Artificial Intelligence was once hailed as a revolutionary force in healthcare, promising to streamline diagnostics, improve patient outcomes, and reduce operational inefficiencies. But despite its potential, many AI-driven healthcare analytics projects in India remain stalled, falling short of delivering on their early promises. While hospitals like Apollo are pushing ahead with new investments, the broader adoption of AI across India’s healthcare system remains slow and uneven.
Apollo Hospitals, one of India’s largest healthcare networks, is doubling down on AI to reduce the workload on staff and boost operational efficiency. From predictive diagnostics to clinical decision support systems, Apollo is betting that AI can help its providers work smarter and deliver better care to more patients. But Apollo’s forward momentum stands in contrast to the broader national trend: many hospitals remain hesitant or unequipped to make similar investments.
So, why isn’t everyone in India doing the same?
“AI and data analytics are likely to change the future of healthcare in India and help in improving the diagnostics, workflows and patient care. Although hospitals like Apollo are using AI to lighten the burden on staff and improve productivity, the adoption is still very low due to data fragmentation, regulatory risk, and incompatibility,” says Ankit Shrivastava, Founder & Managing Partner of Enventure.
This tension between potential and progress is shaped by several structural challenges. India’s healthcare data is notoriously fragmented, often spread across multiple systems and formats, making it difficult to apply AI consistently and effectively. Hospitals and clinics using different platforms, file types, and coding systems find it hard to collaborate—and AI systems require large volumes of clean, standardized data to function well.
Concerns over data privacy and cybersecurity continue to loom large. India lacks a comprehensive data protection law tailored for health data, and many healthcare organizations fear exposing sensitive patient information to breaches or misuse. Without strong legal safeguards, both patients and providers remain cautious.
“In order to solve this problem, India has established the necessary digital infrastructure such as the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), the National Digital Health Blueprint (NDHB) and the Unified Health Interface (UHI) to ensure interoperability of electronic health records (EHRs),” Shrivastava explains.
These national initiatives represent significant steps forward. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission aims to create a unified digital health ID system for all Indian citizens, which can be linked to electronic health records and made accessible across the care continuum. The Unified Health Interface seeks to enable better data flow between providers, diagnostic labs, pharmacies, and insurers.
But digital infrastructure alone isn’t enough. Adoption also depends on how willing and able hospitals are to embed AI solutions into clinical workflows—and that depends on culture, budget, and training.
“Nevertheless, issues such as the issues on privacy of data, costs of implementation and skepticism from the medical community are still present to affect the effectiveness of AI. For the scale up of AI to be effective in India, the country has to improve the frameworks for sharing of data, ensure that AI is embedded in ABDM and UHI and increase the cooperation between policymakers, technology vendors and healthcare facilities,” Shrivastava adds.
In other words, India’s AI healthcare challenge is not just about technology—it’s about trust, coordination, and execution. While Apollo and other pioneers are making strides, smaller hospitals and public sector providers often lack the resources or infrastructure to follow suit.
The way forward may lie in more collaborative models—where government frameworks like ABDM provide the foundation, and private sector leaders like Apollo drive innovation and share best practices. Public-private partnerships could help bridge the gaps in technology and trust, especially in underserved regions.
If India can address these hurdles, the promise of AI to transform healthcare—by reducing strain on providers, increasing diagnostic accuracy, and expanding access to care—can still be realized. But for now, the country remains at a critical crossroads between ambition and execution.