Health Leaders Warn AI Pilots Will Fail Without Governance, Training and Trust

A Devex-GLIDE panel in New York brought together four global health CEOs to confront an uncomfortable reality: billions of dollars flowing into AI health tools are building a "graveyard of pilots" because donors invest in technology without funding the governance, training, and regulatory systems needed to make those tools safe and sustainable. The panelists — representing organizations working across Togo, Madagascar, Indonesia, and dozens of other countries — outlined concrete models for what it actually takes to move AI from a flashy demo to an integrated part of national health systems.

• Health AI chief says donor-funded AI model is broken, calls for parallel investment in post-market surveillance and a global early-warning system for adverse events
• Community health worker in Togo trades paper registers for a co-designed phone tool, freeing her to build patient trust instead of hand-calculating drug dosages
• GLIDE announces AI-powered microscopy pilot in Madagascar to diagnose neglected tropical diseases faster, plus new AI training courses for health workers and executives in low- and middle-income countries
• Indonesia's multi-stakeholder AI roadmap cited as a national-scale model, with government, academia, industry, and the World Bank bound by a formal MOU

Why it matters: More than 4 billion people lack adequate health access. Donors and philanthropies are racing to fund AI solutions — but panelists argued the money is going to the wrong place.