Session: Building AI Strategy That Serves Patients, Not Just Pipelines
As AI adoption accelerates across the life sciences, many organizations have successfully embedded AI into discovery, development, and operational workflows—yet far fewer can demonstrate that these advances meaningfully improve patient outcomes. This panel explores what it truly means to build an AI strategy that serves patients, not just pipelines.
Drawing on real-world examples from drug discovery, clinical development, real-world evidence, and post-market engagement, the discussion will examine how patient-centric AI strategies differ from pipeline-optimized ones. Panelists will address how decisions about data sources, model objectives, evidence standards, and deployment contexts can either reinforce existing inefficiencies or reorient organizations toward measurable patient benefit.
Key themes include aligning AI use cases with unmet clinical needs, designing evidence generation strategies regulators and clinicians can trust, embedding human oversight where patient risk is highest, and resisting the temptation to equate technical performance with clinical value. The panel will also explore governance and incentive structures that ensure AI investments prioritize long-term patient impact over short-term productivity gains.
Attendees will leave with a clearer framework for evaluating AI initiatives through a patient-centered lens, understanding the leadership decisions required to operationalize that lens at scale, and recognizing the organizational shifts needed to ensure AI strengthens, not dilutes, the core mission of improving human health.
Bio
Moderator:
Emily Lewis is a pioneering leader at the intersection of artificial intelligence, digital health, and life sciences, with nearly two decades of experience across biopharma, clinical research, and emerging technology. Recognized as one of Fierce Healthcare’s Rising Stars in HealthTech, she has helped accelerate drug discovery, improve clinical trial efficiency, transform patient engagement, and expand access to care through responsible AI innovation. She is widely respected for shaping enterprise AI strategies, guiding executive decision-making, and contributing to industry conversations on standards, regulation, and long-term strategy. Emily also advocates for explainable, ethical, and equitable AI, while mentoring rising professionals and supporting women in AI and FemTech.
Panelist:
Faten Alshazly is a serial entrepreneur and Chief Executive Officer of HealthEMe, a digital health company transforming healthcare delivery through innovative tools such as AI-powered triaging and health evaluation. Recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women, she is advancing equitable, continuous, and patient-centered care across Canada and numerous international markets.
She is also Co-Founder of WeUsThem, where she drives global creativity, strategy, and brand transformation with Fortune 500 brands globally.
Durga Chavali is a Senior Cloud Solution Architect and Healthcare IT Leader with over 18 years of experience driving innovation at the intersection of AI, cloud, and data. She has led enterprise modernization initiatives in collaboration with Microsoft and global partners, authored several research papers on ethical AI and digital health, and serves as a mentor empowering women in technology. Durga’s work focuses on the concept of AI stewardship—ensuring that artificial intelligence remains ethical, explainable, and human-centered in its design and deployment.
Trellis Usher is a former corporate executive, workforce transformation leader, and technology founder with more than 25 years of experience advising and leading organizations through large-scale change. Her career spans global talent strategy, leadership development, organization design, and enterprise transformation across high-growth and complex environments. She is the founder and CEO of Nova Health Labs, where she is building AI-enabled solutions in cancer care with a deliberate focus on aligning innovation with equity, trust, and human impact. Trellis is the author of Work. Rewritten., a leadership book examining responsibility, power, and decision-making as technology reshapes work. She is known for her direct, human-centered approach to leadership in the age of AI.