An ageing population worldwide, increasing pressure on health system budgets particularly post-pandemic, and a shortage of healthcare workers: the global healthcare system faces multiple challenges.
With technology and innovation transforming industries, healthcare stands to be one of the beneficiaries, and generative artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to play a key role in diagnosis and administrative efficiency, ultimately improving patient outcomes.
Speakers at BNP Paribas’ Sustainability Expert Forum 2025 looked at the potential benefits and how the financial sector can drive this progress.
AI poised to deliver three key benefits for healthcare
According to the World Health Organization, AI for health is crucial and has the potential to address global health challenges, such as drug development, disease surveillance, outbreak response, and health systems management.
AI was the fastest-growing theme for investors, with rising numbers considering responsible AI in their investment decisions, according to the BNP Paribas 2025 Thematics Barometer. As these increasingly complex technologies are deployed, the need for sustainable practices is crucial. Investors and corporates alike are looking at the practical implications and benefits.
Speaking at the event, Maarten Geerdink, Head of European Equities team, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, outlined the benefits of AI for the healthcare sector, offering cost advantages for companies as a result of streamlined administrative processes, as well as better outcomes for patients: “There are three pathways to having very swift contributions from AI – synergies, cost savings and better patient outcomes.”
Applications are broad: in medical equipment such as imaging, AI can mean earlier detection and lead to faster throughput time, shorter waiting times and improved patient outcomes; in hearing aids, AI is starting to be integrated into the tooling.
AI can also accelerate processes in research and development (R&D). Teresa Conceição, Head Corporate Data Privacy, Digital & AI Compliance at Novartis, highlighted the group’s rollout of protocol AI, supporting teams in designing clinical trials, leading to faster time-to-market and enhanced patient outcomes: “R&D in particular is an area where there is the possibility to speed up how protocols are designed, to better fine tune them and understand the best clinical trial site selection and support in recruiting patients. We’re empowering and upskilling our people with AI, so we can think, solve and innovate in new ways that, together, can transform how we deliver breakthrough innovations faster and smarter.”
She added: “The development of a medicine until it reaches the point of commercialisation usually takes between 8 to 10 years, so AI can reduce the time in which a medicine is available for commercialisation, and at the same time, faster identify the target, and the right medicine for the disease being studied and addressed.”
Data at the core
Data privacy and regulation are fundamental in applying AI to the healthcare industry. Novartis relies on its code of ethics and its renewed commitment to data and technology, and the ethical use of data and technology policy to ensure transparency, integrity, and address biases.
According to Emmanuel Bacry, Senior Researcher at CNRS, Member of PRAIRIE Institute, and Chief Scientific Officer at Health Data Hub: “We all know that data is at the core of AI. My belief is that the AI revolution is before all and first of all, the data revolution, where there are three key priorities that apply across all verticals – quality, interoperability, and governance.”
He underscored the fundamental role of data governance in the AI revolution, and highlighted the importance of regulation such as the European Health Data Space Regulation (EHDS). This initiative aims to establish a common framework for the use and exchange of electronic health data across the EU, facilitating access to health data in order to encourage innovation, and opening opportunities for all countries across the EU.
The role of regulation: hindrance or enabler?
Regulation is a focal point in this sector with considerable controls. Speakers discussed the important role of regulation in enabling innovation, looking at the AI Act, which is set to apply to healthcare companies, and the European Health Data Space Regulation.
Angela Doran, Responsible AI Lead at BNP Paribas Equity Research, noted growing interest for investors and corporates in regulation and highlighted the challenges that must be considered: “I think both corporates and investors are increasingly cognisant of the risks, including leakage of private data, model hallucination, and bias in training data.”
Teresa Conceição reinforced the importance of regulation in driving innovation: “I believe that regulations are here to also support sustainable, responsible and ethical innovation.”
AI a key consideration for investors and corporates alike
Both investors and corporates are looking at the benefits of AI. According to Angela Doran: “At the forefront of investors’ minds is how AI will revolutionise the healthcare industry, including quicker diagnosis, accelerated drug manufacturing and discovery, improved pandemic preparedness and various other benefits.”
Speakers highlighted the importance of a stable framework for investors, which also safeguards companies, with Maarten Geerdink noting that investors are increasingly looking at the scoring of companies based on how they deal with AI risks.
He concludes: “From an investor’s perspective, having the right balance between good structural, sound regulatory frameworks in place to help safeguard data and the safety of AI versus the overburden and the cost of doing business is where we have to take the balance.”
