More and better patient care: An AI platform CEO predicts the future of healthcare
More and better patient care: An AI platform CEO predicts the future of healthcare
After Sam De Brouwer's AI company, doc.ai, was acquired by Atlanta-based in February 2023, it went IPO at a valuation of $3.9 billion. She then founded healthcare startup, offering AI automation for revenue cycle management (RCM), data entry, document processing, and scheduling, empowering providers to focus on care, not clicks.
De Brouwer also curates and produces, the first-of-its-kind TED Conference in San Francisco, inspired by her non-profit work with from and with. Ahead of the third TEDAI San Francisco conference (Oct. 21 and 22), she spoke with about her vision for the future of healthcare.
Tell us aboutXY.AI Labs.
Sam De Brouwer: XY.AI Labs is an agentic AI platform for healthcare operations, helping save the $1.5-trillion operational bottleneck in healthcare. Our agentic platform offers a suite of AI agents to streamline operations, optimize revenue, and give clinicians back the gift of time.
I foundedXY.AI Labs two years ago after spending almost 15 years in AI for healthcare and seeing firsthand how AI agents could solve problems we couldn't before. Starting with healthcare operations was obvious because the need for this technology is massive, especially for small- and medium-sized operators.
What have been your most significant milestones, and what are you looking forward to?
Sam De Brouwer: We have raised our $3 million seed, released our agentic platform, pushed our first agents into production, and closed our first paying customers with annual contracts and first price validation. We have also expanded the team and added velocity, filed our second patent, and started serious conversations with strategic partners for expansion.
In a couple of years, I see healthcare becoming more financially efficient, with more time spent on patient care and new nodes of intelligence at the point of care.
What developments in your field are you most excited about?
Sam De Brouwer: It's hard to keep up with AI. The field of edge computing has always fascinated me because I am all for privacy-preserving approaches first, and the fields of reinforcement learning and continuous learning. Intelligence is the new asset, and anything that doesn't learn will not survive. I like the idea of the cost of building software nearing zero, making it more affordable. I wrote about "From Code to Care: How Zero-Cost Software Is Reshaping Healthcare" recently on .
I am excited by the opportunities that generative AI can offer in education and healthcare, specifically in medicine and biotech, and how it could accelerate discoveries in science. I鈥檓 also fascinated by the conversations that generative AI triggers and how it pushes us to think and reflect on progress. It's almost like witnessing a new cycle of human evolution in real-time.
Are there any changes or developments you want to see in this sector?
Sam De Brouwer: More decentralization and more transparency in the concept of consent regarding our data.
How do you define success?
Sam De Brouwer: Always doing the right thing with purpose and fairness and going for the win.
What is TEDAI's relationship to the TED organization?
Sam De Brouwer: is a known format and began in 1984 as a conference where technology, entertainment, and design converged. Today, it spans many worldwide communities and initiatives exploring everything from science and business to education, the arts, and global issues. It is devoted to curiosity, reason, wonder, and the pursuit of knowledge 鈥 without an agenda., co-hosted by Chris Anderson, head of TED, is new and focuses on the power and impact of AI in all its nuances.
What鈥檚 on the agenda for your team ahead of this year's event?
Sam De Brouwer: A team of 100 volunteers from the Bay Area is working to bring together talks and panels representing systems, tools, and frameworks already used by at least half of the planet. Volunteers are using coworking spaces in San Francisco and Silicon Valley for meetings; we expect to welcome 1,000 attendees to the conference, featuring phenomenal speakers deploying AI across various sectors, as well as panels and workshops featuring CTOs and EVPs from some of the largest companies, investors, researchers, and more.
Every speaker's TED talk will be hosted on TED's ecosystem and reach millions of viewers post-event. We're also hosting a organized by the Open Source community to utilize AI's transformative power for good and to benefit everyone.
To mention a few names, we're looking forward to welcoming:
- , CEO of .
- co-founder and CEO at .
- , co-founder and CEO at .
- , AI researcher, co-Author of .
- , co-founder & CEO of .
- , chairman & CEO of , founder of (remote).
- , chief scientist at , professor at Boston University.
- , co-founder and CEO, .
- , assistant professor, Department of Psychology, Stanford University.
- , assistant professor of computer science, Cornell University.
What's the most valuable piece of advice you've ever received?
Sam De Brouwer: If you need help, ask.
What's the greatest lesson you've learned in your career?
Sam De Brouwer: Don't take no for an answer.
What's the one destination you never get tired of traveling to?
Sam De Brouwer: Paris. It's my hometown.
What's one thing 鈥 either industry-related or not 鈥 you learned in the last month?
Sam De Brouwer: It's too late to retire!
Is there a skill you think everyone should master?
Sam De Brouwer: The one that gives you purpose.
What鈥檚 one fact you think everyone should know?
Sam De Brouwer: It's incredible to have access to clean, free water. Let's be grateful.
Is there a musician, band, or album you'd recommend to everyone?
Sam De Brouwer: 鈥淗otel California鈥 by the Eagles.
What鈥檚 your greatest source of inspiration?
Sam De Brouwer: My husband 鈥 we've been together for more than 33 years 鈥 and he is still my greatest source of inspiration.
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