Event details
AI and digital technologies are already reshaping health and social care. AI tools are being developed, tested and used in areas such as imaging, triage, risk prediction and workforce support, yet the pace of change can make it hard to understand what is working, what is still in development or needs more testing and the implications for people using services.
The NHS 10 Year Health Plan aspires to a future where AI is seamlessly integrated into most clinical pathways, and the Medium Term Planning Framework reinforces this focus by accelerating implementation, scaling and national roll out of digital technologies. This will require attention to the practicalities of implementation and scale, not just pilots or technical breakthroughs, and services designed with people and communities at their heart.
Although there are promising examples of AI improving care and easing pressure on staff, progress is uneven. Many parts of the system continue to struggle with basic infrastructure challenges – unreliable devices, unstable connectivity and fragmented data – that hold back the potential for AI to improve health and care services. For digital services to be truly inclusive, they must also serve the populations they are designed for, work as expected and be trusted by both users and staff.
This year’s King's Fund Digital health and AI conference will cut through the noise to explore what it really takes to build an AI‑enabled health and care system that works for people – grounded in evidence, lived experience and the realities of the health and care system today. It will examine where AI and digital technologies are already adding value, where they are falling short, and what needs to change in leadership, culture, infrastructure and practice to unlock meaningful and sustained impact. Through case studies, discussion and hands‑on collaborative sessions, you’ll hear from those implementing AI today, and explore what trusted, inclusive and effective digital journeys could look like in the future.
Throughout the day, it will dive into these issues through a series of sessions across three themes: people first, collaborate and learn, and innovate.
- digital health and AI in 2026: what’s real, what’s next and what’s at stake
- what developments in AI mean for consumer health and the workforce?
- leading digital and AI change in constrained and complex systems
- Innovators and investors in conversation: unlocking innovation and transformation
- ambient AI: is it leading to less admin, more people centred care?
- hack the future – a mini hackathon tackling real‑world challenges
- can the UK lead on safe, inclusive health AI?