Keynote Presentation: AI as a Lifeline: How I Lived the Future of the Patient Experience

Session details:

What if artificial intelligence didn’t just predict the future of healthcare—but helped you survive it? In this powerful keynote, John Duffield—a 2x open-heart surgery survivor—shares how AI became a lifeline across every stage of his health journey: before, during, and after multiple surgeries. From simplifying complex diagnoses and generating questions for top surgeons to simulating expert advice and crafting a personalized recovery plan, AI played an active role in his survival. Blending heart and technology, his story is a call to action for healthcare leaders, technologists, and caregivers to rethink how empathy, data, and design can radically transform outcomes. John is living proof that AI isn’t the future of the patient experience—it’s already here.