AI Is Not a Strategy, It’s a Shift

July 16, 2025

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Everywhere you look, companies are announcing their “AI-first” approach. It’s in strategy decks, product roadmaps, investor pitches, and earnings calls. And on one level, it makes sense, the speed of AI development is staggering. What was impressive six months ago already feels outdated. It’s not so much a wave of adoption and innovation, it’s a flood.

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The urgency is real. So is the FOMO.

The Rise of AI-First Thinking

Everyone seems to be asking “Are we moving fast enough?” or “Are we missing out on something?” AI is being positioned as the path to more efficiency, effectiveness, and revenue, often all at once.

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But here's the thing: while AI may enable all of that, it’s rarely the whole story. And it’s never the strategy by itself.

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So you’ve got FOMO

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This fear of missing out isn’t irrational. No one wants to be Blockbuster in the age of Netflix, or Kodak watching digital photography take off. When disruption is on the table, the instinct is to lean in, and hard. But in doing so, it’s easy to chase the technology instead of solving the problem.

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What AI promises is huge. But what most businesses actually need is much simpler:

Workflows that work
Systems that scale
Solutions that deliver

AI can power those things. But it can’t define them alone.

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The Solution (Still) Comes First

As I wrote recently, we have very few successful examples where the AI model is the product. In almost every meaningful, impactful, and worthy use case, the model is one part of a larger, carefully designed solution.

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That’s especially true in healthcare, where outcomes matter more than outputs. You still need validated data, clear UX, clinical safety nets, and a system architecture that holds up under pressure — in other words, you need infrastructure you can trust at every level. A great model in a bad system won’t save you. In fact, it might sink you faster.

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So, while AI will be a fundamental part of almost every solution in the future, it still needs a solution to belong to. Your job shouldn’t be to be "AI-first." It should be to be problem-first and solution-focused, then AI-enhanced.

It’s Not About Replacing People — It’s About Evolving How People Work

One of the most persistent questions in our field is: "Will AI replace me? Will AI replace my job providing care or supporting operations?"

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The question — and the fear behind it — is completely understandable. But I think it’s the wrong question right now, especially in healthcare.

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The real shift isn’t about reducing headcount, it’s about rethinking how work gets done. We’ll see new specializations emerge, with roles designed specifically around collaborating with AI tools. Workflows will blend automation with human oversight in ways that enhance accuracy and scale. And, as AI takes on more routine tasks, we’ll see a rise in expectations around the quality, adaptability, and judgment that human experts bring to the table.

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That means some roles will evolve, and some jobs will need to be reskilled, or skills newly learned. But that doesn’t necessarily mean fewer people, it means enabling people to do more and be more productive in a more intelligent system.

What does AI mean for patients?

Right behind “Will AI replace me?” we hear another question: “Will AI replace who I talk to?”

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In most fields, but in healthcare especially, we must understand that many of our patients and members want to connect with a human. Their questions are personal and nuanced, and they want to feel heard and understood. Those elements of care matter, which is why Sidekick is built to bring in clinicians when people need them — and not when they need help booking an appointment or a reminder to take medication.

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We’re practicing what we preach at Sidekick: When we deploy AI to support our care strategy — instead of as the strategy — our patients get the expertise and care they need, and clinicians don’t get burnt out on admin.

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Build with Eyes Open

AI is no longer a question of “if.” It’s now a matter of “how well.” The companies that win won’t just chase the next big model. They’ll design the next meaningful solution. And building well means starting with what actually matters:

The outcomes you want to improve
The constraints you must respect
The people you need to support

AI-first is not enough. Purpose-first, with AI inside — that’s the way forward.

About the author

Olafur "Oli" Viggosson

CPTO, Sidekick Health

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