VP/Chief Health AI Officer (CHAIO)

University of California, San Francisco•San Francisco, CA

12d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Vice President and Chief Health AI Officer (CHAIO) is the senior physician executive responsible for establishing and advancing the health system's strategic vision, governance framework, and operational execution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across UCSF Health. Reporting to the Chief Information Officer for Health (Health CIO), the CHAIO is a key member of the Health IT executive leadership team, partnering with clinical, operational, research, academic, and technology leaders to accelerate the safe, ethical, and effective adoption of AI. This role supports UCSF Health’s mission of exceptional patient care, education, research, and innovation. The CHAIO collaborates with UCSF Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Dentistry to ensure Health AI strategies support the educational mission, preparing professionals for AI integration into clinical practice. The incumbent is a licensed physician with expertise in clinical practice, healthcare operations, informatics, and AI, serving as the primary executive advisor on AI technologies. Responsibilities include developing and executing a comprehensive enterprise AI strategy aligned with organizational priorities, advancing clinical quality, patient safety, operational efficiency, workforce effectiveness, and financial stewardship. The CHAIO leads the development of the UCSF Health enterprise AI ecosystem, including technology infrastructure, data assets, governance processes, and organizational capabilities for responsible AI adoption. Collaboration with Health IT, Informatics, Data and Analytics, Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Compliance, Legal, Risk Management, and Clinical Operations ensures AI solutions are secure, interoperable, compliant, and ethically sound. The position is accountable for establishing AI governance structures, including executive committees and review boards, to oversee AI initiatives. Policies and standards promoting responsible AI use (transparency, fairness, accountability, explainability, privacy, security) are developed, mitigating risks of bias and discrimination. The CHAIO has authority to prioritize, approve, or halt AI initiatives, including pausing unsafe clinical AI. The role involves identifying, prioritizing, and implementing AI-enabled solutions to improve patient outcomes, enhance clinician/staff experiences, optimize performance, and support transformation. The CHAIO partners with leaders to translate challenges into AI-driven solutions and ensures alignment between AI investments and institutional priorities. The CHAIO is the executive owner for Health AI strategic partnerships, managing third-party AI vendor relationships and co-development partnerships. Collaboration with operational and IT leaders ensures effective lifecycle management of operational deployments. The CHAIO also partners with clinical education leaders to promote Health AI literacy and workforce readiness, ensuring AI implementations account for the educational environment and trainee needs. As the executive leader for Health AI, the CHAIO represents UCSF Health in governance activities related to enterprise data, analytics, infrastructure, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies. The incumbent works with UCSF and UC system partners, research leaders, external organizations, and vendors to advance UCSF Health’s leadership in AI innovation. Collaboration with clinical research leadership facilitates the responsible application of Health AI in clinical trials, translational science, and learning health system initiatives. The CHAIO serves as Co-Chair of the UCSF Health Converge AI Accelerator Program, providing strategic direction and evaluating opportunities. Leveraging UCSF’s position in the AI ecosystem, the CHAIO cultivates strategic relationships to accelerate innovation and strengthen healthcare AI leadership. The CHAIO may hold a faculty appointment with the UCSF Division of Clinical Informatics and Technology (DoC-IT). Continuous evaluation of the AI landscape, emerging technologies, and regulatory developments ensures UCSF Health remains at the forefront of innovation. The CHAIO assesses feasibility, value, and risk of emerging AI capabilities and advises senior leadership on strategic investments. The CHAIO acts as an ambassador for UCSF Health within the national Health AI community, developing relationships to foster collaboration and advance strategic priorities. The CHAIO is responsible for developing organizational capabilities for AI scaling, including building high-performing teams, attracting talent, establishing partnerships, and fostering a culture of innovation and responsible AI adoption. Measurable performance indicators and outcomes for AI initiatives are established, leveraging data and analytics to evaluate effectiveness and communicate progress. The CHAIO ensures AI investments produce measurable improvements in patient care, clinical outcomes, operational performance, workforce productivity, research, and organizational effectiveness. Overall, the CHAIO provides visionary leadership and enterprise-wide accountability for the responsible adoption and advancement of AI at UCSF Health, bridging people, processes, data, technology, and innovation to transform healthcare delivery.

Requirements

Recognized expertise in clinical practice, healthcare operations, clinical informatics, and the responsible application of Artificial Intelligence to improve patient care and health system performance.
Demonstrated ability to develop and execute enterprise clinical AI strategies aligned with organizational priorities, patient outcomes, and healthcare transformation.
Expert knowledge of AI governance, clinical safety, AI ethics, regulatory considerations, privacy, bias mitigation, and responsible AI implementation in healthcare.
Demonstrated ability to evaluate, prioritize, and oversee clinical AI initiatives across multiple specialties and operational settings while balancing innovation, patient safety, and organizational risk.
Exceptional executive leadership, relationship-building, and influence skills with the ability to engage physicians, clinicians, executives, researchers, educators, and technology leaders across a complex academic health system.
Demonstrated success leading multidisciplinary teams composed of physicians, informaticists, operational leaders, data scientists, technology professionals, and clinical staff.
Outstanding verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex AI concepts, clinical risks, and strategic recommendations to executive leadership, governing bodies, and diverse stakeholder groups.
Proven ability to lead large-scale organizational change, build physician engagement, and accelerate adoption of innovative technologies across complex healthcare environments.
Deep understanding of healthcare delivery, patient safety, quality improvement, clinical operations, academic medicine, and healthcare workforce transformation.
Demonstrated ability to translate emerging AI capabilities into clinically meaningful, scalable solutions that improve patient outcomes, clinician experience, and operational performance.
Strong understanding of clinical decision support, predictive analytics, ambient documentation, generative AI, and other AI applications relevant to healthcare delivery.
Experience establishing governance structures, executive committees, and decision-making frameworks that oversee the evaluation, deployment, monitoring, and lifecycle management of clinical AI technologies.
Demonstrated experience developing strategic partnerships with healthcare organizations, academic institutions, industry partners, and technology vendors to advance clinical AI innovation.
Strong business acumen with the ability to evaluate AI investments, measure value realization, and align AI initiatives with organizational strategy and financial stewardship.
Innovative and visionary leader with demonstrated ability to anticipate emerging trends in healthcare AI and guide organizations through rapid technological change.
8+ years of progressive physician leadership experience leading clinical AI, clinical informatics, digital transformation initiatives, or a related function within a health system or academic medical center.
Current or prior clinical practice experience as a licensed physician with demonstrated credibility among practicing clinicians and the ability to lead physician engagement and adoption of AI-enabled clinical transformation.
MD required.
Active, unrestricted license to practice medicine with eligibility for physician licensure in the state of California.
Must pass a background check.

Nice To Haves

Five (5) years of executive leadership experience (Chief Medical Informatics Officer, Chief Clinical Informatics Officer, Chief AI Officer, or comparable physician executive role) physician leadership role leading clinical AI, clinical informatics, or digital transformation initiatives within a health system or academic medical center.
Board certified in Clinical Informatics.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the health system AI strategy, ensuring AI initiatives align with organizational priorities and advance patient care, clinical quality, patient safety, operational excellence, workforce effectiveness, education, research, and financial stewardship.
Serve as the senior physician executive and principal advisor to Health System leadership on the clinical application of Artificial Intelligence.
Lead the Health AI governance program by establishing executive governance structures, policies, standards, and decision-making processes that ensure AI technologies are safe, ethical, equitable, transparent, compliant, and clinically effective.
Provide executive authority to prioritize, approve, pause, or discontinue clinical AI initiatives based on organizational priorities, patient safety, regulatory requirements, and demonstrated value.
Partner with clinical, operational, and business leaders to identify, prioritize, and oversee a portfolio of AI initiatives that improve patient outcomes, enhance clinician and staff experience, optimize operational performance, and accelerate organizational transformation.
Translate complex clinical and operational challenges into scalable AI-enabled solutions aligned with institutional priorities.
Serve as the executive owner for Health AI strategic partnerships, including strategy, evaluation, selection, governance and value realization of strategic third-party AI vendor relationships and co-development partnerships.
Collaborate with health operational and IT leaders to manage the lifecycles of these operational deployments.
Advance Health AI education and workforce readiness by partnering with academic and clinical education leaders to promote AI literacy, responsible AI competencies, and effective integration of AI into clinical training environments.
Collaborate with research leadership to advance the responsible use of AI in clinical research, translational science, learning health systems, and innovation while ensuring compliance with institutional governance and ethical standards.
Represent UCSF Health in executive governance activities related to AI, data, analytics, cybersecurity, emerging technologies, and digital transformation.
Collaborate across UCSF Health, the Schools, the University of California system, and external organizations to advance institutional AI capabilities, strengthen strategic partnerships, and position UCSF as a national leader in responsible healthcare AI.
Lead initiatives that strengthen UCSF Health's long-term Health AI capabilities by building high-performing multidisciplinary teams, fostering innovation, developing organizational AI competencies, and cultivating strategic relationships with academic, healthcare, technology, and industry partners.
Serve as Co-Chair of the UCSF Health Converge AI Accelerator Program and provide strategic leadership for AI innovation initiatives.
Establish measurable outcomes for Health AI initiatives and evaluate their impact on clinical quality, patient safety, clinician experience, operational performance, workforce productivity, research advancement, and financial value.
Regularly communicate AI performance, organizational impact, and strategic opportunities to executive leadership and key stakeholders.