's quite meaningful to be here in a beautiful place with good weather and good wine," Chen said while grabbing coffee with Shih post-summit. "I was able to make more global connections." Sonoma, CA - AI Impact Summit attendees converse over breakfast at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 Sonoma, CA - AI Impact Summit attendees converse over breakfast at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 NICK OTTO Chen, who traveled to Sonoma from Taiwan, said the greatest lesson he learned over the last three days was that "the human is most important." "You can use AI, but why are we doing that? What is our purpose? What is the value of the human?" he remarked. "We will rethink the position of the human." Before the final panels of the summit began, attendees gathered for one last breakfast on the lawn, where they were offered breakfast burritos, overnight oats and freshly squeezed juices from local farms. "It's a lovely venue," Ben Lock, the director of production strategy at Asteria, told Newsweek over muffins. "It creates a nice atmosphere for people to socialize, to network and to learn a bit more about each other." Sonoma, CA - AI Impact Summit attendees converse over breakfast at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 Sonoma, CA - AI Impact Summit attendees converse over breakfast at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 NICK OTTO Lock admired the opportunity to meet with leaders in other sectors, citing it as a source of inspiration for new ideas in his own field. "People in our industry get a little bit blinkered to how things are going on in the rest of the world," Lock said. "Coming here, I realize the impact of AI across so many industries. We're all dealing with similar opportunities and similar challenges. We'll have to get our heads together and figure out how to solve some of it together." Lock was one of the panelists who spoke at Tuesday's "Lights, Camera, Algorithm: AI in Film Making" session. On Wednesday, he said he appreciated how engaged the audience was and thanked them for asking such "thought-provoking questions." Sonoma, CA - AI Impact Summit attendees converse over breakfast at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 Sonoma, CA - AI Impact Summit attendees converse over breakfast at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Wednesday, June 25, 2025 NICK OTTO "They come from different industries, so they look at things in a different way," he said. "It was very useful for me to be able to interpret the question and then, apply it back to my industry. It enabled me to think about things maybe I hadn't thought about before. Talking to people here has sparked a lot of ideas." Sitting at Lock's breakfast table was Rebecca Silberbush, the deputy director of development at Perfect Corp. Perfect Corp. was recognized for its Real-Time Skin Analysis tool as part of Newsweek's inaugural AI Impact Awards. Before heading into the pavilion at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, Silberbush caught up with Newsweek to debrief days one and two of the summit. Sonoma, CA - AI Impact Summit attendees converse over breakfast at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Sonoma, CA - AI Impact Summit attendees converse over breakfast at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. NICK OTTO "It was super interesting and educational to hear how a lot of health care leaders and even The Weather Channel is incorporating AI," Silberbush said from inside the white tent as the audience waited for opening remarks. Sheri Bachstein, the president of The Weather Company, participated in a one-on-one conversation with Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Jennifer H. Cunningham on Tuesday. "We work mostly with consumers, but they're using AI to make educational predictions on weather and to help people on informed decisions about evacuating," Silberbush told Newsweek. She added that the summit was a good opportunity to connect with other leaders in the AI space, saying that, "I met a bunch of people at lunch yesterday, and then at the cocktail reception too." Perfect Corp., a software company that focuses on AI and AR in the beauty and fashion industries, took home the Best Outcomes, Consumer Experience award. The full list of AI Impact winners can be found here. Sonoma, CA - Attendees exit the venue as the 2025 AI Impact Summit comes to a close at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Sonoma, CA - Attendees exit the venue as the 2025 AI Impact Summit comes to a close at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. NICK OTTO Attendees who stayed for the final day of the summit had the chance to listen in on three panels, including the "Navigating the Regulatory Maze: Enhancing AI Governance, Privacy and Cybersecurity" session, which brought together Rob Teel, the chief technology officer for the state of Oklahoma, and Benjamin Maxim, the chief innovation officer for the Michigan State University Federal Credit Union. Shih enjoyed listening to Teel talk about applying AI to more routine tasks within the public sector, saying that it encouraged him to find new ways to implement new capabilities in his own work. "The state of Oklahoma can identify, quantify, and then locate potholes as their trucks are just driving over the road, and that's something that would typically require a 311 call and a ticket," Shih said. "Instead, they used AI to automate this process." "So, it challenged me. What other boring and mundane things am I not using AI for?" he asked. "It's been great to get a chance to hear how other people are using these technologies and then talk to them afterwards." Missed out on our other summit coverage? Catch up on the festivities from day one here and day two here. Newsweek will host the New Destinations Summit in London on July 3 and the Women's Global Impact Forum at the office in New York City on August 5. To learn more about Newsweek's upcoming programming, visit the Events page here.
Newsweek
7 days ago
- Business
- Newsweek
AI Impact Summit 2025: Editors Recap 5 Main Takeaways of Event
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. There is no doubt that artificial intelligence is going to impact every industry worldwide. During Newsweek's AI Impact Summit in Sonoma, California, leaders from various businesses gathered to better understand AI use cases and the best ways to implement, govern and scale AI tools. Day three of the summit had the shortest programming, but it offered some of the most important insights gathered from the entire event. To close out, Newsweek's Editorial Director of Nexus Gabriel Snyder and contributing editor Marcus Weldon shared the five main takeaways they learned from the panels and discussions over the last three days. AI Puts a Premium on Curiosity and Automates the Mundane "So one example for this one was our entertainment panel and how the filmmakers are using AI to automate the mundane development process and create more quickly," Snyder said. Weldon also added that in the health care panels, conversations explored how drug discovery and clinicians can explore pathways to come up with new treatment plans. Sonoma, CA - Newsweek's Marcus Weldon and Gabriel Snyder present their top five takeaways from the AI Impact Summit at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. Sonoma, CA - Newsweek's Marcus Weldon and Gabriel Snyder present their top five takeaways from the AI Impact Summit at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. NICK OTTO AI Has to Humanize Health Care and Personalize Engagement in General "Not only were many of the health care panelists talking about how ambient scribes and other AI tools were letting doctors be with their patients and bringing back the human touch into health care. But we also heard that from the representatives from Denver and Charlotte and how they're using AI to make city services more humanized," Snyder said. "And I think that's really interesting balance. When we think of AI, we think of it as a machine. It obviously is, but it's often by doing those mundane tasks and that we talked about first, it's opening up more space and energy for things that are uniquely human. And I think that's a really critical thing to keep in mind with all of these applications." Instacart's Daniel Danker spoke during his panel Tuesday about personalizing the shopping experience to take the cognitive load off users to start planning not only shopping lists but meal plans. In a Wednesday panel, Sears KAIros CEO Srini Kandala said call centers using AI agents have better access to materials to provide better recommendations for customers. AI Has the Power to Democratize Expertise and Also Value Unique Human Expertise "So there's a danger in that democratizing expertise, that it means that everyone will think of themselves as an equivalent expert," Weldon said. "I think it raises the foundational level." He said the average level of knowledge is going up by interaction with these systems and, on top of that, the unique human creativity remains because we understand the world in a certain way that can't be replicated by machines. Synder added that the "critical ingredient" for problem solving is always going to be the human expertise, saying – "there is no substitute for that." Sonoma, CA - Newsweek's Marcus Weldon and Gabriel Snyder present their top five takeaways from the AI Impact Summit at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. This marked the end... Sonoma, CA - Newsweek's Marcus Weldon and Gabriel Snyder present their top five takeaways from the AI Impact Summit at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. This marked the end of the 2025 Summit. More NICK OTTO AI Adoption Should Focus on the End-to-end Value Created; Efficiency and Cost Savings Are Byproducts Snyder said this theme came up several times during the summit, including in the return on investment discussion that morning. "I think the thing that I really learned here was the importance of always thinking about the accuracy of and the measurement of these tools, that these are not investments that you set and forget, that there is an active element of making sure that they're doing what you're expecting, that you're catching the things that it shouldn't be doing and that that element is as important as whatever you're doing on the front end to build," he said. Weldon added that most people agree that efficiency and cost savings will happen, but shouldn't be the goal. The goal should be about value creation. In the panel with Oklahoma CTO Rob Teel and Banjamin Maxim, the chief innovation officer at Michigan State University Federal Credit Union, the panelists stressed the importance of focusing on the "why" we are doing something and then executing "how" in order to drive efficiencies. Responsible AI Is About Transparency and Privacy But Also Continuous Validation and Verification Weldon said transparency means many things when dealing with AI tools: It means disclosing what the data is based on, announcing the presence of AI, protecting privacy and continuous validation and verification. "For everything we generate, we need to validate," he said. "So this idea of constantly testing, evaluating, verifying that the answer is valid, which is a form of transparency, and then bounding that for each personalized context." Sonoma, CA - Michigan State University Federal Credit Union CIO Benjamin Maxim and State of Oklahoma CTO Rob Teel speak with Newsweek contributor Chuck Martin in the "Navigating the Regulatory Maze: Enhancing AI Governance, Privacy... Sonoma, CA - Michigan State University Federal Credit Union CIO Benjamin Maxim and State of Oklahoma CTO Rob Teel speak with Newsweek contributor Chuck Martin in the "Navigating the Regulatory Maze: Enhancing AI Governance, Privacy and Cybersecurity" panel during the AI Impact Summit at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Wednesday, June 25, 2025. More NICK OTTO Earlier that morning, there were three panel discussions about how to measure return on investment, measure success and ensure regulatory compliance. Dr. Girish N. Nadkarni of Mount Sinai highlighted how AI can boost both patient and clinician experience in health systems – increasing returns for follow-up care for patients and decreasing burnout that will lead to greater employee retention. With these great improvements to operations, Nadkarni did note that there should be measures for ROI and safety and ethical standards. "I truly believe we are going to get to a point in health care where AI is going to become a part of the care team and not using AI will open up liability," he said. "I think there is something to be said about the health system that wants to use AI in a safe, effective, ethical and responsible manner." Sachi Desai from Climate talked about using automation to help farmers with crop growth, while Maxim and Teel shared how they are each working with partners in both the public and private sectors to innovate and comply with necessary regulations. Newsweek will host the New Destinations Summit in London on July 3 and the Women's Global Impact Forum at the office in New York City on August 5. To learn more about Newsweek's upcoming programming, visit the Events page here.
Newsweek
25-06-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
AI Impact Summit 2025: Watch Attendees Debate and Explore Demos on Day Two
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Attendees of Newsweek's AI Impact Summit returned for a second day of insightful conversations on Tuesday as speakers offered thought-provoking ideas about artificial intelligence in everything from health care to filmmaking and city planning to weather forecasting. To kick off the day, industry leaders gathered for breakfast on the lawn of the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa, where organic eggs, Belgian waffles and fresh coffee awaited them. Daniel Danker, the chief product officer at Instacart, was among the early risers at the venue. Sipping on a hot beverage from the specialty coffee cart, Danker told Newsweek it was important to meet with other leaders at events like the AI Impact Summit because, "We're all trying to figure out the same things right now." Sonoma, CA - Instacart CPO Daniel Danker speaks with Newsweek senior reporter Katherine Fung and Instacart associate manager Jane Ross before event programming begins at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June 24,... Sonoma, CA - Instacart CPO Daniel Danker speaks with Newsweek senior reporter Katherine Fung and Instacart associate manager Jane Ross before event programming begins at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. More NICK OTTO "Seeing the different approaches across different companies and different industries is very informative, because the paint is still very wet still," Danker said. "It's interesting to see which colors and how it's setting across different companies in different parts of industry." Danker sat down with Marcus Weldon, Newsweek contributing editor and president emeritus of Bell Labs, for a conversation about how Instacart is leveraging AI to "completely tailor the [grocery] store to the shape of your household, dietary needs, brands you like, whether you're more or less price sensitive, whether you're more value-oriented." Gina Ray, the senior director of corporate marketing, brand and corporate communications at ABBYY, also joined fellow attendees for breakfast on Tuesday, excited for another day of programming. ABBYY was among Newsweek's 2025 AI Impact Award winners, taking home the Best Outcomes, Accounting recognition. Sonoma, CA - AI Impact Summit guests eat breakfast and network before event programming begins at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. Sonoma, CA - AI Impact Summit guests eat breakfast and network before event programming begins at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. NICK OTTO Halfway through the morning, attendees exited the pavilion to explore various demonstrations during the AI Intel networking break. Carrying their bright red Newsweek swag bags, many of them took the time to walk around installations from Cognizant, Google Cloud, EVOM AI Piano and Doctronic, among others. Doctronic's founders, Matt Pavelle and Dr. Adam Oskowitz, showed attendees how their AI works: Patients can make a telehealth appointment with Doctronic's AI doctor, who then transcribes notes that patients can take to a human provider. "Our north star has always been access," Oskowitz told Newsweek. Sonoma, CA - AI Impact Summit attendees walk to the AI Intel networking session at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. Presenting companies include Cognizant, Google Cloud, The Marketing Cloud,... Sonoma, CA - AI Impact Summit attendees walk to the AI Intel networking session at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. Presenting companies include Cognizant, Google Cloud, The Marketing Cloud, City of Denver, EVOM AI Piano, Doctronic, Serve Robotics and Zoom. More NICK OTTO He said one of the biggest obstacles is timing. Patients want to know what's happening to them immediately, not in three weeks or three months when their doctor's office might finally have appointment availability. Pavelle chimed in, "Our business model is to try to provide really inexpensive primary care and urgent care, which is obviously useful, and then refer out for specialists." "When we launched two years ago, the question was, did people want to talk to an AI doctor?" Pavelle told Newsweek. "The answer was an immediate yes. People just say things, and there's no embarrassment." Sonoma, CA - Doctronic co-founder Matt Pavelle offers visits to AI Impact Summit attendees during a networking break at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. Sonoma, CA - Doctronic co-founder Matt Pavelle offers visits to AI Impact Summit attendees during a networking break at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. NICK OTTO By getting around that obstacle, Pavelle suggested that an AI doctor might be able to extract more accurate information from a patient than a real-life doctor because patients might feel less judged and, thus, provide more truthful and genuine answers about their health. He also reflected on the Newsweek summit, describing Tuesday's health care panel as "fantastic," praising the speakers for being "spot on," and recalling a "great" discussion from yesterday's industry roundtables. Tuesday's roundtable discussions included a conversation on whether organizations should build their AIs in-house or outsource that type of work. Executives across industries—from finance to energy to health care—debated the decision, remarking how building it yourself would foster greater innovation and allow you to create an AI that is more tailored to the needs of your company. On the other hand, buying AI can be faster, more reliable and more cost-effective. Sonoma, CA - Doctronic co-founders Adam Oskowitz and Matt Pavelle present their AI doctor and offer visits to AI Impact Summit attendees during a networking break at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday,... Sonoma, CA - Doctronic co-founders Adam Oskowitz and Matt Pavelle present their AI doctor and offer visits to AI Impact Summit attendees during a networking break at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. More NICK OTTO The roundtable was led by Vickram Kooblall, the chief information officer and chief information security officer at Scahill Law Group, who told Newsweek he was amazed by the slate of speakers at the summit. "It's phenomenal," Kooblall said as he made his way over to the lunch taco bar from the Kenwood Ballroom. "The quality of speakers at the conference really surprised me," he said. "It gives us greater insight into where we're going to be headed. They're kind of at the innovation standpoint. They're the ones creating the path, while we're following it, creating little adjacent roads outside and coming back into it." Sonoma, CA - Scahill Law Group CIO and CISO Vickram Kooblall leads AI Impact Summit attendees through the "Build It or Buy It" roundtable discussion at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June... Sonoma, CA - Scahill Law Group CIO and CISO Vickram Kooblall leads AI Impact Summit attendees through the "Build It or Buy It" roundtable discussion at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. More NICK OTTO Kooblall said he particularly enjoyed hearing from the Cognizant executives who attended the first and second day of the summit, describing their AI work as "an innovation, a solution that I'm really looking for." After a tasty lunch, Kooblall joined other attendees on a visit to the St. Francis Winery & Vineyards, where some elegant, fruit-driven wines awaited them. The guests then returned to the lawn after the wine tour for another networking reception to close out the second day of the summit. On Wednesday, AI leaders will take the Newsweek stage to discuss the age of the new workflow, returns of investment in the age of AI and how to enhance AI governance and privacy. Check out the full lineup here.
Newsweek
25-06-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
AI Impact Summit 2025: Health Care Leaders Stress Need for Transparency
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. After a hot day in Sonoma, attendees at Newsweek's AI Impact Summit enjoyed a cooler morning on Tuesday. The panels today explored AI use cases in industries like health care, filmmaking, weather forecasting, grocery delivery and the public sector. During the first panel, Cognizant Americas President Surya Gummadi said the three main problems facing health care organizations are reducing costs, improving quality of care and enhancing the patient experience. Transparency was a big theme for AI adoption in health care – not only when dealing with medical records and personal data, but also for why and how organizations are implementing automation tools. While there are some health care organizations that may use AI to replace employees, UMass Medicine's Allen Chang doesn't believe that's the case. He did, however, emphasize that health care organizations cannot ignore the real concerns employees have about job loss. Sonoma, CA - Dr. Allen Chang, Surya Gummadi, Rob Purinton and Salvatore Viscomi meet with Newsweek Editorial Director Gabriel Snyder for the "Industry Spotlight: The Power of AI in Health Care" panel during the AI... Sonoma, CA - Dr. Allen Chang, Surya Gummadi, Rob Purinton and Salvatore Viscomi meet with Newsweek Editorial Director Gabriel Snyder for the "Industry Spotlight: The Power of AI in Health Care" panel during the AI Impact Summit at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. More NICK OTTO "We need to be transparent about the strategy around what AI means to them, and we need to communicate with our colleagues and our employees," Chang said. At a later panel, Dr. Ashis Barad, the chief digital and technology officer at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), explained how the hospital is using AI to help improve patient experience after they leave the operating room. Both Barad and his co-panelist, Joydeep Ganguly, SVP of corporate operations at Gilead Sciences, emphasized that they see AI as less of a replacement for clinicians and more of a tool to offload the more mundane administrative tasks. Sonoma, CA - Hospital for Special Surgery CTO Dr. Ashis Barad and Gilead SVP Joydeep Ganguly speak with Newsweek Contributing Editor Marcus Weldon in the "AI Adoption: Overcoming a Reluctant Workforce" panel during the AI... Sonoma, CA - Hospital for Special Surgery CTO Dr. Ashis Barad and Gilead SVP Joydeep Ganguly speak with Newsweek Contributing Editor Marcus Weldon in the "AI Adoption: Overcoming a Reluctant Workforce" panel during the AI Impact Summit at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. More NICK OTTO "We can't be a company that hires the brightest people in the world and get them preoccupied with an ecosystem of tasks that don't have value right now," Ganguly said. One of the most anticipated panels of the summit was the conversation with executives from AI-native film studios Secret Level and Asteria. The use of AI in creative pursuits like filmmaking is still new and has garnered a lot of skepticism. But Ben Lock of Asteria and Eric Shamlin of Secret Level said this emerging technology will help break down traditional barriers to filmmaking. "We can actually create high production value at a much lower cost, which means we can make more movies," Lock said. Sonoma, CA - Secret Level CEO Eric Shamlin and Asteria Director of Production Strategy discuss navigating the future of filmmaking in the "Lights, Camera, Algorithm" panel during the AI Impact Summit at Fairmont Sonoma Mission... Sonoma, CA - Secret Level CEO Eric Shamlin and Asteria Director of Production Strategy discuss navigating the future of filmmaking in the "Lights, Camera, Algorithm" panel during the AI Impact Summit at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. More NICK OTTO Other panelists spoke about how their organizations are using AI to better serve the specific needs of stakeholders. In a one-on-one discussion, Instacart's chief product officer Daniel Danker explained how the company is using advanced AI agents to better understand the specific habits, dietary restrictions and needs of a household to build custom plans and make informed grocery shopping decisions. AI is also being used in the public sector to solve local problems facing cities and their residents. Suma Nallapati, the chief innovation officer for the city and county of Denver, explained how residents can speak directly to the city's AI chatbot, Sunny, to answer questions and access government resources. With limited resources, city governments can use AI tools to create better communities. "Investment in the city is an investment in your employees," Charlitta Hatch, the chief data and analytics officer for the city of Charlotte, North Carolina, said. Sonoma, CA - City of Charlotte, NC Chief Analytics Officer Charlitta Hatch and City of Denver CIO Suma Nallapati chat with Newsweek Contributor Marcus Weldon in the "AI Powered Cities are the Future" panel during... Sonoma, CA - City of Charlotte, NC Chief Analytics Officer Charlitta Hatch and City of Denver CIO Suma Nallapati chat with Newsweek Contributor Marcus Weldon in the "AI Powered Cities are the Future" panel during the AI Impact Summit at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. More NICK OTTO Weather and climate disasters are creating major issues that cities of all sizes across the U.S. are facing. The Weather Channel President Sheri Bachstein explained how AI is being used to provide better forecasting at a hyper-local level and improve emergency response. "Weather is about patterns," she said, "and AI excels at recognizing patterns and change, something the human eye can't do." Day two of the summit also included networking breaks, roundtable discussions and demonstrations from Cognizant, Google Cloud, The Marketing Cloud, City of Denver, EVOM AI Piano, Doctronic, Serve Robotics and Zoom. Sonoma, CA - The Weather Company President Sheri Bachstein says AI will improve disaster forecasting in a conversation with Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Cunningham during the AI Impact Summit at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa... Sonoma, CA - The Weather Company President Sheri Bachstein says AI will improve disaster forecasting in a conversation with Newsweek Editor-in-Chief Jennifer Cunningham during the AI Impact Summit at Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa on Tuesday, June 24, 2025. More NICK OTTO To read more about the live coverage of day one and to follow along for the rest of the summit, check out Newsweek's AI Impact Summit live blog. Live coverage of the final day of the summit will resume on Wednesday at 9:00 am PST.
