How this healthcare exec is helping make health systems more efficient with AI

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Dani Bowie, SVP of workforce AI at travel nursing agency Aya Healthcare, began her career as a nurse and has moved into “helping hospitals run more efficiently.” With Aya specifically, she’s in a role where she taps into how AI and predictive analytics can ensure nurses are scheduled “in ways that support their well-being and help hospitals manage labor costs,” she said.

We spoke with Bowie about how her work has evolved and how the tech she works with factors in.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What’s the best change you’ve made or seen at a place you’ve worked?

Nurse scheduling and staffing remains one of the most complex challenges for hospitals and health systems. Where efficiency and automation are lacking, and resources are misaligned, that’s where technology can make the largest impact: by transforming scheduling. What previously took hospital nurse leaders hours and days can now take less than five minutes with the right technology.

What’s the biggest misconception people might have about your job?

As someone who works in AI technology, there are a lot of misconceptions about AI in healthcare. AI isn’t intended to replace clinicians but rather enhance their work and help them practice to the top of their licensure. The tools we’re developing are built to save nurse managers hours per week of manual effort—that kind of time savings is invaluable.

What’s the most fulfilling aspect of your job?

As a former health system executive, seeing the technology I designed and created implemented in hospitals across the country is so rewarding. It’s ensuring nurses like me are caring for patients at the bedside rather than being stressed about staffing, staring at a computer screen covered in sticky notes, buried deep in spreadsheets until they’re cross-eyed.

What healthcare trend are you most optimistic about?

I’m really optimistic about how technology will help health systems streamline processes, better utilize their resources, and improve alignment between previously siloed units. Technology is helping frontline leaders get away from mundane and tedious work so they can focus on what’s most important: patient care.