Artificial intelligence is no longer something that happens behind the scenes. Today, we see its influence everywhere in the physical world, from factory floors to retail websites. In the healthcare sector, where I primarily focus, AI is streamlining administrative and insurance processes, creating more time to focus on patient care. It is also enhancing clinical outcomes by providing better and faster insights for determining treatment paths.
Many people don’t realize just how often they interact with AI. Only 27 percent of U.S. adults believe they interact with AI “almost constantly,” but 79 percent of AI experts say they do, according to a report from Pew Research.
5 Tips for Integrating Physical AI
- Start slow before you move fast.
- Be diligent about where AI should and shouldn’t play a role.
- Start in the back office to master the basics.
- Surround yourself with the right people and perspectives.
- Embrace your changing role.
This is great news for those of us working in the technology and data science space. We’re delivering meaningful innovations. But just as people’s lives are changing due to AI, so is the way we work. Here’s what I believe this shift entails.
5 Tips to Adopt AI in the Physical World
1. Start Slow Before You Move Fast
Most of us are feeling pressure to deliver rapid returns on investment. While our organizations may be motivated to move fast, it is interesting that the public at large prefers a more methodical approach: Most Americans say they’d rather companies move slowly with AI and get it right, even if that means delaying potential breakthroughs.
Ultimately, there are really just two kinds of companies. Digital natives are prepared for the AI journey. Most companies, however, still have work to do (often quite a bit) to organize their data so AI can use it effectively.
I find ThredUp, the online consignment and thrift store that has grown to nearly 1.4 million orders and $71 million in revenue in the first quarter of 2025, a fascinating example of the groundwork needed before you can confidently “press go.” ThredUp uses AI throughout its business, including sorting, pricing, imaging incoming items, managing inventory, and offering personalized recommendations to shoppers. This didn’t happen overnight. I find it helpful to analyze AI success stories like this to understand how they achieved it.
Having these basics in place will increase your success rate. This should include a governance framework with a cross-functional AI committee to oversee activities. Focus on key areas like safety, security, privacy, and risk management. Develop a solid security approach that highlights integration points and protects sensitive data.
2. Be Diligent About Where AI Should and Shouldn’t Play a Role
Not every task or job is suitable for AI. For example, in healthcare, AI can take over highly manual tasks, such as helping high-cost oncology nurses and nurse practitioners extract and review medical records so they can focus more on patient care. However, it can’t replace physicians’ expertise. AI can generate recommendations based on data analysis, but the final decisions will always be made by the physician.
Your goal should be to utilize AI in ways that leverage existing strengths to achieve better results. Don’t just take orders; ask the difficult questions—and take the time to really determine which tasks AI can handle and, just as importantly, where it should not be involved.
3. Start in the Back Office to Master the Basics
The AI journey often begins in the back office, where consumer impact is less direct. In healthcare, we see numerous opportunities to utilize AI to enhance efficiency in areas such as revenue cycle management, which determines who gets paid what and when, as well as scheduling, benefits verification, utilization management, accounting and human resources. As organizations learn from these experiences, they can expand their focus to higher-stakes applications that directly influence the physical world—such as clinical treatment and diagnostics.
4. Surround Yourself With the Right People and Perspectives
While there’s a rush to realize the benefits of AI, the days of endless cash are gone. There must be a clear path to profitability. If you can’t define that, then you don’t have the right business acumen in the room.
To effectively integrate AI into real-world experiences, it’s crucial to gather the right expertise. In my healthcare field, this includes subject matter experts such as scientists or clinicians, administrators, and regulatory specialists, along with the data science, DevOps, IT, and user-experience teams. Each of these roles brings a unique perspective that can influence success.
The impact of missing a key insight can be costly. For example, a company seeking approval for a treatment in the United States used AI-generated analysis from European trials. That didn’t meet the expectations of U.S. regulators, resulting in lost time and money. That happened because the right people weren’t in the room.
5. Embrace Your Changing Role
The rise of AI is breaking down organizational silos, which is good for fostering speed and innovation. Data is no longer the exclusive domain of tech experts and data scientists. It’s also the lifeblood of professionals like radiologists. Likewise, the technologists and data scientists who develop and implement AI solutions must understand how businesses operate. Chief technology officers need to think like CEOs or COOs, figuring out how to protect margins, manage change effectively across internal and external stakeholders, and keep customers happy.
In other words, your role isn’t just about building and deploying solutions; it’s about enabling positive change—making processes smoother and transitions easier in the physical world, whether that means matching a shopper with the perfect vintage clothing item or giving hope to a patient beginning a life-changing medical treatment.
As AI becomes increasingly embedded in business and society, you have a real opportunity to lead change. New AI initiatives are growing in importance.
It’s an exciting time to be part of this transformation but recognize that this isn’t business as usual. Done right, AI’s impact won’t stay behind the scenes. Rather, it will drive real change in the physical world where it matters most.
