Last week, I stepped away from Slack messages and Google Meet to hop on a plane and attend ViVE in Los Angeles. Next week, I’m headed to Las Vegas for HIMSS26, which will be my first time attending and, from the looks of it, it’s massive!!!

There’s something reinvigorating about stepping away from the usual day-to-day and joining rooms full of people who care deeply about what technology can actually do.

Conferences like these introduce us to new ideas, new tools, and new ways organizations are integrating emerging technologies into their platforms.

I enjoy the talks, but if I’m being honest, the most valuable moments typically happen between the sessions. Hallway conversations and one-on-one exchanges often reveal more than the events on the official agenda.

At ViVE, there were a few themes that surfaced again and again.

AI is no longer novel and experimental.

AI was everywhere at ViVE, which probably isn’t surprising. What did surprise me is how the conversation has shifted. The focus is no longer on AI’s potential. We’ve had time to explore and now it’s time to actually deploy AI in real clinical workflows.

At HIMSS, I’m interested to hear more from organizations that are using AI to actively improve healthcare worker efficiency and patient experience. I’m hoping to better understand how companies are currently using AI and what these use cases signal about where software is headed, both within the healthtech space and beyond.

Data is still at the center of everything.

Another theme that surfaced repeatedly at ViVE was data, and I’m looking forward to hearing more about these roadblocks and potential solutions at HIMSS. The overarching challenge is making healthcare data usable.

Healthcare organizations collect and store massive datasets. But when it comes to accessing, structuring, and sharing that information with other systems, there’s work to be done. Interoperability remains one of the biggest barriers to progress.

For software teams, that means the real work happens in the backend. We need to build systems that can reliably move data, maintain integrity, and support meaningful analysis.

I’m excited to learn more about how teams are approaching data architecture, interoperability, and analytics. The lessons we learn here extend far beyond healthcare. Every industry we work with, from public health to nonprofits to education, depends on clean, usable data.

Trust and security are core infrastructure.

One of the most important threads across all of these conversations was the growing emphasis on trust.

As AI tools become more powerful, organizations are paying closer attention to explainability and governance. Healthcare platforms need to be resilient and transparent, especially when they influence clinical decision-making.

Security is also central to these discussions. As technology evolves, so do the threats surrounding it. Building secure systems from the start is a requirement.

Coffee, conversation, and connections.

Above all else, I’m a people person!!! I truly enjoy the one-on-one conversations where we compare notes and talk through what’s actually working (and what’s not).

At ViVE, I learned so much from hallway chats and quick conversations. I'm excited to make more connections next week in Las Vegas.

Looking forward to HIMSS26.

I'm excited to put on my comfortable shoes again (lesson learned!), clip on my attendee badge, and rack up some serious steps at HIMSS! If ViVE is any indication, the conversation will likely continue exploring how organizations are graduating from experimentation to real-world deployment.

I’m especially curious to see how teams are approaching these challenges and developing creative solutions. And of course, I’m excited for more introductions and insightful chats.

If you’ll be at HIMSS and want to connect or grab a coffee between sessions, I’d genuinely love that! These conferences are always a whirlwind, but the real value comes from the conversations we make time for and the lasting connections we build with one another.

Can’t wait to see you there!