An accomplished clinical professor, neuroradiologist, global executive, and entrepreneur, Partovi offers a distinctive viewpoint forged through years of leadership across healthcare systems, cloud innovation, and artificial intelligence. Under his guidance, Philips is strengthening its position as a trusted leader in integrated diagnostics, expanding data analytics, and streamlining workflows throughout the healthcare ecosystem. Working at the nexus of diagnostics, informatics, and patient care, Partovi is helping define Philips’ mission to deliver better health outcomes to more people—especially in a time defined by clinician shortages, rising costs, and surging patient demand.

A Strategy Rooted in Real-World Challenges

Philips’ strategy is refreshingly straightforward: focus on solving customer problems, not pushing internal agendas. “The most impactful innovations are painkillers, not vitamins,” Partovi stated, highlighting a shift from isolated R&D efforts to co-creation with end users.

Each of Philips’ business units—from precision diagnostics to sleep and respiratory care—applies this mindset through structured collaborations with healthcare providers. These partnerships often include cross-functional teams of engineers, product managers, and designers embedded directly within clinical settings. “We refine our solutions at the bedside, in radiology rooms, or in pathology labs,” Partovi explained. “That’s how we develop algorithms, software, and tools that create real impact.”

A prime example is the SmartSpeed AI software developed for Philips’ BlueSeal MRI systems. Born from the challenges faced by Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, which was dealing with a growing patient backlog, Philips created a neural network that tripled scanning speed while enhancing image clarity—all without new hardware. “It’s a software-powered productivity breakthrough,” Partovi said. “And it started with listening to one hospital’s struggle.”

Innovation Engineered for Impact

At Philips, innovation is not left to serendipity. Partovi leads a disciplined framework that blends decentralized execution with centralized foresight. Approximately 80% of R&D investment is located within business units, ensuring close alignment with customer needs and rapid iteration. The remaining 20% supports central innovation teams tasked with pioneering transformative technologies.

BlueSeal MRI is a testament to this dual approach. It uses just seven liters of helium—dramatically less than the industry standard of 1,500 liters. “No customer asked for low-helium MRI,” Partovi noted. “But we foresaw the sustainability and cost advantages years ago. Now, the entire industry is following suit.”

Whether focused on near-term solutions or long-term disruption, every Philips innovation is guided by three core principles:

• Centered on people and patients
• Co-developed with partners
• Built for global scale

“We aim to improve the lives of 2.5 billion people annually by 2030, including 400 million in underserved communities,” Partovi emphasized. “Achieving that requires designing for widespread, equitable impact from the start.”

Transforming Healthcare Software via Enterprise Informatics

Two years ago, Partovi took on additional leadership of Philips’ Healthcare Informatics division—a strategic move recognizing that software evolves faster than hardware. “While an MRI machine may be updated every two years, software should be refreshed every six weeks,” Partovi observed.

To accelerate progress, Philips unified its imaging and clinical informatics into a dedicated business unit. This team develops tools ranging from diagnostic viewers for radiologists and pathologists to systems that integrate data from medical devices to power predictive analytics. “In a hospital, any device with a digital output—ventilators, IV pumps, monitors—can feed data into AI models,” Partovi said.

These capabilities are already in action. At Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Philips is helping predict respiratory deterioration in ICU patients, enabling earlier interventions and better outcomes.

The Three Pillars of AI: Automate, Augment, Adapt

Partovi frames Philips’ AI strategy around three key functions: automation, augmentation, and agility—each designed to enhance clinical performance and efficiency.

• Automate: In cardiac ultrasound, AI now identifies critical frames and calculates heart strain in seconds, a task that previously took 20 minutes. “Sonographers didn’t train to edit images,” Partovi joked. “They trained to care for patients.”
• Augment: In the Azurion image-guided therapy platform, AI integrates real-time imaging to guide catheters through the heart with high precision, acting as a digital co-pilot for interventional cardiologists.
• Adapt: By connecting medical devices and analyzing data continuously, AI enables proactive monitoring systems that anticipate complications, improving safety and clinician responsiveness.

For Partovi, AI isn’t about replacing clinicians—it’s about expanding their capacity. “The biggest challenge in healthcare is the imbalance between demand and supply,” he said. “AI helps bridge that gap.”

Closing the AI Trust Gap

According to the latest Philips Future Health Index—a global survey of 16,000 patients and 2,000 clinicians—there remains a significant trust gap between patients and providers regarding AI. While 79% of clinicians believe AI reduces workload and improves care, only 59% of patients agree, with many fearing it could reduce face-to-face time with doctors.

Yet trust increases sharply when clinicians are involved. “Patients showed 86% confidence in AI when a physician was in the loop,” Partovi said. “The message is clear: AI should empower, not replace, the human connection.”

This insight shapes Philips’ AI development, which prioritizes transparency, fairness, and regulatory compliance. “If innovation isn’t responsible, it’s not innovation,” Partovi stressed.

Harnessing Generative AI Inside Philips

While much attention focuses on patient-facing AI, Philips is also deploying generative AI internally. In software development, generative AI now produces up to 30% of new code in some teams. “One developer told me, ‘I feel like I’ve got a new job,’” Partovi recalled.

Customer support is being transformed as well. Proprietary large language models trained on Philips’ knowledge base now power intelligent chat systems used by both customers and internal service teams. “In one unit, 10% of service requests are fully resolved by autonomous AI agents,” he said.

The outcome? Faster innovation cycles and more efficient knowledge transfer across a global, complex organization.

The Future: Entering the Age of Intelligence

For Partovi, the potential of AI and generative technologies is not slowing down—it’s gaining momentum. He compares today’s moment to historic turning points: the agricultural revolution, the industrial revolution, and the digital revolution.

“We’re now stepping into the age of intelligence,” he said. “For the first time, we can embed reasoning and decision-making into digital tools. Everything changes.”

From addressing care disparities in remote areas to reimagining daily workflows in hospitals, Partovi sees AI as the driving force that will finally fulfill healthcare’s promise of accessibility, equity, and personalization. “We’ve long dreamed of using technology to close the healthcare divide,” he said. “Now, we finally have the tools to make it happen.”

Peter High is President of Metis Strategy, a business and IT advisory firm. He has authored three bestselling books, including his latest Getting to Nimble. He also hosts the Technovation podcast and speaks at events worldwide. Follow him on Twitter @PeterAHigh.

The above is the detailed content of Inside Philips' AI Strategy To Deliver Better Care At Scale. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!