As 2026 unfolds, health care organizations are embracing artificial intelligence technology to an unprecedented degree across a wide range of activities, from patient care to clinical workflows to drug discovery and development. AI’s potential to improve patient outcomes, enhance efficiency, and dramatically accelerate the pace of innovation is redefining how health care creates value.
From its start as a rules-based machine learning technology, AI has evolved and, through GenAI, acquired the ability to follow instructions that generate new content and new insights. Now, with the emergence of AI agents that can autonomously plan and execute tasks with minimal human oversight, we're seeing an explosion of opportunities in health care. As the technology becomes increasingly integrated into health care ecosystems, we expect the market for AI in health care to expand rapidly.
Change of this magnitude requires critical adjustments on many fronts. Successful AI innovators follow the 10-20-70 rule, which holds that a company should dedicate 10% of its effort to algorithms, 20% to technology and data, and the remaining 70% to people and processes. This emphasis is crucial because change management is difficult to get right—and successful transformation depends on people. As health care roles and work evolve, AI agents should enhance and augment the human workforce. But organizations should start planning now for the workforce they will need in five years, including upskilling current workers and redesigning their roles to meet the requirements of evolving organizational structures. How organizations manage these changes will drive their impact on value.
The assessments offered here by 14 experts at BCG and BCG X of the challenges and opportunities facing the industry represent a broad and diverse range of perspectives on how digital technology, and especially AI, will shape health care in 2026.
Here’s a snapshot of what to look for in the coming year.
Patients Now Occupy the Driver’s Seat
Patients are exercising more control over their health than ever before, connecting directly with their providers through patient portals and using digital tools to track and monitor their health.
By some estimates, close to half of US adults use health apps, and about a third use wearable devices that keep tabs on their health metrics. We expect that providers will use AI tools to analyze the data from these personal devices, together with patients’ genetic information and diagnosis and treatment details from their electronic medical records, to predict health problems before they start and prescribe personalized solutions.
As more consumers engage with these tools and technologies, more pharmaceutical and medical device companies are prioritizing efforts to establish direct-to-patient relationships, put treatments directly in the hands of consumers, and sidestep traditional intermediaries such as pharmacies and insurers.
Digital and AI tools for holistic and wellness solutions will integrate data from multiple sources to guide people in living longer and optimizing their cognitive health, paying close attention to sleep, nutrition, exercise, and mindfulness.
Stay ahead with BCG insights on the health care industry
Providers’ Toolbox Expands
Electronic health records increasingly incorporate ambient AI scribes that record and summarize patient conversations, reducing the amount of time that physicians must spend documenting those interactions, drafting notes, and responding to messages. With a lighter administrative load, physicians have more time for patient care, to the benefit of both. These AI clinical assistants, or co-pilots, can instantaneously synthesize patient data, symptoms, and the latest research, improving clinician productivity and reducing diagnostic errors.
AI-supported precision medicine tailored to individual genetics, environment, and lifestyle will enable providers to predict Alzheimer’s or kidney disease, for example, years before symptoms appear. Meanwhile, targeted drugs and precision imaging that enable one-step cancer diagnosis and treatment are moving into mainstream care.
Agentic AI will compress the timeline for new drug development from years to months by generating new molecules and simulating how they will interact and behave in the body.
Health Care Ecosystems Recalibrate
AI is fundamentally changing every aspect of health care, from R&D to direct patient care. Its accelerating adoption has profound implications for how health care players conceive of and carry out their roles.
As health systems expand their priorities from providing sick care to predicting and preventing illness, and as AI helps forge new paths in scientific discovery and delivery, health care organizations are wrestling with how to measure and capture value in this altered environment.
BCG research has found that successful organizations concentrate on a small number of opportunities with transformative potential, rather than implementing dozens of AI pilots. In health care, think precision medicine, clinical workflow automation and personalized care.
As AI improves productivity and reduces overhead, we expect health care systems to lean into the task of ensuring a human-centered approach, focusing on training employees to work alongside their intelligent partners and embedding AI literacy in professional development.
As the adoption of powerful AI tools expands, it will become increasingly important for organizations to prioritize rigorous quality assurance to safeguard reliability through evaluation and testing.
As AI and digital continue to transform health care in 2026, we’re excited about the developments ahead. Read on to learn about the transformative changes that our experts anticipate seeing in the coming year.
