The healthcare and life sciences (HLS) industry is undergoing a profound transformation driven by rapid advancements in AI. Traditionally reliant on manual processes and siloed data, the sector has evolved with digital innovations such as electronic health records, predictive analytics, and precision medicine. As organizations navigate this shift, the focus is no longer just on simple chatbots — it is about leveraging generative AI for advanced data synthesis and real-time insights to create better patient-centric experiences and improve drug development.
At the Nasscom Digital Innovation Conclave, 2025, held in Chennai, various industry leaders across the healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, automotive, and transportation sectors highlighted how cutting-edge technologies such as blockchain, AI, and generative AI impact their respective sectors. In this article, we specifically delve into the discussions on the impact of AI technologies on the HLS sector.
Governments, research institutions, and healthcare organizations are allocating investments to accelerate AI-driven breakthroughs in the healthcare sector, addressing some of the industry’s most pressing challenges. Our Generative AI Strategy, Spending, and Adoption Metrics report highlighted that the healthcare sector leads the generative AI spending. Figure 1 shows that the healthcare sector tops the generative AI spending, with a $300 median spend per employee. This spending underscores a growing commitment to leveraging generative AI for transformative healthcare solutions, paving the way for a resilient global healthcare ecosystem.
Figure 1: Healthcare tops the generative AI spending across various sectors
Practical Applications Beyond the Hype
The adoption of generative AI in India’s HLS sector is driven by the need to enhance accessibility, improve patient care, and accelerate drug discovery. Due to inadequate healthcare access and the increasing costs associated with clinical trials and regulatory approvals, India faces unique healthcare challenges, including doctor shortages in rural areas and the high cost of drug development.
In the panel discussion on Generative AI in Healthcare and Life sciences, Dr. Sheila John, head of the teleophthalmology and e-learning department at Sankara Nethralaya, spoke about how hospitals in the Indian market can develop healthcare assistants with generative AI to bridge the gap between patients and doctors, particularly in the rural areas. Dr. John highlighted how generative AI-powered assistants can analyze symptoms and classify patient cases based on urgency, ensuring doctors prioritize high-risk patients. At the same time, these bots can offer tailored health advice, medication reminders, and post-care instructions, improving patient treatment adherence.
Within the life sciences sector, Parvatham Subbiah, AstraZeneca India’s delivery and transformation head, outlined various generative AI use cases, including in-house molecule design tools that predict molecular behavior, reducing the cost of failure and accelerating drug discovery. They also discussed AI-integrated research assistants that scan medical journals and research repositories for rapid information retrieval and summarization. AM Govind Kumar, managing director at SeaportAI, emphasized the role of generative AI in synthetic data generation, which helps train AI/ML algorithms using simulated patient records to improve diagnostic accuracy.
The practical applications of generative AI in India’s HLS sector extend beyond theoretical possibilities. From diagnostics to drug discovery and patient engagement, organizations are leveraging generative AI to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and improve accessibility. Figure 2 highlights a few examples of generative AI-driven advancements by Indian healthcare organizations.
Figure 2: Generative AI implementations in Indian healthcare organizations
Beyond these use cases, AI-driven virtual health assistants can reshape how care is delivered, managed, and advanced. In a Leaders Talk session on AI in Healthcare, Professor Prabhu Rajagopal from IIT Madras highlighted that AI-driven virtual health assistants are enhancing alternative care by enabling remote monitoring, personalized treatment plans, and telehealth consultations, ensuring continuous patient engagement outside traditional healthcare settings. He outlined that AI agents can automate administrative tasks such as medical coding, appointment scheduling, and patient record management, allowing healthcare professionals to focus more on patient care. Additionally, Rajagopal emphasized the impact of AI-powered agents that can optimize patient recruitment by analyzing vast datasets to identify suitable candidates, predict trial outcomes, and automate regulatory documentation processes in clinical trial enablement. With these advancements, generative AI is not only optimizing healthcare operations but also ensuring more personalized and efficient patient care.
The Way Forward
The future of healthcare depends on leveraging generative AI-driven innovations to create a smarter, more connected, and patient-centric ecosystem. As these innovations evolve, they will drive a more efficient, equitable, and responsive healthcare system. By embracing generative AI, healthcare providers can enhance patient care, improve health outcomes, and redefine how medical professionals and patients engage with technology—creating a future where AI empowers precision medicine, accelerates drug discovery, and transforms healthcare delivery at scale.
By Dhanusha Ramakrishnan, Lead Analyst