How are health and life sciences organizations leveraging AI, data and digital strategies to enhance operations, address workforce shortages and navigate complex regulations? In this video, we share insights from the 2025 CGI Voice of Our Clients research, based on in-depth interviews with 130 health and life sciences executives, highlighting the key priorities and challenges shaping the future of the industry.

From AI scalability to platform modernization, discover how organizations are driving improved outcomes for providers, payers, and patients through trusted data, agile operations and human-centric innovation.

Key trends covered in this video:

  • Digital acceleration and AI adoption
  • Regulatory complexity and compliance
  • Economic and resource pressures
  • Workforce transformation and stabilization

Learn from real-world examples that highlight how health and life sciences leaders are using AI to automate workflows, streamline documentation, and extract key insights from clinical data to improve patient outcomes.

At CGI, we help health and life sciences organizations align digital investments with measurable outcomes—driving meaningful transformation, mitigating risk, and enabling the responsible adoption of AI.

Video transcript

Digital transformation drives competitive advantage in Health & life sciences

Healthcare is experiencing a period of rapid transformation. Digital modernization, including AI adoption and data-driven innovation is no longer a vision for the future. It's crucial to stay competitive.

Health and Life Sciences organizations face mounting pressure to do more with less. Leaders must balance tighter financial constraints, growing staffing shortages, and burnout, as well as the burden of managing complex legacy systems. At the same time, they are navigating rising patient and customer expectations for seamless digital services. The most foundational takeaway is to align teams and the understanding that transformation is not just technical, it's cultural and operational. Success comes when the right stakeholders are engaged early, including clinicians, administrators, and even patients.

Insights from the CGI Voice of Our Clients research

Our Voice of Our Clients conversations with 130 Health and Life Sciences executives show that innovation is no longer a choice, but a powerful catalyst for better care, stronger systems, and lasting progress. The research highlights several significant industry trends.

Digital acceleration is a strategic necessity

Digital acceleration is a strategic necessity. While most leaders say they have a digital strategy in place, just 32% say they are producing results.

AI reshapes operations and patient care delivery

AI is reshaping how health organizations operate and deliver patient care. Over 80% of leaders already have an AI strategy in place, however many are still in the early stages of unlocking its full potential. For instance, just 41% of organizations have established AI governance frameworks to support scalability and long-term sustainability.

Digital maturity accelerates innovation

Digital maturity is rapidly becoming a key differentiator in how organizations drive innovation. A clear divide is emerging between digital leaders who are producing results from their digital strategies and those still building or launching their strategies. Digital leaders are advancing with purpose, prioritizing AI scalability, platform modernization, and data-driven strategies that enable transformation. In contrast, other organizations remain focused on budget constraints, overdue upgrades, and filling talent gaps.

These differing priorities reflect two distinct operational realities within the same industry. One where digital maturity is evolving into a decisive competitive advantage. Two-thirds of health leaders identify cost control and regulatory complexity as major challenges ahead. This highlights a larger trend where economic, regulatory, and resource pressures are impacting progress across the industry.

Regulatory demands impact the operating environment

We also see that changing regulatory requirements are reshaping the operating environment, adding further complexity. All at a time when patient demand for digital services continues to grow, driving the necessary adoption of digital technologies.

You know, regulatory demands are actually both a constraint and a catalyst. On the one hand, they require significant investment in compliance, which can slow down innovation, but on the other, they're driving better design. Privacy, security, and trust are now embedded in how we build systems. One of the primary barriers to progress is legacy systems. Over 70% of leaders citing them as a significant barrier to digital transformation.

IT talent and data readiness present key challenges

Adding to the challenge, nearly two-thirds of executives report difficulties in attracting skilled IT talent, and stabilizing their existing workforce. Enthusiasm around AI is high, but the Voice of Our Clients research demonstrated that leaders are challenged with its implementation. A major hurdle is data readiness. Many organizations are struggling with fragmented siloed data that's really limiting AI's effectiveness, and others, the readiness to scale responsibly. Because without clear frameworks for accountability and ethics and oversight, it’s difficult to move from pilot to production. And there's fundamentally a talent gap, even as tools become much more accessible and the need for skilled professionals who understand both AI and clinical or operational context is growing.

Client success: Implementing AI and GenAI drive operational efficiency

But ultimately the issue isn't a lack of ambition. It's really about aligning vision with practical responsible execution that delivers the ROI organizations need from their investments. Faced with rising costs, staff burnout and administrative inefficiencies, a large US health system provider collaborated with CGI to implement AI and GenAI-powered tools in its day-to-day operations. Their goal was to automate workflows, streamline documentation, and extract key insights from unstructured clinical data to enable care providers to make decisions based on evidence.

The impact was immediate and measurable. Physician documentation time dropped by up to 40%, freeing clinicians to spend more time with patients. Revenue cycle processes became more efficient, achieving 85% accuracy in reclassifying, mislabeled oncology regimens and claims, which resulted in faster reimbursements. This implementation demonstrates that meaningful digital transformation is achieved. When AI is applied, purposefully aligned to real-world needs and responsible use of GenAI.

Key takeaway: Agility, digital strategy and innovation shape the future of patient care

Digital leaders do a few things well. Firstly, they'll treat implementation of their digital strategy as an enabler, not just an IT project. It's embedded across clinical, operational, and business domains. Next, they'll scale with purpose. They move quickly, but they also make deliberate investments in platforms, data strategy and change management. And also they design and lead with and for people. They bring frontline voices into digital design. They build interdisciplinary teams, and they focus on culture as much as technology.

Our Voice of Our Clients research shows that Health and Life Sciences organizations are undergoing a profound digital transformation. The road ahead demands the creation of smarter, more resilient and future-ready systems to drive improved outcomes for providers, payers, and most importantly, patients.

Digital leaders are demonstrating that in an industry ripe for disruption, there's opportunity for change. Learning from them can help you and your organizations evolve your model and enhance patient outcomes.

Whether addressing AI governance, modernizing legacy systems, or aligning data strategies, industry leaders must embrace greater agility and innovate to transform digital ambition into real-world impact and shape the future of patient care.