Healthcare doesn’t need more AI, it needs AI that works

Behind AI4Health is more than just a successful funding application. It’s the story of how an ambitious and unique vision, a growing consortium and over €112 million in public and private investment came together to build the foundations for trustworthy and transparent AI in everyday healthcare.

Every week, artificial intelligence makes headlines

An algorithm that detects cancer earlier. A model that predicts heart disease before symptoms appear. A digital assistant that promises to reduce the administrative burden for healthcare professionals. The breakthroughs are real. Many are published in leading scientific journals. Yet for most of them, the journey doesn’t end in hospitals or GP practices; it ends long before patients can benefit.

The technology is advancing at remarkable speed.
So why isn’t healthcare changing at the same pace?

Imagine a patient visiting different hospitals over the course of several years. Medical images are stored in one system, laboratory results in another, and medication history somewhere else, while valuable information collected at home through wearables or remote monitoring often remains disconnected altogether. An AI model may already exist that could help determine the best treatment or predict complications before they occur, but without access to the complete picture and necessary data, that model cannot do what it was designed to do.

Even when the technology has been well developed, validated and shown to perform well, another journey begins. Before an AI application can be widely used in routine care, it must demonstrate that it works reliably in the healthcare settings where it is intended to be used. Healthcare providers need confidence that they can rely on it. Regulators require robust evidence that it is safe. Health insurers need proof that it improves outcomes and delivers value for money. Hospitals need to integrate it into existing workflows without creating new administrative burdens. By the time those questions have been answered, the technology itself may already have evolved—or, worse, disappeared.

The challenge is no longer developing AI.
The challenge is creating a healthcare system that allows AI to work.
That is the vision behind AI4Health.

Recently awarded €25 million by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) as one of only four Long-Term Programmes, AI4Health brings together dozens of universities, university medical centres, teaching and general hospitals, charities, companies, patient organisations, health insurers and policymakers to tackle precisely these challenges. Rather than focusing on a single AI application, the programme aims to build the foundations, infrastructure, expertise and system that allow trustworthy, transparent and generalisable AI to be developed, evaluated, implemented, scaled and adopted across the entire Dutch healthcare system.

Building something bigger than just a research proposal

Looking at the final proposal today, it is easy to forget how AI4Health actually came to be.

There was no blueprint waiting on a shelf. Instead, the programme was built over months of workshops, strategy sessions, working groups and countless discussions.

Researchers debated how to overcome the barriers preventing AI from reaching patients. Healthcare professionals challenged whether proposed AI solutions would truly work in practice. Companies, charities and insurers brought perspectives on implementation and market adoption. Patient organisations emphasised trust, accessibility and societal value. Each conversation added another piece to the puzzle. Together with the Life Sciences & Health team at PNO Innovation, the consortium gradually translated those conversations into one coherent, ambitious programme worth more than €112 million.

At the same time, the consortium itself continued to grow. As the vision became more concrete, more organisations wanted to be part of it. New use cases emerged because healthcare providers and researchers recognised opportunities that fitted perfectly within the programme. Companies, charities and public organisations saw the potential and expressed their interest in contributing. Even in the final days before submission, new co-funders came on board, requiring budgets, commitments and programme structures to be revisited one last time. That momentum has continued beyond the funding decision, with more organisations expressing their interest in becoming part of AI4Health.

Far from slowing the programme down, this growing interest confirmed that AI4Health was addressing a challenge recognised across the entire Dutch healthcare ecosystem. AI4Health has become a programme that organisations genuinely want to invest in and help shape, and it is still growing.

That growth also meant continuously asking difficult questions. Where does this new idea, AI innovation or use case fit best? Does it strengthen the overall story? How do you incorporate another partner without compromising the programme’s coherence? Every new opportunity required balancing ambition with focus. Keeping the programme coherent as it continued to grow became a challenge in itself.

Working alongside programme leader Professor Carl Moons, co-lead Associate Professor Ewoud Schuit and the broader core consortium team, the Life Sciences & Health team at PNO Innovation became part of that process from an early stage. While the consortium drove the scientific, healthcare, economic and societal vision, we helped give that vision structure. Together, we continuously challenged the narrative behind AI4Health. Did the work packages reinforce one another? Did the programme tell a convincing story? Were the scientific, societal and economic ambitions clear? Would peer reviewers understand how AI4Health would make a real difference—or would they see it as just another research project for AI developers?

As the programme evolved, our collaboration deepened and the proposal evolved with it. By submission day, the proposal presented a clear, coherent story for the entire healthcare field and system. Reaching that point had taken months of listening, challenging ideas, bringing new partners on board and finding the right balance between ambition and feasibility.

€25 million made the headlines. The real story is much bigger.

By submission, AI4Health had grown into a programme worth more than €112 million: the NWO investment plus substantial public and private co-funding from organisations that shared the long-term vision. Today, we know that even this €112 million is just the beginning.

That transformation did not happen overnight. Every organisation joined for its own reasons. Universities saw opportunities for scientific breakthroughs. Hospitals sought solutions that could improve patient care. Companies recognised the potential for responsible innovation. Charities and patient organisations focused on long-term healthcare and societal benefit. Bringing all those different ambitions and visions together around one shared programme took time, but it also became one of AI4Health’s greatest strengths.

Those conversations were about much more than money and funding: shared ownership, mutual understanding and broad support also mattered. Partners wanted to know where they fitted into AI4Health, how their expertise, ambitions and solutions complemented those of others and how their investment would contribute to a shared national ambition. That alignment took time, but it created something stronger than financial commitments alone: genuine engagement within the consortium and a shared determination to build a trustworthy, accessible, equitable and sustainable healthcare ecosystem.

Alongside the scientific and healthcare discussions, another complex process unfolded. Co-funding had to be secured. Cash and in-kind contributions needed to comply with NWO’s funding framework. Budget scenarios changed as the programme evolved; governance structures had to reflect the growing consortium. Commitment letters from dozens of organisations had to be coordinated. Every strategic decision affected the budget; conversely, every financial decision affected the programme.

For the project leader, keeping all these moving parts aligned while leading the overarching societal, scientific and economic vision can quickly become overwhelming. Throughout this process, PNO Innovation’s Life Sciences & Health team worked closely with Professor Carl Moons and Associate Professor Ewoud Schuit to help keep the consortium and programme moving forward. We coordinated the proposal process, supported discussions with co-funders, translated financial commitments into compliant budgets, challenged strategic choices where needed and helped ensure that the programme remained balanced as it continued to grow.

Perhaps the most valuable thing we offered wasn’t a document or a budget spreadsheet. It was peace of mind. Developing a programme of this scale means constantly switching between content discussions, conversations with partners, funding decisions, governance, budgets and deadlines. By taking ownership
of the proposal process and keeping all those moving parts aligned, we created the space for Professor Carl Moons and the consortium to focus on what mattered most: building the science, strengthening the consortium and attracting the partners and co-funders that made AI4Health what it is today.

Building the future of AI in healthcare

If AI4Health succeeds, promising AI innovations will no longer remain stuck for years between research and everyday healthcare practice. New technologies will move more easily from the drawing board to the consultation room. Patients, citizens and healthcare professionals will be able to use them with confidence, allowing society as a whole to benefit sooner.

Over the next ten years, the consortium will work together to make that ambition a reality. The programme will develop, test, implement and scale up new approaches for cancer, cardiovascular disease, mental and neurological disorders, and regenerative medicine. It will also support responsible use within legal and regulatory frameworks and develop practical solutions that can be applied much more broadly across the healthcare system, in the Netherlands and beyond.

AI4Health has a simple philosophy: Skip the shortcuts. Build the system.

That idea guided both the programme and its development. Building something with lasting impact takes time, collaboration and the willingness to keep improving until all the pieces fit together.

Planning your next ambitious research programme?

A strong programme begins with a clear vision, a thorough analysis of the landscape and a process that brings together the right partners, funding, governance and strategy.

Within PNO Innovation’s Life Sciences & Health team, we support universities, university medical centres, hospitals, research institutes and companies in developing competitive national and European research and innovation programmes. From early strategic discussions and consortium building to funding strategy,
proposal development and project implementation, we help turn ambitious ideas into programmes with lasting impact, supporting the scientists and innovators working to improve health for all.

Would you like to explore how we can support your next initiative?
We would be happy to start the conversation.

Our expert

Simona Forro is consultant at PNO Life Sciences & Health in the Netherlands.