New Delhi: As well being techniques worldwide grapple with workforce shortages, rising power illness burdens, and widening inequities, Infosys is positioning “agentic AI” as a key lever to assist shut the healthcare divide.
In an unique interview with ETHealthworld, Venky Ananth, Government Vice President and World Head of Healthcare at Infosys, described agentic AI as a shift from passive analytics to proactive motion—an evolution he believes is important for enhancing entry to care at scale.
For a non-technical viewers, agentic AI refers to techniques that may act autonomously inside outlined boundaries. They collect data, full duties, and coordinate steps on behalf of people.
In contrast to conventional AI fashions that primarily analyze knowledge and generate insights, agentic AI techniques can provoke follow-ups, schedule appointments, remind sufferers about medicines, and escalate instances to clinicians when wanted. This distinction, Ananth stated, is especially related in healthcare, the place entry is usually restricted by “time, distance, and administrative friction.”
“Agentic AI acts as a power multiplier for overstretched techniques,” he famous. “It permits care to achieve communities that battle with availability, affordability, or geographic isolation.”
Focusing on the Most Pressing Gaps
Globally, Infosys sees three pressing gaps: uneven entry to major care, acute workforce shortages, and chronic disparities in outcomes amongst susceptible populations.
To handle these, the corporate has embedded agentic workflows into platforms corresponding to Infosys Topaz Cloth for fast AI agent improvement, Infosys Helix for core administration, Wingspan for workforce upskilling, and its Accountable AI toolkit for governance and security.
“These initiatives are designed to develop attain, simplify navigation, and help early intervention,” Ananth stated. “We prioritize options that assist sufferers discover care sooner and scale back delays attributable to administrative complexity.”
By specializing in operational bottlenecks prior authorizations, appointment scheduling, and follow-up monitoring the corporate goals to deal with limitations that disproportionately have an effect on underserved teams.
Bridging Gaps in Underserved Communities
In resource-constrained settings, coordination gaps will be as damaging as infrastructure gaps. Ananth believes agentic AI provides a distinct benefit right here.
“Conventional AI analyzes knowledge. Agentic AI acts on it,” he stated. “That functionality issues the place sources are scarce and duties fall by the cracks.”
For instance, AI brokers can establish rising-risk sufferers, provoke preventive outreach in native languages, information them by digital triage, and guarantee follow-ups are accomplished. Crucially, these techniques function beneath clinician-defined guidelines and escalate instances when human oversight is required.
“This mixture of initiative and supervision makes agentic AI extra able to bridging entry gaps than passive predictive fashions alone,” he added.
Among the many most promising functions are digital triage, inhabitants well being outreach, automation of prior authorizations, and power illness administration. Health techniques deploying agentic workflows are reporting sooner care navigation and extra constant affected person engagement, notably in rural and low-income communities.
“These options assist shift from reactive care to proactive engagement,” Ananth stated. “Entry turns into not solely sooner, however extra equitable.”
Supporting, Not Changing, Clinicians
With international shortages of medical doctors and nurses, considerations about AI changing human judgment persist. Ananth was clear:
“AI brokers help, not substitute, scientific decision-making.”
In line with him, brokers can summarize affected person data, collect proof, and counsel subsequent steps, however suggestions stay totally reviewable. Infosys embeds “human-in-the-loop” controls to make sure clinicians validate all actions.
“AI additionally flags uncertainties as an alternative of guessing,” he stated. “The precept is easy: clinicians determine, AI assists.”
By automating administrative duties, he added, clinicians acquire extra time for advanced decision-making doubtlessly enhancing affected person security.
Adoption, nonetheless, depends upon workforce readiness.
“Simulation-based apply helps clinicians combine AI into every day routines confidently,” Ananth stated. “The objective is for AI to really feel like a dependable teammate, not a disruptive intrusion.”
Safeguards Towards Bias
As healthcare AI expands, considerations about algorithmic bias stay entrance and heart. Infosys incorporates bias-detection frameworks, various coaching datasets, and steady efficiency monitoring into its techniques.
“Design rules embody inclusive personas, multilingual accessibility, and cautious analysis of social determinants,” Ananth stated.
Agentic techniques are designed to escalate ambiguous instances for human overview somewhat than making unsure selections.
On the query of accountability, Ananth was unequivocal:
“Accountability should all the time stay with the healthcare group and the licensed professionals overseeing care.”
Infosys advocates clear audit trails, clear escalation pathways, and governance constructions that guarantee all AI suggestions are reviewable.
“Expertise can help,” he stated, “however scientific and organizational accountability can’t be delegated to AI.”
From Episodic to Steady Care
Wanting 5 years forward, Ananth believes agentic AI will probably be most transformative in major care entry, power illness administration, and home-based care.
By integrating multimodal knowledge from digital well being information, wearables, imaging, laboratory stories, and social determinants, AI brokers may assist shift well being techniques from episodic remedy to steady, proactive help.
“Our objective is to assist ship high-quality healthcare to each neighborhood, no matter geography or revenue,” Ananth stated.
If profitable, agentic AI could not simply optimize healthcare operations—it may redefine how entry itself is delivered, making care extra anticipatory, inclusive, and equitable within the years forward.
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