For health system leaders, the pressure to move fast on artificial intelligence has rarely felt more acute. New tools emerge weekly, vendor pipelines are full and board-level expectations are rising.
But Sunil Dadlani, executive vice president, chief information and digital transformation officer, and chief cybersecurity officer at Atlantic Health System in Morristown, N.J., is pushing back on the urgency; not to slow AI adoption, but to make it stick. Technology is evolving quickly and transformation is continuous, a “lifelong journey,” said Mr. Dadlani. Leaders are learning to take an iterative approach to mastery when building the talent pipeline and workforce for the future.
“Leaders should have a continuous learning mindset because your AI is really redefining the work,” he said during an episode of the “Becker’s Healthcare Podcast.” “When roles get redefined, it redefines the responsibility and ultimately redefines the skillset. Your current skillset will get obsolete very fast. Have upskilling, continuously getting engaged in AI projects, and learning. Having a curious mindset is a key trait for not only surviving, but thriving in the era of AI.”
Mr. Dadlani’s attention is fixed squarely on agentic AI. At a moment when most organizations are still sorting out generative AI governance, agentic AI represents a meaningful escalation of both possibility and risk.
“With the capacity and capability of AI rising exponentially, we are now at a stage where we are seeing a paradigm shift from AI that can predict to now generating content and summarization, and here we are with agentic AI, which can actually take actions,” he said.
AI agents taking autonomous action in healthcare can drive extreme value, but also add extreme risk. Many health systems incorporating AI agents are finding the balance between innovation and implementation while also being mindful of potential cybersecurity, patient data and AI bias issues. That tension — between value and risk, between speed and structure — sits at the center of Atlantic Health System’s AI strategy. Mr. Dadlani has grown skeptical of a widely held assumption that moving fast creates momentum, and momentum creates capability.
“Momentum without governance is chaos and fragmentation, whereas governance without momentum is stagnation,” he said.
His organization is now deliberately pivoting away from the pilot-heavy approach that has trapped many health systems in what he calls “pilot paralysis” — a state where organizations accumulate proofs of concept that never reach enterprise scale. Instead, Atlantic Health System is building a structured foundation: centralized governance, a robust digital infrastructure, a single intake process for use cases, and a SAFE framework for AI — secure, accountable, fair, and explainable.
The health system is now shifting from being an AI-enabled organization to becoming AI-native organization that can quickly scale pilots enterprisewide. But he is also ready for disruption.
“There are several forces creating disruptions in healthcare, be it the aging population, demographic shift, cost of care going up, the risk expectation from healthcare consumerization, margin pressure, then we have a workforce shortage and reimbursement challenges,” said Mr. Dadlani. “All these forces are really disrupting the healthcare landscape. Healthcare of the future will be real-time, 24-7, always on.”
To prepare for that future, Mr. Dadlani and his team are making some big changes.
“Healthcare will be more predictive, more prescriptive, more preventative and more precision-based, and it can be hyper personalized,” he said. “The way we are handling this change and navigating and reimagining healthcare, and realigning our workforce, is taking a very cognitive approach to what matters most. We are laser focused on looking at things, looking at the problems first and not starting with the algorithm, technology or vendors.”
At the Becker's 11th Annual IT + Revenue Cycle Conference: The Future of AI & Digital Health, taking place September 14–17 in Chicago, healthcare executives and digital leaders from across the country will come together to explore how AI, interoperability, cybersecurity, and revenue cycle innovation are transforming care delivery, strengthening financial performance, and driving the next era of digital health. Apply for complimentary registration now.
