Issue 02

🌟 Editor's Note

Stanford dropped the AI Index Report and it’s a whopping 456 pages of goodness. If you want a little light bedtime reading, here’s the link. (No, I haven’t read all of it yet, but, of course, I’ve used ChatPDF to interrogate it 😅 )

📆 Upcoming Events

📜 Virtual Scribe Market Updates

Freed Gets a Cash Infusion

Freed, an AI clinician assistant designed to reduce the burdens of medical documentation, today announced it has raised $30 million in Series A funding, led by Sequoia Capital with participation from Scale Venture Partners, Daniel Gross, Gokul Rajaram, and Ted Zagat. This brings Freed’s total funding to $34 million, as the startup cements its position as one of the fastest-growing health-tech companies in the U.S. Read More (Source: Healthcare IT News)

Why Hospitals Are Scaling AI Scribes, Even Though They Don’t Reduce Costs

AI-powered scribes are proving their ability to dramatically reduce clinician burnout, but their financial impact is unclear, according to research from the Peterson Health Technology Institute. Read More (Source: MedCity News)

🫢 What Does He Mean Exactly?

Dr. Oz seems to have recommended the use of healthcare avatars in place of frontline healthcare workers on his Apr 9 call with Wired magazine. Read more (Source: Becker’s Hospital Review)

🚀 To: The C-Suite Who Thinks AI Is Just Another Software Install

Look, I know what you're thinking. "Great, another assessment. More consultants. More meetings. More costs."

I get it. I've been in your shoes where the idea of spending more money to adopt new solutions seems unnecessary. But here's the uncomfortable truth: AI isn't just another solution. It has tremendous workforce, process, and privacy implications. Organizations are sinking millions into AI adoption, when they have about as much organizational readiness as a toddler has patience at a four-hour opera.

Why You Actually Need This (Despite Your Deep Existential Pain)

First, most "assessments" of AI capabilities consists of Dave from IT mentioning he took an online Python course once and Sarah from Marketing who uses ChatGPT to write her emails. That's not a capability assessment; that's a cry for help.

Second, according to actual research (not from ChatGPT), executives who can't quantify both near and long-term costs of AI projects shouldn't scale them. That's literally most organizations right now, who are "don't scale us" poster children.

Third, every department is suddenly an "AI expert" with use cases that range from "mildly interesting" to "dear god why." Without a rigorous framework to evaluate business impact, complexity, and testing costs, you are basically throwing darts at a board while blindfolded and drunk.

What an Assessment Actually Does (Besides Make Me Question My Career Choices)

1. Capability Gap Analysis: Identifies what you think you can do versus what you can actually do. Spoiler alert: it's a Grand Canyon-sized gap.

2. Cultural Readiness Check: Determines if your people are ready for AI or if they're still struggling with the concept of saving to the cloud instead of their desktop.

3. Infrastructure Evaluation: Assesses whether your current systems can handle AI or if they're more likely to burst into flames at the mere mention of machine learning.

4. Business Value Alignment: Makes sure your AI initiatives actually serve business goals instead of just making you sound cool at industry conferences.

The Cost of NOT Doing This (My Personal Nightmare Scenario)

Without this assessment, you're essentially planning to:

• Spend thousands or millions on AI tools nobody knows how to use

• Disrupt workflows nobody understands

• Generate data nobody can interpret

• Create models nobody can maintain

• And ultimately deliver zero measurable business value

In other words, you'll be that cautionary tale other executives whisper about at conferences: "Did you hear about [Your Company]? They went all-in on AI without an assessment. Now their CEO is living in a van down by the river."

The Bottom Line (Because I Know That's All You'll Read)

Yes, an organizational readiness assessment adds cost to your AI project. But it's like paying for a structural inspection before buying a house – it seems annoying until you skip it and your dream home collapses into a sinkhole.

This assessment isn't just another consultant's cash grab, it's the difference between strategic AI adoption and what I like to call "expensive digital flailing."

So, think before you leap. Better yet, avoid having to up your blood pressure medicine and just get the assessment already.Quantum Computing Goes Mainstream