Interest in artificial intelligence continues to grow and is now at the top of healthcare organizations’ priority lists in most major markets outside the U.S. The percentage of organizations citing AI as a strategic initiative has increased by 15 percentage points, according to a new KLAS Research report.
The 4th annual KLAS Research report draws insights from 182 healthcare organizations in 43 countries and territories outside the United States. AI is cited as a top health IT investment priority among 57% of respondents, followed by electronic health records (EHR) and digitization (44%). IT and infrastructure (26%); cybersecurity (25%) and image processing (23%).
Among the AI solutions being deployed, 57% of respondents cited ambient AI as the most “exciting emerging technology,” along with other clinical AI (17%), operational AI (16%), and general or unspecified AI (16%).
AI strategy, governance, and implementation are top priorities for organizations across all regions (37%), followed by clinical documentation (19%), image processing (13%), AI platforms and integrations (11%), advanced capabilities (10%), clinical decision support (4%), operational efficiency (3%), and patient engagement and experience (3%).
Most of the ambient AI products that organizations expect are provided by third-party vendors. Microsoft Dragon Copilot continues to have the highest mindshare across regions, and interest in Heidi Health has increased in Europe and Oceania over the past year. Ambient AI vendors in many regions are being considered as well, with Agnito gaining interest in the Middle East and TORTUS in the UK.
Cloud adoption continues to accelerate as organizations move from planning to implementation. Nearly three-quarters of respondents leverage the cloud in some way as part of their IT.
strategy. According to KLAS data, only 26% of organizations report having moved their mission-critical systems (e.g. EHR, PACS, ERP) to the cloud, but organizations around the world are increasingly operationalizing their cloud strategies and moving beyond evaluation to meaningful adoption.
EHRs are at the heart of cloud strategies, with more than a third of cloud users (particularly in the Middle East and Canada) moving all or part of their EHR to the cloud, and nearly a quarter partially or fully migrating imaging applications such as PACS.
AI is increasingly shaping organizations’ cloud strategies, with early cloud movers most frequently reporting leveraging specific AI tools in the cloud or moving their data infrastructure to cloud environments to enhance their analytics and computing capabilities.
The report notes that nearly one-third of respondents who reported investments in EHR and digitalization are actively implementing EHRs or have decided to replace or integrate EHRs, primarily in Europe, the Middle East and Oceania.
“Companies not involved in such projects are primarily focused on increasing their digital maturity and optimizing their existing EHRs to improve workflows and strengthen the necessary foundations for AI and analytics, a consistent priority across the region. Latin America in particular is focused on increasing its digital maturity,” the report states.
Analysts say global interest in consulting firms will decline from 2025 to 2026, with 42% saying they have no plans to hire a company and only 25% saying they have “concrete plans” to find a company for future IT initiatives. Additionally, 2025 was the lowest EHR purchasing activity level in years.
