What does it take to make artificial intelligence truly transform healthcare? 

On November 5, researchers and industry leaders met at Georgia Tech to work on answers during the first Accessible Healthcare through AI-Augmented Decisions (AHeAD) Center planning meeting.  

“Getting an AI model to work in the lab is one thing but embedding it into clinical practice without disrupting care is another,” said Ghassan AlRegib, AHeAD Center co-director and professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). “That’s why industry input is critical at this stage.” 

The event drew 77 participants, including representatives from more than 25 companies, alongside faculty and students from Georgia Tech and partner universities.  

The meeting marked an important step in defining the center’s mission to build trusted, collaborative AI systems that integrate seamlessly into clinical and healthcare workflows and close gaps in care, especially in rural and underserved communities as well as establishments  

The AHeAD Center has received a planning grant to be part of the National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) program and includes four sites: Georgia Tech, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL – lead site), Tulane University, and the University of Florida. 

“Our society is on the cusp of a health technology revolution,” said Raju Gottumukkala, AHeAD Center site lead and associate professor at ULL, “By prioritizing practical applications of AI, we can transform lives and health outcomes in unprecedented ways.” 

Throughout the day, attendees explored the center's vision and value proposition, heard success stories from past Industry-University collaborations, and engaged in faculty presentations on topics such as AI for shared decision-making, federated learning, and multi-modal data integration. 

Industry leaders from Emory Healthcare, Ochsner Health, MathWorks, Amazon Web Services, Helix Labs, Piedmont Healthcare, CGI, Grady Health System, and more joined breakout sessions to identify priority challenges and opportunities for collaboration. 

The stakes are high. Globally, the AI in healthcare market is projected to grow from $39 billion in 2025 to over $500 billion by 2032, according to Fortune Business Insights.  

Attendees emphasized that the hardest part of bringing AI into healthcare is not the technology itself but the final steps, which involve integration challenges, regulatory hurdles, and cultural resistance 

“The technology is ready; what’s hard is the last mile,” said AlRegib. “That final 10 percent is where success or failure happens.” 

The day concluded with an industry workshop and a student poster session showcasing emerging research in areas such as in-home health monitoring, medical imaging, and healthcare applications in the metaverse. 

Formal membership recruitment and project launches are expected in 2026. For more information, visit nsfahead.org.