Vice President/Chief Health AI Officer

The Vice President and Chief Health AI Officer (CHAIO) serves as the senior physician executive responsible for establishing and advancing the health system strategic vision, governance framework, and operational execution of Artificial Intelligence (AI) across UCSF Health. Reporting directly to the Chief Information Officer for Health (Health CIO), the CHAIO serves as a key member of the Health IT executive leadership team and partners closely with clinical, operational, research, academic, and technology leaders to accelerate the safe, ethical, and effective adoption of AI in support of UCSF Health’s mission of exceptional patient care, education, research, and innovation. Working in close partnership with the UCSF Schools of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Dentistry, the CHAIO helps ensure that Health AI strategies support the educational mission by preparing current and future healthcare professionals to effectively, safely, and ethically incorporate AI into clinical practice while recognizing the unique needs of learners participating in patient care and clinical training environments. The incumbent is a licensed physician with recognized expertise in clinical practice, healthcare operations, informatics, and Artificial Intelligence, serving as the primary executive advisor to UCSF Health leadership on the clinical application of AI technologies.

The CHAIO is responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive enterprise AI strategy that aligns with organizational priorities and advances clinical quality, patient safety, operational efficiency, workforce effectiveness, and financial stewardship. This executive serves as the health system’s primary authority for AI strategy, standards, governance, and implementation, ensuring that AI initiatives deliver measurable value and are aligned with UCSF Health’s strategic objectives.

The CHAIO leads the development of the UCSF Health enterprise AI ecosystem, including the technology infrastructure, data assets, governance processes, and organizational capabilities necessary to enable responsible and scalable AI adoption. Working collaboratively with Health IT, Informatics, Data and Analytics, Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Compliance, Legal, Risk Management, and Clinical Operations, the CHAIO ensures that AI solutions are secure, interoperable, compliant with applicable regulations, and aligned with industry best practices and ethical principles.

This position is accountable for establishing and facilitating AI governance structures, including executive committees, review boards, and decision-making frameworks that oversee prioritization, evaluation, implementation, and ongoing monitoring of AI technologies. The CHAIO develops policies and standards that promote responsible AI use, emphasizing transparency, fairness, accountability, explainability, privacy, and security while mitigating risks associated with bias, discrimination, and inappropriate use of AI technologies.While collaborating with Health System leadership, the CHAIO hold authority to prioritize, approve, or halt AI initiatives, including authority to pause unsafe clinical AI. 

The CHAIO collaborates with health system leadership to identify, prioritize, and implement AI-enabled solutions that improve patient outcomes, enhance clinician and staff experiences, optimize operational performance, and support organizational transformation. The incumbent partners with business, clinical, and informatics leaders to translate complex organizational challenges into practical AI-driven solutions and ensures alignment between enterprise AI investments and institutional priorities. 

The CHAIO is 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.The CHAIO helps work with operational and IT leaders to manage the lifecycles of these operational deployments.Where AI is embedded in or adjacent to enterprise application platforms, the CHAIO will collaborate with technology and business leaders to prioritize AI strategy, model selection, and clinical performance of those capabilities.

The CHAIO also partners with clinical education leaders to promote Health AI literacy, responsible AI competencies, and workforce readiness across the organization. The incumbent ensures that Health AI implementations appropriately account for the educational environment, supporting trainees during clinical rotations while preserving patient safety, educational quality, appropriate supervision, and equitable learning opportunities.

As the executive leader for Health AI, the CHAIO represents UCSF Health in governance activities related to enterprise data, analytics, infrastructure architecture, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies. The incumbent works closely with UCSF and UC system partners, clinical research leaders, external healthcare organizations, industry collaborators, academic institutions, and technology vendors to advance UCSF Health’s leadership position in AI innovation and establish strategic partnerships that accelerate organizational capabilities. The CHAIO collaborates with clinical research leadership to facilitate the responsible application of Health AI in clinical trials, translational science, real-world evidence generation, and learning health system initiatives, ensuring that AI-enabled research aligns with institutional governance, regulatory requirements, and ethical standards.

The CHAIO serves as Co-Chair of the UCSF Health Converge AI Accelerator Program, providing strategic direction, establishing program priorities, evaluating opportunities, and aligning accelerator initiatives with health system objectives. The incumbent collaborates with executive leadership, academic partners, technology companies, AI startups, venture capital organizations, and innovation stakeholders across the San Francisco Bay Area to identify and advance high-value AI initiatives. The CHAIO leverages UCSF’s unique position within one of the world’s leading AI and technology ecosystems to cultivate strategic relationships that accelerate innovation, facilitate responsible technology adoption, and strengthen UCSF Health’s leadership in healthcare AI.

The CHAIO also serves as a key liaison, with the opportunity to hold a faculty appointment, to the UCSF Division of Clinical Informatics and Technology (DoC-IT) and other institutional partners to ensure effective collaboration and alignment across AI-related programs and initiatives. 

The CHAIO continuously evaluates the rapidly evolving AI landscape, emerging technologies, regulatory developments, and industry trends to ensure UCSF Health remains at the forefront of innovation. This executive assesses the feasibility, value, and risk of emerging AI capabilities and advises senior leadership on strategic investments and adoption opportunities that support long-term organizational growth and competitive advantage. The CHAIO serves as a visible ambassador for UCSF Health within the national Health AI community (particularly in the Bay Area), developing trusted relationships with technology leaders, entrepreneurs, venture investors, academic collaborators, and public-sector organizations to foster collaboration, influence emerging healthcare AI practices, and identify opportunities that advance UCSF Health’s strategic priorities.

The CHAIO is responsible for developing the organizational capabilities necessary to successfully scale AI across the enterprise. This includes building and leading high-performing multidisciplinary teams, attracting and developing AI talent, establishing strategic partnerships, and leveraging external expertise when appropriate. The incumbent fosters a culture of innovation, collaboration, continuous learning, and responsible AI adoption throughout the organization.

The CHAIO establishes measurable performance indicators and outcomes for AI initiatives and leverages enterprise data and analytics capabilities to evaluate effectiveness, track value realization, and communicate progress to executive leadership and key stakeholders. Through strategic leadership and operational oversight, the CHAIO ensures that AI investments produce measurable improvements in patient care, clinical outcomes, operational performance, workforce productivity, clinical research and innovation, research advancement, and organizational effectiveness.

Overall, the Vice President and Chief Health AI Officer provides visionary leadership and enterprise-wide accountability for the responsible adoption and advancement of Artificial Intelligence at UCSF Health, serving as the strategic bridge between people, processes, data, technology, and innovation to transform healthcare delivery and improve the health of the communities UCSF serves.

Department Overview 

The VP/Chief Health AI Officer (CHAIO)will report to the UCSF Health Chief Information Officer who is responsible as the primary executive leader of information technology at UCSF Health (referred to as UCSF Health IT).  This involves certain direct reporting responsibilities including administrative applications, IT infrastructure, customer support, data and analytics, IT security, IT program management and IT Governance for UCSF.  This organization is responsible to provide the foundational IT and data and analytics necessary to support the core mission areas and administrative operations at UCSF.  UCSF also has a substantial departmental IT and analytics presence with which the UCSF IT organization collaborates closely through formal and information structures. This construct enables close alignment with specialized departmental needs while promoting leverage of core information technology assets and capabilities.  A significant shift in operating model is under way at UCSF which will leave the distributed model in place but align IT, departmental and other functional areas within cross-functional teams focused on the technology and innovation needs of key business units and departments at UCSF. This transformation will evolve over the next 3 years and represents an important aspect of the UCSF drive to innovate using data and technology as key enablers of improved patient, student, faculty, physician and researcher experience.

Education, Licenses and Certifications:

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• Must pass a background check.

Management of Funds:

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Supervision

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Budgeted Job Salary Range: 370,600 - 600,000