Shobhana Kamineni, the executive chairperson of Apollo Hospitals, believes that artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to transform India’s healthcare sector more deeply than other industries. According to Kamineni, India faces significant challenges in terms of a shortage of doctors, nurses, and healthcare facilities, but the country has a large pool of tech-enabled individuals who can be upskilled to fill this gap. She cites Nobel Laureate Demis Hassabis, who said that no invention in the world will happen without AI in the future, and notes that AI will play a crucial role in the development of new vaccines and cures for diseases.
Kamineni highlights that digital penetration in India is still a challenge, but AI is no longer limited to apps, and telemedicine is now just a phone call away. She points out that 80% of India’s population has access to basic phones, making it an ideal testbed for AI-driven healthcare models. Apollo Hospitals is pushing AI across both clinical and non-clinical workflows, and Kamineni notes that GenAI is enabling the company’s 7,000 doctors to improve productivity by 50%-85%.
Kamineni emphasizes the need for ethical deployment and better regulation around patient data usage and AI safety, particularly in sensitive contexts like oncology, mental health, and chronic disease management. She also stresses the importance of using data that reflects the Indian genome and disease profile to train AI models, rather than relying on models trained on Western populations.
To improve healthcare outcomes, Apollo is investing in AI-enabled doctors’ assistants, remote diagnostics, and decision-support tools for clinicians. Kamineni envisions a future where junior doctors can consult AI assistants for differential diagnoses, and nurses can receive real-time alerts on patient vitals before critical events. She calls for public-private collaboration in creating a national AI-health data backbone that respects patient privacy while enabling research and innovation at scale.
Overall, Kamineni believes that AI has the potential to solve India’s healthcare challenges, and that the country can build the most inclusive and efficient healthcare system in the world if it gets AI right. She emphasizes the need for cooperation and investment in AI-driven healthcare initiatives, and notes that Apollo Hospitals is committed to pushing the boundaries of AI in healthcare to improve patient outcomes and productivity. With the right approach, Kamineni is confident that India can harness the power of AI to transform its healthcare sector and improve the lives of millions of people.