Digital Health Leaders Podcast

Russ Branzell, President and CEO of CHIME, welcomes Christopher Logan, Healthcare CISO at Zscaler, to explore what it takes to build security architectures that protect care delivery when systems, users, data, vendors, and AI increasingly operate beyond traditional boundaries. From uncovering systemic risks that conventional assessments may miss to strengthening operational resilience and securing AI at the architectural layer, they examine how healthcare leaders can rethink Zero Trust, access, and cyber preparedness without creating new barriers to clinical care.

Key Takeaways:

• What distinguishes cybersecurity investment from true operational resilience when critical systems or connections fail.

• How Zero Trust must evolve as identity, workloads, data, devices, and third parties move beyond the traditional network perimeter.

• How security leaders can strengthen segmentation and access controls without introducing unacceptable clinical friction.

• How security leaders can strengthen segmentation and access controls without introducing unacceptable clinical friction.

Russ Branzell, President and CEO of CHIME, sits down with Fran Rosch, President and CEO of Imprivata, to examine how agentic AI challenges long-standing assumptions about identity, access, authority, and accountability and what happens to healthcare identity and access management when the user is no longer human. As AI agents gain the ability to reason, delegate, and act across systems, traditional security controls may no longer be enough. Their conversation explores what healthcare leaders must reconsider about identity lineage, Zero Trust, human oversight, and governance as organizations prepare to secure a growing population of autonomous digital agents.

Key Takeaways:

• Which assumptions behind traditional identity governance are challenged when AI agents can reason and act independently.

• How organizations can preserve identity lineage and accountability as AI agents delegate work across systems.

• How Zero Trust and authorization models may need to evolve for dynamic, agentic environments.

• Why governing an agent's access may be fundamentally different from governing its intent and actions.

• Where human authority should remain nondelegable as healthcare increasingly operates at machine speed.

Peak Perspectives: Conversations from the Climb

Healthcare leaders rarely suffer from a shortage of ambitious ideas. The harder challenge is deciding which ones deserve investment and turning those choices into measurable results. Russ Branzell, President and CEO of CHIME, welcomes Peyman Zand, Chief Strategy Officer at CereCore, for a conversation about what separates a compelling strategy from one that actually delivers.

From allocating finite resources and realizing greater value from existing technology investments to creating governance that accelerates rather than restricts innovation, they examine the decisions behind sustainable enterprise performance. Peyman also explores the growing strategic implications of AI and what leaders must protect when possibility, profitability, and responsibility don't neatly align.

Key Takeaways:

• How leaders can prioritize investments and confidently say “not now” to compelling opportunities.

• Why effective governance can create greater clarity, accountability, and momentum for innovation.

• Where strong strategies most often break down between executive vision and measurable execution.

• What responsible strategic leadership requires when growth, performance, innovation, and ethical considerations compete.

• How health systems can uncover more value from technology capabilities they already own before making the next investment.

As innovation moves faster than healthcare can absorb it, Russ Branzell, President and CEO of CHIME, and Dr. Rod Tarrago, CMIO of Pediatrics at Amazon Web Services explore how leaders decide what deserves their attention and what truly improves care.

From making healthcare data actionable at the point of care to determining when AI is ready to assume greater responsibility, their conversation examines how leaders can pursue technological advancement without losing sight of safety, clinical judgment, and the people innovation is ultimately meant to serve.

Key Takeaways:

• How clinical experience, particularly in pediatrics, can shape approaches to technology adoption, risk, and innovation.

• What leaders risk overlooking when technological possibility moves faster than organizational priorities and patient needs.

• How healthcare organizations can turn expanding volumes of data into better decisions, safer care, and meaningful outcomes.

• Where leaders should draw the line between AI autonomy and nonnegotiable human judgment.

• How digital health leaders can balance speed, responsibility, and collective ambition as they prepare for healthcare’s next great advancement.

Russ Branzell, President and CEO of CHIME, is joined by Sandy Gupta, Co-Founder, President, and COO of Innovaccer, as they explore one of healthcare's most important leadership questions: How should organizations prepare for a future where AI is participating in care as part of its workforce?

As AI capabilities evolve from productivity tools to increasingly autonomous systems, healthcare leaders face new, consequential decisions about workforce design, governance, accountability, and value creation. Together, Russ and Sandy discuss how organizations can move beyond AI experimentation to build AI-enabled enterprises that strengthen human decision-making, create operational capacity, and improve care delivery.

Key Takeaways:

• Why healthcare's AI conversation is evolving from automation and productivity tools to autonomous agents capable of coordinating and executing work.

• How leaders can think about workforce augmentation, human oversight, and the evolving relationship between people and AI.

• What it means to reinvest AI-generated capacity into patient care, access, quality, and organizational growth.

• Which metrics matter most when evaluating the business and clinical value of AI investments.

• How organizations can prepare for agentic AI at scale through thoughtful governance, workforce planning, security, identity management, and technology architecture.

Russ Branzell, President and CEO of CHIME, sits down with Andy Smith, Managing Partner and Founder of Impact Advisors, for a candid conversation about leadership, culture, and what it takes to build organizations that thrive in periods of accelerated change. Andy shares perspectives on cultivating high-performing teams, sustaining culture at scale, and leading through complexity without losing sight of the people at the center of healthcare.

Together, they examine the profound promise of AI, what is means to fully embrace innovation, how to balance opportunity with accountability, and how industry leaders are revolutionizing care in a way that is both meaningful and sustainable.

Key Takeaways:

• How healthcare organizations are responding to economic pressures, workforce challenges, and evolving industry demands while continuing to move forward.

• What healthcare leaders should consider as they evaluate AI opportunities, including the balance between innovation, trust, ethics, and operational realities.

• How purpose-driven leadership and organizational culture create a foundation for long-term success, resilience, and innovation.

• Strategies for building high-performing teams that remain connected, accountable, and mission-focused during periods of rapid growth and change.

Russ Branzell, President and CEO of CHIME, welcomes Shane Cronin, Head of ITAM Services at SHI Healthcare, for a timely discussion on how digital health leaders are effectively creating the operational discipline necessary to sustain ongoing digital transformation. While AI and cloud modernization continue to dominate industry initiatives, many organizations are discovering that long-term success depends on something less visible but equally critical: governance, optimization, and a clear understanding of their technology environment.

Together, they explore how healthcare leaders can move beyond reactive technology management and build the visibility, accountability, and strategic alignment required to support innovation at scale — creating a stronger foundation for technology and AI readiness.

Key Takeaways:

1. Why technology optimization has evolved from a cost-management exercise into a core leadership strategy for enabling innovation and organizational growth.

2. How greater visibility into technology assets, spending, and utilization helps healthcare leaders make more informed strategic and financial decisions.

3. What effective governance looks like in an era defined by AI adoption, cloud expansion, SaaS proliferation, and increasing technology complexity.

4. The leadership mindsets and decision-making approaches that help organizations remain agile, resilient, and prepared.

Russ Branzell, President and CEO of CHIME, sits down with Vivek Swaminathan, CEO of Cardamom Health, for a thoughtful conversation on what it takes to succeed in healthcare's next era of transformation. As health systems navigate accelerating AI adoption, mounting operational pressures, and evolving patient expectations, leaders are being challenged to move beyond innovation for innovation's sake and focus on measurable outcomes.

From building the foundational capabilities needed to scale AI responsibly to transforming data into actionable insights, they discuss how healthcare organizations can turn emerging technologies into meaningful operational impact.

Key Takeaways:

1. How organizations can establish the right foundation for successful AI adoption and long-term scalability.

2. What separates organizations that are building for healthcare's next era from those still applying new technologies to legacy operating models.

3. How healthcare leaders can convert growing volumes of data into operational intelligence that drives measurable outcomes.

4. The role of leadership, culture, and trust in sustaining innovation and organizational growth.

5. Lessons from healthcare executives navigating continuous disruption while remaining focused on mission and patient impact.

Russ Branzell, President and CEO of CHIME, sits down with Anupama Ambe, Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Healthcare at Kyndryl, for a conversation on the technologies and leadership strategies revolutionizing healthcare's next chapter. Drawing on more than 25 years of experience leading complex transformation initiatives, Anupama shares insights on how healthcare organizations are approaching modernization in an era defined by AI, hybrid cloud, cybersecurity threats, and rising demands for operational resilience.

Key Takeaways:

1. Emerging strategies for strengthening cyber resilience, managing risk, and building secure digital ecosystems in increasingly connected healthcare environments.

2. The role of infrastructure, data, and automation in helping leaders improve decision-making, and support long-term organizational resilience.

3. What the next generation of healthcare technology leaders will need to succeed, and how organizations can create pathways for diverse talent to drive future innovation.

4. Strategic insights into modernizing critical infrastructure while maintaining trust, security, and continuity of care.

5. Leadership principles for guiding large-scale transformation, aligning teams around shared priorities, and sustaining momentum through continuous change.

Russ Branzell, President and CEO of CHIME, connects with Dr. Shiv Rao, Founder and CEO of Abridge and practicing cardiologist, for a compelling discussion on the evolving role of AI in clinical care. Drawing from his unique vantage point at the intersection of medicine and technology, Dr. Rao shares how firsthand clinical experience is shaping the development of ambient, generative AI tools designed to reduce cognitive burden and restore focus to patient care. Together, they examine the growing importance of trust, the responsibility of leaders to guide ethical AI adoption, and how human-centered design principles can scale alongside rapid innovation.

Key Takeaways:

1. The shift from traditional documentation to ambient AI and its impact on clinician focus, burnout, and workflow efficiency.

2. The role of storytelling in measuring meaningful impact and reinforcing human connection in digital transformation.

3. How frontline clinical experience is influencing the design and deployment of generative AI in healthcare environments.

4. Practical guidance for scaling AI innovation while preserving empathy, nuance, and the patient-provider relationship at the core of care.