Faizan Javed, Senior Director, Data Science and Engineering at Kaiser Permanente, speaks with Dominic Sartorio, VP of Product Marketing at Denodo, in a video interview about his role and career trajectory, the shift towards extracting business value from AI, unlocking the potential of AI in healthcare, and taking a physician-centered approach to integrating AI workflows.

Javed currently leads data science and engineering at Kaiser Permanente, where his team focuses on AI applications like search, personalization, recommendation systems, knowledge graphs, and data insights. Prior to this, he built and led data science and engineering teams across industries, including e-commerce, retail, finance, and HR tech. Javed also holds a PhD in a combined field of machine learning and software engineering.

The shift toward AI value realization

Reflecting on the evolving AI landscape, Javed shares his observations on how industry priorities have shifted in recent years. According to him, the current wave of interest in AI is not just about technological advancement but about turning those capabilities into tangible business value.

Javed notes that the rapid progress in AI models has prompted organizations to rethink their approach to implementation. “The trend is going towards how do we extract value, how do we realize value from AI applications?”

This shift, as Javed highlights, is not limited to the tech sector. It is becoming a key consideration across industries and even in boardrooms. He points out that in the past, the data itself was the main concern — identifying, collecting, and structuring it appropriately. But in today’s landscape, the conversation is focused on deriving the value of AI.

From hype to impact — The evolving focus of AI in business

According to Javed, the AI landscape is rapidly evolving — not just in terms of technological advancements but in how organizations approach its practical application. He mentions the influx of new tools, frameworks, and models appearing with increasing frequency.

This surge has brought heightened awareness across sectors. However, Javed emphasizes that simply being aware of AI is not enough. “The focus has to be on the actual problems we can solve with those AI models.”

Javed further stresses that success in AI will come from business-oriented thinking, not just technical infrastructure. “Behind the scenes, we understand that you have the frameworks, the data layer, the data governance, etc. But the trend is more towards: How do I extract value? How can AI help me solve my business problems?”

For Javed, this mindset shift is critical. “That’s where I think we’ll see the most success in data and AI organizations and leaders here,” he adds.

Unlocking AI’s potential in healthcare

With a landscape as expansive as healthcare, he sees a broad spectrum of opportunities for data and AI innovation. From administrative support to cutting-edge research, the use cases span across the system.

One such example, he explains, is improving what’s known within the industry as “pajama time” — the hours physicians spend after clinical hours completing administrative tasks.

Beyond backend improvements, Javed also emphasizes the importance of AI applications in enhancing patient experience on the digital front:

• Assisting patients in searching for healthcare information
• Facilitating appointment scheduling
• Personalizing consumer interactions

He also sees great promise in the field of medical research. A common misconception, Javed notes, is that healthcare lacks the data to support AI-driven transformation. In reality, it is quite the opposite. “There’s no shortage of data in the healthcare industry, where there is still a big opportunity to accelerate the application of AI to help physicians and patients safely and reliably.”

However, Javed is quick to point out that regulatory considerations, privacy requirements, and ingrained operational workflows make the space more complex. “We can’t just build an AI solution and ask the downstream customer to just use it.”

Instead, Javed emphasizes the need for thoughtful design that accounts for patient privacy, regulatory compliance, and ethical deployment. While adoption may be slower than in other sectors, he is optimistic about the future.

A physician-centered approach to integrating AI

Moving forward, Javed stresses the need for thoughtful integration of AI into the healthcare system — particularly when it comes to physicians and their day-to-day responsibilities. He points out that the goal of AI in the clinical space should be strategic and value-driven, focusing on streamlining what already exists, not disrupting it unnecessarily.

As AI continues to evolve, with new models emerging constantly, Javed cautions that integration, especially in physician-facing applications, must be handled with care. “We don’t want to hand physicians yet another AI tool to play with. They already have a ton of stuff on their hands,” he says.

In conclusion, he states that physicians should remain focused on patient care, and anything that detracts from that is counterproductive.

CDO Magazine appreciates Faizan Javed for sharing his insights with our global community.