What leaders said about AI on Day 2 of HIMSS26

Day 2 of HIMSS26 focused on AI-driven healthcare transformation, with industry leaders discussing emerging applications and challenges in ambient AI, governance, and wearable tech during March 2026 interviews. Ambient AI took center stage as executives highlighted its potential to streamline clinical workflows by passively capturing patient-provider interactions, reducing administrative burdens in real-time healthcare settings. Governance emerged as a critical theme, with leaders emphasizing the need for standardized AI frameworks to ensure ethical deployment, data privacy, and regulatory compliance across healthcare systems. Wearable devices were spotlighted for their role in predictive analytics, with speakers noting how continuous health data from wearables could enable earlier interventions and personalized treatment plans. Interoperability challenges were underscored as a barrier to AI adoption, with calls for unified data standards to integrate disparate systems and maximize AI’s diagnostic and operational efficiency.