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Digital Patient Podcast

TDP 218: Nabla’s AI Executive Summit Debrief: Yann LeCun’s World Models, Where Health Systems are Going with AI after Ambient, and Things CMIOs will Never Say on Stage

February 5, 2026
By
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On this special duo episode, Alan Sardana sits down with ý Co-founder and CEO Joshua Liu, MD, to unpack the biggest ideas from the Nabla Accelerate AI Executive Summit. Josh shares what he heard behind closed doors from CMIOs, CIOs, and digital health leaders—from why AI scribes unlocked AI adoption, to what comes next in healthcare automation, trust, and ROI. They explore where today’s AI may fall short, drawing inspiration from Yann LeCun's keynote ideas around World Models, how transparency matters more than “AI-first” branding, and why humility and execution—not hype—ultimately determine which AI solutions succeed in healthcare. Click the play button to listen or read the show notes below.

Audio:

Guest(s):

  • Dr. Joshua Liu (), Co-founder & CEO at ý

Episode 218 - Show Notes:

[00:15:29] What the Nabla AI Executive Summit was all about—shoutout Alex LeBrun, Delphine Groll, Ed Lee, MD, MPH, Laurent Landowski, Priscilla Pennington, Margaux Benoit, Kenza Bouzoubaa, and Matt Sakumoto, MD

[00:17:04] Why Josh was invited as a moderator alongside prominent healthcare AI voices

[00:20:33] What Yann LeCun argued about the limits of large language models in healthcare decision-making

[00:22:17] Why world models trained on physical and environmental data may matter more than LLMs for clinical reliability

[00:29:38] How health systems are being forced to prove ROI when implementing AI amid tight operating margins

[00:30:58] What leaders such as Karandeep Singh, MD, MMSc Chief Health AI Officer, UC San Diego Health believe comes after AI scribes, including automation across referrals, orders, and follow-ups

[00:32:16] Why Paul Lukac, MD, MBA, MS Chief AI Officer, UCLA Health believes branding a health system as “AI-first” may risk eroding patient trust

[00:33:29] How transparency about AI’s role in care can build trust more effectively than AI-forward marketing

[00:34:53] What Rebecca Markowitz, MD, MA CMIO, M Health Fairview learned from low adoption of AI-drafted patient portal messages

[00:36:18] How personalization and clinician-authored inputs may be key to making AI messaging useful

[00:38:06] A recap of the most interesting ideas discussed by Shaun Miller, MD, MBA (CHIO, Cedars Sinai), Omkar Kulkarni, MPH (CDTO, Children's Hospital Los Angeles), James M. Blum, MD, FCCM, AME (CHIO, U of Iowa), and Keisuke Nakagawa, MD (Director of Strategic Impact & Growth, UC San Diego Health)

[00:48:37] Hallway conversations with CMIOs—aka things CMIOs will never say on stage...

[00:50:13] How brand recognition can override product evaluations in healthcare buying decisions

[00:52:35] Why trust, delivery, and founder behavior matter more than funding or press releases in AI adoption

The Digital Patient has been recognized as Feedspot's . Thank you to our listeners for making this happen!

TDP 218: Nabla’s AI Executive Summit Debrief: Yann LeCun’s World Models, Where Health Systems are Going with AI after Ambient, and Things CMIOs will Never Say on Stage

Posted by:
seamless
on
February 5, 2026

Subscribe on: | | | | |

On this special duo episode, Alan Sardana sits down with ý Co-founder and CEO Joshua Liu, MD, to unpack the biggest ideas from the Nabla Accelerate AI Executive Summit. Josh shares what he heard behind closed doors from CMIOs, CIOs, and digital health leaders—from why AI scribes unlocked AI adoption, to what comes next in healthcare automation, trust, and ROI. They explore where today’s AI may fall short, drawing inspiration from Yann LeCun's keynote ideas around World Models, how transparency matters more than “AI-first” branding, and why humility and execution—not hype—ultimately determine which AI solutions succeed in healthcare. Click the play button to listen or read the show notes below.

Audio:

Guest(s):

  • Dr. Joshua Liu (), Co-founder & CEO at ý

Episode 218 - Show Notes:

[00:15:29] What the Nabla AI Executive Summit was all about—shoutout Alex LeBrun, Delphine Groll, Ed Lee, MD, MPH, Laurent Landowski, Priscilla Pennington, Margaux Benoit, Kenza Bouzoubaa, and Matt Sakumoto, MD

[00:17:04] Why Josh was invited as a moderator alongside prominent healthcare AI voices

[00:20:33] What Yann LeCun argued about the limits of large language models in healthcare decision-making

[00:22:17] Why world models trained on physical and environmental data may matter more than LLMs for clinical reliability

[00:29:38] How health systems are being forced to prove ROI when implementing AI amid tight operating margins

[00:30:58] What leaders such as Karandeep Singh, MD, MMSc Chief Health AI Officer, UC San Diego Health believe comes after AI scribes, including automation across referrals, orders, and follow-ups

[00:32:16] Why Paul Lukac, MD, MBA, MS Chief AI Officer, UCLA Health believes branding a health system as “AI-first” may risk eroding patient trust

[00:33:29] How transparency about AI’s role in care can build trust more effectively than AI-forward marketing

[00:34:53] What Rebecca Markowitz, MD, MA CMIO, M Health Fairview learned from low adoption of AI-drafted patient portal messages

[00:36:18] How personalization and clinician-authored inputs may be key to making AI messaging useful

[00:38:06] A recap of the most interesting ideas discussed by Shaun Miller, MD, MBA (CHIO, Cedars Sinai), Omkar Kulkarni, MPH (CDTO, Children's Hospital Los Angeles), James M. Blum, MD, FCCM, AME (CHIO, U of Iowa), and Keisuke Nakagawa, MD (Director of Strategic Impact & Growth, UC San Diego Health)

[00:48:37] Hallway conversations with CMIOs—aka things CMIOs will never say on stage...

[00:50:13] How brand recognition can override product evaluations in healthcare buying decisions

[00:52:35] Why trust, delivery, and founder behavior matter more than funding or press releases in AI adoption

The Digital Patient has been recognized as Feedspot's . Thank you to our listeners for making this happen!

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