Making AI Work for Us: The Defining Health System CEO Leadership Challenge of 2026

In 2025, AI adoption in healthcare operations moved from theoretical to practical via scaled health system investments in various agentic workflows. Moving into 2026, we will see some CEOs lead their teams with focus and clarity beyond deployment against incremental use cases toward a more systematic boost to the quality, accessibility, and affordability of care. The difference between achieving marginal improvement and disruptive results lies in leadership. Only CEO-driven AI strategies can align technology, people, and processes to deliver on this moment’s technological promise. Drawing on interviews with CEOs from eleven leading health systems, this paper outlines a practical framework for CEO-driven AI transformation, grounded in real-world insights and actionable steps.

Click to read the full report.