AMSTERDAM: India has emerged as the global development hub for more than 85% of Philips’ artificial intelligence (AI) solutions for healthcare, underscoring the country’s growing role in shaping next-generation medical technologies even as the company bets on AI-enabled diagnostics to help address India’s shortage of advanced imaging services and trained specialists.The company said its Bengaluru innovation campus has evolved into Philips’ largest innovation hub globally and serves as a software powerhouse where thousands of engineers develop AI-enabled healthcare technologies for both Indian and international markets. According to Özlem Fidanci, Chief of International Region at Philips, India’s talent pool, digital capabilities and innovation ecosystem have made it central to the company’s global AI strategy.Despite significant improvements in healthcare access, India continues to face gaps in the availability of MRI, CT and other advanced diagnostic services, particularly outside major cities. Fidancı said the challenge is not a single bottleneck such as cost or manpower but a combination of infrastructure, financing, skilled professionals and technology.“The biggest opportunity lies in combining data, AI, intelligent software and hardware into integrated solutions that improve productivity across the healthcare system. AI should always work with human supervision, supporting clinicians rather than replacing them,” she told TOI.She said AI-enabled MRI systems being deployed in Indian hospitals can reduce scan times by up to three times while improving image resolution by as much as 65%, allowing hospitals to examine more patients using the same infrastructure. Workflow automation, she added, also helps reduce bottlenecks across the patient imaging journey, improving efficiency in resource-constrained settings.Patrick Mans, Global Head of Data and AI at Philips, said artificial intelligence is already delivering measurable gains in healthcare rather than remaining a future promise.“Our Future Health Index shows that 71% of clinicians report improved workflow efficiency through AI, while nearly half say it has increased their capacity to see more patients,” he said. He added that AI is helping automate routine administrative work and assist clinicians in interpreting medical images, while clinical decisions continue to remain with doctors.Addressing concerns that AI could replace healthcare workers, Fidancı said the technology is designed to augment, not substitute, doctors, nurses and technicians by reducing repetitive tasks and allowing them to spend more time with patients. She said Philips trained more than 1,000 healthcare professionals in India over the past year to work alongside AI-enabled technologies.The company is also partnering with Bajaj Integrated Health System to build a connected digital healthcare ecosystem in India and expects AI-enabled diagnostics to play an increasingly important role in expanding access to quality healthcare beyond metropolitan centres.
