The future of healthcare systems depends not only on technological innovation, but also on the ability of the sector’s various stakeholders to collaborate, anticipate, and make decisions. Faced with challenges such as demographic pressure, talent shortages, and increasing clinical complexity, Artificial Intelligence opens up new opportunities for transformation, requiring organizations to rethink processes, management models, and leadership styles.
It is against this backdrop that “Health Systems 2035: AI, Human Leadership & Future Health System” was launched—an initiative of Nova SBE Executive Education, with institutional support from Almirall—which brought together professionals and decision-makers from the sector to reflect on the future of healthcare and the role of those who will have to lead this transformation.
Rather than simply predicting what might change by 2035, the initiative raises a fundamental question: What do we need to start doing today to build health care systems that are better prepared for the future?
A reflection that led to a joint initiative
Health Systems 2035 arose from the need to address health challenges in an integrated manner, recognizing that their complexity requires responses that go beyond the boundaries of a single organization.
As explained by Diogo Gomes, Country Manager at Almirall Portugal:
"Healthcare challenges are becoming increasingly complex and cannot be addressed by a single stakeholder."
For Almirall, contributing to the sector means going beyond therapeutic innovation by fostering collaboration among different stakeholders and encouraging reflection on shared challenges. The growing influence of Artificial Intelligence has made this need even more relevant, leading to a collaboration with Nova SBE to train executives and turn this ambition into a learning experience.
"The dialogue (...) was essential to transforming this ambition into a structured program, combining different perspectives and prioritizing discussion and practical applicability," emphasizes Diogo Gomes.
Academic independence, the ability to question established approaches, and experience in developing leaders were key factors in this collaboration. The goal was to create an autonomous space for reflection that is relevant to decision-makers in the health sector and focused on the specific challenges faced by organizations.
From Reflection to the Learning Experience
Held on October 9 and 10, 2026, the first edition of Health Systems 2035 combined strategic reflection, the sharing of experiences, and practical application, exploring topics such as artificial intelligence, new business models for the hospital of the future, and organizational transformation.
To the Professor Milton de Sousa, the academic director of the program, the priority was to equip hospital management decision-makers to understand and respond to the profound changes that AI may bring to the sector, while also helping to address long-standing challenges in healthcare.
"This means rethinking processes, leadership, and governance."
The event also featured contributions from Ricardo Baptista Leite, CEO of HealthAI – The Global Agency for Responsible AI in Health, and Nadim Habib, Visiting Assistant Professor at Nova SBE, bringing together different perspectives on innovation, strategy, and the future of health care systems.
But learning did not depend solely on the experts. The exchange of experiences among participants was equally central to the program’s design.
"We believe in the power of peer learning and the importance of building collaborative networks," says Milton de Sousa.
More than simply imparting knowledge, the experience sought to create conditions for questioning assumptions, sharing challenges, and developing new ways of thinking about the transformation of health care organizations.
Technology transforms. Leadership remains human.
Artificial Intelligence was the focus of the event, but the discussion went beyond its technological potential to also explore the human, ethical, and organizational implications of its integration into health care systems.
For Diogo Gomes, technology, healthcare models, and leadership cannot be analyzed in isolation:
"True innovation happens when we are able to put technology to work for people and to achieve better health outcomes."
It is in this balance that leadership plays a decisive role. Milton de Sousa identifies four dimensions in which the human element remains essential: the ability to exercise judgment in the absence of data, collaboration among different stakeholders, ethical guidance, and attention to people.
This vision was reflected in the program’s approach, which linked three fundamental dimensions: People, Organization, and Self, placing leadership at the service of people and recognizing the organization as the means through which this responsibility is fulfilled. As the professor explains:
"We view leadership as being at the service of people through the organization, which should guide how I (as a leader) should carry out my role."
In a sector directly linked to human well-being, preparing leaders for the future therefore means developing not only technological skills but also the ability to make informed decisions, mobilize people, and guide change.
From Learning to Action: A Commitment to the Future
Health Systems 2035 was not designed merely as a forum for reflection. The program included exercises aimed at identifying priorities, decisions, and commitments that participants could take back to their organizations.
For Milton de Sousa, the impact of the experience also involves the confidence to explore new approaches:
"It means feeling more confident to experiment and learn by doing, with the support of other participants. We want to foster greater curiosity and a willingness to explore."
Almirall shares this ambition and hopes that participants will take away new perspectives and concrete ideas to implement in their organizations.
"In the medium term, our goal is to contribute to a more collaborative healthcare ecosystem that is prepared to incorporate innovation in a responsible and sustainable manner," says Diogo Gomes.
This first edition thus serves as a starting point for an initiative that aims to continue evolving, incorporating new insights and gradually involving other stakeholders in the sector.
For Nova SBE Executive Education, Health Systems 2035 demonstrates the potential of executive education when it draws on real-world challenges and brings together different perspectives to develop leaders who are better prepared to take action.
Because preparing for the future of health care systems is not just about anticipating the technologies that will emerge. It’s about developing—today—the ability to ask questions, collaborate, make decisions, and lead the transformations that will be necessary tomorrow.
