IBM's Moonshot Ambition In Healthcare

IBM in healthcare: from DeepMind to Watson, this tech giant is still in the game of transforming healthcare for the better.

Back in 2015, IBM’s previous CEO, Virginia Rometty famously said that IBM’s “moon shot will be the impact we have on healthcare.” Under the Watson Health banner, the tech company has been leveraging its expertise in cognitive computing to assist medical decision-making. In its wake, Watson Health attracted several partners and made a series of acquisitions to forge ahead of its vision.

But in recent years, the tech giant’s moonshot ambition seems to have waned. It faced management issues and had to lay off part of its Watson Health workforce in 2018. After four years of working on a mission “to eradicate cancer” that cost over $62 million, the MD Anderson Cancer Center severed ties with IBM Watson. In fact, over a dozen of its clients and partners stopped or diminished their projects. The health A.I. branch also received wide criticism following reports that questioned its diagnostic prowess while pointing out potential risks to patients’ safety.

Nevertheless, IBM still has some interest in the healthcare industry but recent developments indicate a change in trajectory in this field. Let’s look at those recent developments coming from IBM.