AI is actively changing the way the healthcare industry thinks, works and creates. In this evolving environment, strengthening connections between people and ideas, technology and creativity, data and decision-making opens new possibilities for innovation and impact.

At IPG Health’s Next: Innovation Week 2025, industry leaders, tech experts and cutting-edge creatives gathered for panels, hands-on workshops and interactive sessions to discuss how to use AI and other emerging technologies to unlock future breakthroughs in healthcare marketing.

At the ninth annual event, exclusive to IPG Health employees and clients, more than 2,300 virtual and in-person attendees from around the globe explored the ideas, technologies and trends shaping the future of healthcare marketing including AI agents and AI-driven tools that are redefining brand interactions and enhancing efficiency, creativity and scalability.

“This flagship event embodies IPG Health’s commitment to fostering connections that create innovation,” said Graham Johnson, chief operating and product officer, IPG Health. “By bringing together our employees, clients and partners from around the world to explore how AI and modular content are changing how we work, we are fueling the next generation of game-changing ideas to elevate brands.” This collaborative spirit is a hallmark of IPG Health’s interconnected ecosystem.

The event’s diverse programming reflected this ambitious vision with sessions that reimagined fundamental aspects of healthcare marketing.

Rethinking the future of healthcare

A key theme at Innovation Week was that the true value of AI isn’t just in what it can accomplish, but in what it frees humans to do. In “AI Will Change the Work — So You Can Change the Game,” Franklin Williams, executive director, experience design, Area 23, highlighted that the most powerful shift ahead is about reinvention. By removing the friction between insights and action, emerging technologies give people more time to explore new creative angles, test bold ideas and create better connections. However, if brands view AI exclusively through the lens of efficiency, they will miss future possibilities to invest in completely new spaces and communicate more effectively.

Another session with engagement strategists at Neon, FCB Health New York and Area 23 delved into the healthcare trends and shifts shaping 2025 and how brands need to rewire their approach in order to connect, communicate and build trust in the new era. A cross-network, cross-discipline IPG Health team found that brands can position themselves ahead of the curve by leveraging agentic AI for greater personalization and biometric data for improved outcomes and helping combat misinformation and the proliferation of AI-generated content. Amid the tension between the promise and peril of technology, audiences are craving storytelling with human relatability and authentic, community-driven engagement.

In this culture of speed, where consumer beliefs can shift overnight, market researchers can supercharge their insights by combining the rigor of research with AI-testing tools. For example, Innovation Week marked the launch of Living Mirrors, powered by agentic AI and built on IPG Health’s proprietary EPICC suite of products and solutions for insights, creativity and content, helping marketers make smarter and faster decisions. Rather than simply study audiences, brands can simulate behaviors and test creative on dynamic, digital versions of their target audience in a short period of time allowing them to pivot quickly and at scale.

These technological advances are occurring alongside equally significant shifts in healthcare relationships.

Shifting patient-doctor engagement

Innovation Week also featured several sessions that explored the shifting patient-doctor dynamic. Today’s patients aren’t just receiving care, they’re seeking it. They are taking more control of their health than ever before, driving changes in how care is delivered and reshaping the interaction between patients and providers.

A session titled “Reaching the Rising Proactive Patient” examined how technology is enabling more patient proactivity and bringing healthcare providers (HCPs) into the patient journey earlier. Shifting media strategies to meet patients where they are can lead to deeper engagement and improved results. In this era of the empowered patient, it’s important to focus on not only with whom to engage but also how to engage them. Patient-first messaging makes conversations between patients and their doctors, and HCPs and pharma brands more productive and beneficial.

In another session, “The New Voice of Healthcare: What We Can Learn From Creator-Clinicians,” Dr. Bayo Curry-Winchell spotlighted her journey as a trusted voice in healthcare not only in the exam room but also across social media where her honest, accessible content connects with thousands. As medical misinformation continues to rise, credible HCP influencers such as Curry-Winchell play a critical role in rebuilding trust and delivering accurate, timely health information. Pharma brands prefer to control the narrative, but authenticity yields greater engagement on social media. Brands can no longer stay on the sidelines; they need to be a discoverable part of health conversations.

These evolving dynamics between patients and providers create new opportunities to address critical health challenges.

Empowering patients and providers

Next: Innovation Week 2025 also highlighted the growing adolescent mental health crisis, marked by rising anxiety, depression and disconnection. In a conversation moderated by McCann Global Health, the panelists discussed that as teens navigate a digital-first world, healthcare marketers have an opportunity to meet them where they are while helping them build the skills to thrive offline. For example, Dahlia Health worked with a teen advisory board to develop an AI-powered companion that can answer teen questions in a voice that resonates with them and enables handoff to human care. By blending technology with human care, brands can unlock new pathways to resilience and connection through storytelling, community and partnership.

In “Patient Support Raises Questions. AI Responds,” leaders across IPG Health and YuzuYello, the network’s specialized patient support agency, tackled another public health issue — non-adherence — and how AI can help close the gap between prescription and long-term adherence. For example, IPG Health’s EPICC uses data technology across the entirety of the healthcare lifecycle. Adherence archetypes developed from various data sources, including Acxiom, help brands better understand patient behavior, design personalized patient support programs (PSPs) and measure effectiveness. EPICC complements traditional PSP feedback with a robust dataset and offers novel ways to analyze insights and uncover adherence motivators and barriers.

In another session related to patient experience, Hlynur Atlason, founder, Atlason Studio, discussed how packaging design can improve treatment adherence and patient outcomes. Innovative designs can have real-life consequences for patients at the moment of use, alleviating points of friction, including legibility, identification and opening features, with empathy and care.

The conversation of access to care continues to be important and took center stage at Innovation Week via leaders at McCann Health Managed Markets. Specifically, AI integration brings the promise of improving process efficiencies and reducing costs for U.S. payers. However, as payers leverage AI specifically in the prior authorization process, physicians fear that patients may experience increasing treatment delays and denials. As the presenters pointed out, AI already helps fill out forms and make more cost-efficient decisions, and if used correctly, has the potential to speed up authorization.

What’s to come

During the event, the dedicated Next: Tech Playground offered attendees hands-on experiences with the latest technologies, from holograms and generative AI to spatial computing and virtual production. It was an immersive journey into the realm of possibilities, where attendees witnessed firsthand how AI is transforming the way pharma brands engage audiences, create content and optimize campaigns.

Through an impactful and interactive data visualization exhibit created by IPG Health’s Data Visualization specialty team, attendees could also see how interwoven many health conditions are. In addition, breakout sessions offered participants an in-depth look at how AI is powering a new generation of operational intelligence, how AI is being integrated into professional content creation and how large language models such as ChatGPT can create simple games.

This year’s IPG Health’s Next: Innovation Week was not just about how AI is reshaping healthcare marketing, but about the people who actively bring those ideas to life. Building meaningful connections can open up new possibilities for innovation and impact.