Deloitte Report Reveals an Emerging 'AI Divide' in Health Care

New research shows a split between early adopters of agentic AI, who expect major cost savings and operational gains, and cautious "watchers" who risk being left behind.

NEW YORK, Feb. 11, 2026 /PRNewswire/ --

Key takeaways

• Investment momentum is accelerating: 85% of health care leaders plan to increase investment in agentic AI over the next two to three years, with 61% already building or implementing initiatives.
• Adoption challenges are easing: The market is at an inflection point as long-standing AI adoption challenges are beginning to ease. Notably, 40% of surveyed leaders say technical talent is no longer a major challenge, with similar reductions in friction from resistance to change (38%) and leadership buy-in (35%).
• A clear AI divide is emerging: A clear divide is emerging between "early adopters" and "watchers." While both groups plan to invest, 59% of early adopters expect cost savings of more than 20% in the next two to three years, compared to only 13% of watchers.

Why this matters
A new Deloitte report, "Many health care leaders are leaning into agentic AI as adoption hurdles ease," reveals an emerging "AI divide" in health care. Large organizations — identified as "early adopters" — report they are rapidly scaling investment in agentic AI and anticipating significant cost and productivity gains, while smaller organizations — "watchers" — are moving more cautiously with more modest return expectations. The report suggests the divide is emerging as health care executives move decisively beyond pilots and experimentation toward scaled deployment. Long-standing adoption challenges — such as technical talent shortages, resistance to change, and limited leadership alignment — appear to be easing, enabling leaders to position agentic AI as a strategic lever for measurable improvements across consumer engagement, care delivery, workforce sustainability, and core administrative and payment workflows.

Health care organizations report they continue to be focused on financial pressure, workforce strain, and rising consumer expectations. Agentic AI is increasingly viewed as a pathway to structural change — not simply incremental efficiency. The findings indicate that many organizations embedding agentic AI into their core operating models, rather than confining it to point solutions, are positioned to capture disproportionate productivity gains. Over time, this shift from reactive, manual processes to proactive, automated workflows may widen performance gaps across the industry, allowing early adopters to reinvest savings into resilience, experience and growth.

The rise of the "active participant"
Deloitte's research indicates that agentic AI is transforming care models by shifting from a passive data repository to an active participant in care delivery and operations. By orchestrating complex, multi-step tasks, AI agents can break down data silos, enabling a more longitudinal, cross-source view of the patient record, closing information gaps, and reducing risk of errors. Agentic AI could also help flag risks earlier and recommend or, where appropriate, initiate predefined follow-up actions to help prevent adverse events, reduce readmissions, and elevate clinicians' roles toward direct patient care and building engagement and trust.

The greatest impact may come from modernizing core business functions. Notably, 82% of early adopters are prioritizing multi-agent solutions that coordinate work across consumer engagement, care delivery, back-office operations, and payment processing — unlocking compounding, system-level benefits.

Key quotes

"For physicians on the front lines, the potential of agentic AI involves reclaiming time, reducing cognitive overload and increasing purpose in work. By automating routine administrative tasks like prior authorizations, care coordination and clinical documentation, these tools can give physicians time back to focus on other matters — complex decision-making, helping support patients and their loved ones through vulnerable moments and meeting their needs. This isn't about replacing clinicians; it's about restoring their capacity to practice at the top of their license and purpose, which is important for both quality of care and workforce sustainability. It's putting the care back in health care."

— Jay Bhatt, DO, MPH, MP, managing director, Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, Deloitte Services LP 

"The report data signals an acceleration in the market. With adoption challenges easing, the conversation has shifted from 'if' to 'how fast.' We are seeing a strategic divergence between organizations content with incremental, point-solution efficiencies and those redesigning their operating and care models around multi-agent systems. This is more than a technology trend; it's a strategic inflection point that will likely define the next wave of success in health care."

— Bill Fera, MD,  AI Health Care leader, Deloitte

A Path to impact
 To help maximize value, health care organizations should embed agentic AI into their core strategy, evolving from isolated pilots to an enterprise-wide AI layer. Key considerations include:

• Preparing the workforce for new operating models that shift teams from routine processing to oversight, exception management and validation.
• Building trust by design through strong governance, transparency, privacy protections, and responsible decision-making frameworks.
• Planning for continuous evolution by embedding experimentation, learning and adaptation into core strategy.

Ultimately, a choice for health care leaders is whether to deploy agentic AI as a tactical fix for near-term pressures or as the catalyst for end-to-end operating model transformation.

Methodology
The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions surveyed 100 health care technology executives (from 50 health systems and 50 health plans) in September 2025 to explore the current state of agentic AI adoption. The Center also conducted online focus groups with 35 health care technology executives, futurists, and agentic AI leaders to identify priority opportunities and implementation considerations.

About Deloitte

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SOURCE Deloitte LLP