Introduction
The global healthcare sector stands at a pivotal crossroads. Aging populations, the rise of chronic disease, and rapid advances in medical therapies are together pushing demand for healthcare services to historic highs. At the same time, healthcare organizations face mounting pressure from workforce gaps, evolving regulations, and persistent supply chain vulnerabilities. Against this backdrop, the KPMG 2025 Global Healthcare CEO Outlook — based on survey insights from 110 healthcare CEOs worldwide — offers a revealing look at how industry leaders plan to navigate this complex environment. Their answer, increasingly, centers on digital transformation and artificial intelligence.
Growing Demand Is Reshaping Healthcare Strategy
Healthcare CEOs broadly agree: the demand for care is outpacing current capacity. Aging populations are living longer and requiring more intensive services. Meanwhile, breakthrough therapies — from gene editing to precision oncology — are expanding both possibility and expectation. Consequently, healthcare systems everywhere must serve more patients, with greater complexity, than ever before.
This demand surge is not a temporary disruption. Rather, it represents a structural shift that requires equally structural responses. CEOs are therefore turning to technology not simply to improve efficiency, but to fundamentally reimagine how care is planned, delivered, and sustained. Digitalization sits at the center of that reimagining.
AI as a Strategic Priority for Healthcare Leaders
Across the survey, healthcare CEOs consistently identified AI and digitalization as their most critical tools for closing the widening demand gap. They see AI as a force multiplier — one that can extend clinical reach, reduce administrative load, and help health systems do more with constrained resources.
Why AI Is Not a Silver Bullet
Yet CEOs are also clear-eyed about AI’s limitations. Technology alone cannot resolve every challenge the sector faces. Strong data infrastructure, organizational readiness, and cultural willingness to adopt new ways of working are all prerequisites for meaningful AI impact. Without these foundations, even the most sophisticated tools will underdeliver.
Furthermore, regulatory uncertainty continues to complicate AI adoption. Health systems operate in tightly governed environments, and the rules around AI use in clinical settings are still evolving globally. For many organizations, this uncertainty creates hesitation around scaling AI pilots into enterprise-wide programs.
How CEOs Plan to Deploy AI
Despite these cautions, CEOs are moving forward with purpose. Their AI deployment strategies focus on three core priorities:
- Embedding AI into daily clinical and operational routines to reduce repetitive manual tasks
- Automating administrative processes — including scheduling, coding, and documentation — to free clinicians for direct patient care
- Upskilling workforces through targeted training so staff can work effectively alongside AI tools
The goal, in essence, is to use AI to amplify human capability rather than replace it.
Top Risks Facing Healthcare Organizations Today
Beyond opportunity, the KPMG survey also surfaces the formidable risks that healthcare CEOs are actively managing.
Workforce Shortages
The talent gap in healthcare is acute and worsening. Shortages of nurses, physicians, allied health professionals, and support staff create bottlenecks that technology alone cannot fully resolve. Many CEOs see AI-assisted workflow automation as a partial solution — reducing the non-clinical burden on existing staff and thereby improving retention and job satisfaction.
Cybersecurity and Supply Chain Pressures
Healthcare organizations hold some of the most sensitive data in the world, making them prime targets for cyberattacks. At the same time, global supply chains for pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and critical equipment remain fragile following years of pandemic-era disruption. Both risks demand sustained investment and strategic vigilance.
Regulatory Complexity
Regulatory change continues to add pressure. From data privacy mandates to evolving reimbursement frameworks, healthcare CEOs must navigate a shifting rulebook — often across multiple markets simultaneously. Staying compliant while also innovating is a difficult balance that many organizations are still working to strike.
Rethinking the Healthcare Workforce Model
One of the most significant findings in the KPMG survey is how fundamentally healthcare CEOs are rethinking their workforce strategies. This is not simply a matter of hiring more staff. Instead, leaders are reassessing how work itself should be organized, automated, and supported.
Many CEOs now plan to:
- Redesign roles to separate tasks that require human judgment from those that can be automated
- Invest in AI training and upskilling across clinical and non-clinical teams
- Integrate AI tools directly into care pathways so that staff benefit from real-time decision support
- Reduce administrative burden through process automation, freeing nurses and doctors to focus on what matters most: patient care
This workforce reimagination reflects a broader recognition that healthcare’s greatest asset — its people — must be protected and empowered, not merely supplemented by machines.
An Optimistic Outlook, With Eyes Wide Open
Despite the pressures they face, healthcare CEOs remain genuinely optimistic about the sector’s future. Most believe that the convergence of AI, digital health, and new clinical therapies will ultimately deliver better outcomes for patients, providers, and communities alike.
However, they also recognize that the next few years will be defining ones. The decisions made now — on technology investment, workforce transformation, partnership strategy, and regulatory engagement — will shape healthcare for a generation. Leaders who move deliberately and strategically will be best positioned to thrive. Those who wait may find the gap too wide to close.
Key Findings From the KPMG 2025 Healthcare CEO Survey
The KPMG 2025 Global Healthcare CEO Outlook report draws on insights from 110 healthcare CEOs across the world. It covers:
- Growth expectations and investment priorities shaping global healthcare strategy
- Digital transformation and AI adoption — where the biggest opportunities lie and where limitations remain
- Top organizational risks — from cybersecurity to supply chain fragility and regulatory change
- Workforce and operating model transformation — how leaders are embedding technology while preserving the human core of healthcare
- Data-driven strategic insights to support board-level and executive decision-making
Conclusion
The KPMG 2025 Global Healthcare CEO Outlook makes one thing abundantly clear: healthcare leaders are not standing still. They are actively embracing AI and digitalization to meet surging demand, rethinking how their workforces operate, and managing a complex web of risks with a measured blend of caution and confidence. Moreover, the sector’s challenges are real — but so is its resilience. With thoughtful strategy and bold execution, healthcare CEOs believe a better future for patients and professionals is well within reach.
