In parts of rural Kenya, a nurse who never went to medical school can now screen patients for diseases that once required a specialist hundreds of miles away. The secret? Artificial intelligence. In a conversation hosted by Cornell University's Cañizares Center for Emerging Markets, four healthcare and technology leaders shared how AI is transforming medical care in countries like Kenya, Indonesia, Brazil, Colombia, and Rwanda — and in ways that are actually moving faster than in the United States.
The difference is striking. In wealthy countries, AI in healthcare mostly means making already-digital systems run more efficiently — scheduling appointments faster, automating paperwork. But in emerging markets, where doctors are scarce and hospitals are far away, AI is something much bigger: it's a way to actually reach people who've never had care before.
Brian Baldeo, one of the panelists, described how AI-guided tools let front-line nurses in Kenya perform screenings that would normally need a specialist. "This is not about shaving seconds off workflows," he said. "It is about bringing lifesaving care to communities that have never had it."
These countries also have a strange advantage: they get to build from scratch. Unlike American hospitals, which are stuck with old electronic health record systems from the 1990s, countries like Kenya and Indonesia can design AI-native healthcare from the ground up — built for their own realities, not retrofitted from somewhere else.
Of course, making this work takes more than good software. Panelists outlined three foundations that emerging markets are building: solar and hydropower for stable electricity, 4G and 5G mobile networks that skip the old landline phase entirely, and affordable smartphones and tablets that double as clinical tools. Indonesia's national SATUSEHAT health platform and Kenya's mobile health ecosystem show how these building blocks are already coming together.
Brazil is taking a different approach with its national AI plan, called PBIA. Among other things, it created centralized drug purchasing that negotiates medicine prices so well, Brazil now gets better deals than the United States. Colombia passed laws making sure all medical records can talk to each other, no matter which hospital they're in. India built an entire national framework for keeping AI in healthcare safe and responsible.
Trust remains the biggest hurdle. As panelist Joe Benson put it, countries must focus on "designing for safe speed" — moving quickly without cutting corners on patient protection. Simple triage tools can roll out fast, but decisions that directly affect patient care need human doctors double-checking the AI.
The bottom line, the panelists agreed, is that emerging markets aren't just copying what wealthy countries have done. They're building systems better suited to their own needs — and in some cases, leaving the rest of the world behind.