The stakes are rising as adoption spreads.

More than 80% of physicians responding to the American Medical Association’s 2026 survey reported using AI professionally. Federal data shows that 71% of nonfederal acute-care hospitals used predictive AI integrated with their electronic health records in 2024. Adoption was uneven: 86% of system-affiliated hospitals reported use, compared with 37% of independent hospitals, according to the ASTP/ONC hospital data brief. The leadership challenge now reaches beyond deployment. When AI releases time, attention or operational capacity, leaders must decide what that capacity becomes—and design the conditions that get it there.