Alberto de Negri, KPMG EMA Head of Healthcare
Alberto de Negri, KPMG EMA Head of Healthcare
Where does AI currently bring the most value in the patient journey?
AI is already making a tangible impact in diagnostics and early detection, where it supports clinicians in analyzing complex medical data with higher accuracy and speed. In radiology, pathology, and genomics, AI tools can highlight patterns that are not easily visible to the human eye, reducing errors and enabling earlier interventions. Beyond diagnostics, AI is also improving the patient experience through chatbots, virtual health assistants, and personalized treatment recommendations, which help patients feel more engaged and informed. Taken together, these applications show how AI can act as an enabling force across the patient journey—provided it is embedded within care pathways redesigned to translate innovation into real value for patients.
In your opinion, what is the main challenge in integrating AI into clinical practice?
The central challenge is not purely technological but organizational and cultural. Healthcare systems are complex, and AI must integrate smoothly into existing clinical workflows without adding burden to already overstretched professionals. Trust also plays a critical role: clinicians and patients need transparency in how AI tools work, assurance about the quality of the data behind them, and confidence that decisions remain human-centered. Another major barrier concerns data: experts agree that the potential of AI will not be fully realized without robust data platforms. Yet this remains a challenge within the challenge—on the one hand, because of regulatory constraints and the issue of patient trust in data sharing; on the other, because of the enormous difficulties in achieving true semantic, syntactic, and technological interoperability of healthcare data. And, as history shows with previous waves of innovation, technology can be an extraordinary enabler only if service models are also redesigned—but this is even more true for AI than for past innovations, given its pervasive and transformative nature. Without rethinking processes and pathways, the potential of AI risks remaining underutilized.
In 5 years, how do you see AI reshaping the patient pathway?
In the near future, AI has the potential to transform healthcare from a reactive to a proactive and preventive model. Instead of patients entering the system primarily when they are sick, AI-driven analytics will allow for continuous monitoring, early alerts, and personalized risk assessments. This evolution will require not only technological advances but also the reconfiguration of care delivery models, ensuring that innovation is effectively embedded into daily practice. More than with past innovations, AI demands this kind of systemic redesign, because its impact extends across the entire patient pathway and redefines the roles of both professionals and patients. Data ecosystems will play a critical role here: without interoperable, trusted platforms, the most promising applications of AI will remain limited. Clinicians will be supported by AI as a trusted partner, enabling them to focus on empathy and complex decision-making while technology handles repetitive tasks. Ultimately, the patient pathway has the potential to become more personalized, efficient, and centered on long-term health outcomes—as long as healthcare systems adapt their structures and workflows to fully realize this opportunity.
