How AI agents will revolutionise healthcare

Recent findings presented at the 2024 World Conference on Lung Cancer in San Diego once more highlighted the huge potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare and life sciences. The study found that AI can help detect pulmonary nodules which could develop into early-stage lung cancers – before symptoms are even present.

Despite its sophistication and promise, there remains a roadblock to the broader implementation of AI in healthcare. Traditionally, AI has been designed as a so-called ‘Black Box’ – a closed system that does not give away its secrets regarding its functionalities as well as its processing and usage of data.

This makes it non-traceable and non-auditable which is a huge red flag in highly regulated industries like healthcare, where sensitive patient data is collected, processed, managed and stored. As a result, many hospitals and other medical institutions are cautious about implementing AI technologies in their workflows.

Agentic AI represents the next stage in AI evolution

This means the ‘Black Box’ needs to be opened, and internal decision-making processes must become transparent, traceable and auditable. Enter Agentic AI, often called multi agent AI. This technology relies on autonomous multi-agent systems that are designed to be inherently transparent. These systems can form teams of 'agents,' equipping them with the relevant domain knowledge and business processes to operate effectively.

Every individual agent assumes a different, specialised role and performs its assigned tasks. Agents can connect and interact with each other to retrieve and leverage the necessary information. Every interaction is logged and tagged by the system, which provides a complete audit trail that summarises how the AI uses the data and how it reaches its decisions. You can even have agents review each other’s output and improve the overall quality through these reflective cycles.

Additionally, a multi-agent system has a high degree of autonomy. Even with generative AI, humans typically still need to be at the helm of operations – not only to steer the system into the right direction by providing the necessary input, but also to reduce the potential risks such as so-called hallucinations, misinformation and biases. However, Agentic AI takes this further and can operate without constant human supervision.

While traditional AI models are limited to specific tasks, AI agents go a step further by autonomously initiating and completing tasks. These agents understand tasks in context, take the steps needed to achieve the desired results, and even weigh different options while anticipating outcomes. They can also adjust their strategies in real-time based on feedback and changes in the environment. As a result, Agentic AI enables healthcare and medical organisations to efficiently automate even the most complex processes – including natural language inputs – without compromising on compliance.

Unlocking the power of agentic AI in healthcare, MedTech and biomedical research

While still in its early stages, the potential for Agentic AI is vast. Clinicians and researchers can benefit greatly – from accelerating and streamlining workflows by rapidly analysing huge datasets, increasing efficiency and improving accuracy by eliminating human errors. In turn, this frees up staff from repetitive, mundane tasks, allowing them to focus on higher-value responsibilities, like providing empathetic treatment and personalised care, as well as developing tailored treatment plans.

Below are three promising use cases that demonstrate how agentic AI can improve the day-to-day work of healthcare professionals – all while reducing costs, enhancing efficiency and maintaining compliance.

Reducing the burden of documentation

Clinician burnout and staff shortages present major challenges in healthcare and medical research. Administrative tasks, especially documentation, take up a great deal of valuable time and energy which could be better spent on focused, empathetic examinations and the treatments of patients. This is not only crucial for a good recovery but also for high levels of patient satisfaction. Agentic AI can automatically dictate, transcribe, and organise clinical notes, forms, and other documents, allowing medical professionals to dedicate more time to patient care and other high-value activities.

Accelerating medical device development

Developing and introducing a new medical device to the market can take up to three to seven years on average. This can be due to delays in research, code development or operations as well as various unknowns regarding regulations, technological requirements, testing or new medical findings. Agentic AI can accelerate this process in several ways. For example, it can produce a design based on specific parameters, constraints and variables to meet regulatory standards, while continuously adjusting as developers provide real-world feedback and case knowledge. Using digital twin technology, the AI can also simulate and predict device performance under various conditions, helping to streamline development and reduce time to market.

Revolutionising in silico drug design and modelling

Similar to the development of medical devices, the time to market for new drugs is notoriously long, often taking 10 to 15 years. The revolutionary in silico drug modelling – a process that involves the use of computational techniques in the drug discovery – was introduced to speed this up. While the COVID pandemic showed how quickly a vaccine can be developed, this is a rare exception. Even with in silico methods, the process still takes time. Agentic AI can help reduce this by rapidly analysing vast datasets, patents, literature and chemical libraries. It can simulate drug behaviour, predict biological/chemical interactions and side effects and even identify clinical trial candidates more efficiently.

Transparency: The key to meaningful AI transformation

Agentic AI brings together data-driven insights and autonomous agents to solve complex challenges, speed up processes, boost accuracy, and uncover hidden insights—all while keeping healthcare professionals in control. Rather than replacing expertise, it supports medical professionals, letting them focus on patients and other high-value tasks. Best of all, with built-in transparency and governance, agentic AI is the perfect fit for healthcare organisations.