Dr. Angeli Möller advances AI-driven healthcare innovation, transforming patient care through responsible AI and data-driven solutions. As Group Chief Health Officer at Zühlke, she oversees global initiatives that harness technology for meaningful, sustainable impact in MedTech and Pharma. Her prior roles include Managing Director at Sequoia Growth, Head of Data and Integrations at Roche, and Vice President of Global Data Assets at Bayer. Angeli co-founded The Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare and contributes her expertise as a scientific advisory board member of Multiomic Health and as a council member of the UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with Digital First Magazine, Angeli shared her professional trajectory, insights on the role of Artificial Intelligence evolving in healthcare, personal hobbies and interests, her favorite quote, future plans, words of wisdom, and much more. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi Angeli. What inspired you to pursue a career in healthcare and technology, and how have you seen the field evolve over time?
Initially, I was only attracted to the field of healthcare, and didn´t think about the technology aspect. Like most people in our sector, I simply wanted to have a career that had a beneficial impact on society, and I enjoyed biology. It wasn´t more complicated than that.
Technology is obviously what changed. When I began my university studies at age 18 a significant amount of my studies was spent in the lab, learning how to design, perform and analyse a range of molecular biology experiment, however, by the time I had finished my PhD and won a grant for my postdoctoral research we were already working in labs using robotics to run many of those same experiments. Only the hypothesis generation, experimental design and data analytics components of my training were still relevant. As I look ahead, further automation, and even autonomous labs are inevitable, and my career has allowed me to witness great benefits automated processes can bring to clinical operations and medtech as well.
During even my academic research, I worked with automated reasoning and machine learning, but when I first entered industry in 2015 there was a lot of skeptism surrounding the value of AI. Through pre-competitive associations like the Pistoia Alliance and the Alliance for Artifical Intelligence in Healthcare, I was able to find likeminded individuals who were convinced that AI would be a corner stone, allowing us to move from digitization to digital transformation, and the progress in the last ten years has been significant. No one tells us anymore that AI has no value for their company, which is a huge relief as it was hard to keep hearing that a decade ago. Over that time I realized the importance of change management and communication when bringing the latest innovations to companies, now I always start every discussion with the product innovation, revenue, costs of goods and time to market benefits of the transformation and not with the technology itself.
Beyond that, I have also learnt to look over the horizon and now personally have the opportunity to support development of quantum technologies through my position on the science and technology facilities council in the UK, which recently built a quantum computing facility to support multiple fields of scientific research.
What do you love the most about your current role?
The people. Zühlke is a company that provides a range of industries with consulting, digital transformation and engineering, specializing in turning state-of-the-art into competitive advantage. We´re an employee-owned company and our “product” is the minds of the approximately 2000 individuals who make the impossible possible. Much of our machine learning work is of course invisible, but is running in airports, supporting rail systems or hospitals. In our 17 offices worldwide you can see various highly innovative products we have developed over the years, with medtech solutions having the longest history in our company.
How do you see the role of Artificial Intelligence evolving in healthcare, and what implications does this have for patient care and outcomes?
I see acceptance of AI in everyday life. It can help you with your emails, photos, investment decisions, hotel bookings… everything. This means that acceptance for AI in Healthcare is also growing. Regulatory bodies and ethics committees around the world seem to generally be open to the benefits it can bring to patient care and outcomes, and some began to prepare for this innovation years ago, the FDA being one example. There appear to be two roadblocks still to overcome, one is the investment needed, which is currently locked up in legacy systems and processes. Although we see across the over 300 clients for who we have implemented data-driven approaches that the investment can rapidly be reduced once systems are in-place, there is undoubtedly an up-front investment needed. The second roadblock is upskilling. There is a fear that AI and automation will make roles obsolete. It is critical that we support the upskilling and re-training of our workforces to allow them to work alongside AI solutions. People will always be needed in every part of the health ecosystem to provide innovative and compassionate patient care.
How do you approach leadership and innovation in your role, and what qualities do you believe are essential for effective leadership in healthcare?
When it comes to innovation, I think it´s simply important to be open to new ideas. The people who read this magazine are likely already open to new concepts and approaches to working. I think this openness is something we have seen throughout history in all leaders who adopted innovation to achieve great business success as their competitors who were less open to new ideas floundered and disappeared.
What are your thoughts on diversity and inclusion in your field? How important is it to have authentic conversations with leaders, professionals, and changemakers to create more acceptance across the globe?
As an organization, we always need to ensure we have the best people and that the voices of those people can always be heard, which is why inclusive hiring and collaboration practices are key for our business success. Having demographic diversity around the table, in terms of age, gender, socio-economic status and ethnicity, also increases our chances of understanding the needs of the diverse range of clients and ultimately patients that we support.
In our healthcare system inclusion also means listening to the various stakeholders needed for success of any solution, for example patients, caregivers, health insurers, clinicians, engineers and commercial leads. Knowing which roles are critical to success is where all digital transformation implementation should begin.
Who has been a significant influence or mentor in your career, and how have they helped shape your professional journey?
My very first manager in the pharmaceutical industry played a significant role in my career. He showed me that it was possible to stay authentic and grow into a management position. Up until the day he retired it was clear he cared deeply about the impact we could make through patient-centric digital transformation and that he also supported the team around him completely.
What are some of your passions outside of work? What do you like to do in your time off?
My work is very exciting and takes me all around the world, so outside of work I am quite boring. I simply enjoy being with my family and friends, and am happy attending concerts, hiking or gardening. I took up paddle-boarding last summer and I have already been out on the lake this year even though there was still some ice around the edges. I enjoy the quiet of nature when I am out on my board.
What is your favorite quote?
I appreciate this quote from Hamlet by Polonius, “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man.” I know the first half is usually all that is quoted, but the whole sentence is what resonates for me.
What are your long-term career aspirations, and how do you see yourself evolving as a leader over the next five years?
One of the things I greatly appreciate about my role is my P&L accountability, each year I have a revenue target and EBITA contribution that I need to achieve. Growing a profitable business allows us to invest in further people development and to ensure sustainable benefits in the healthcare ecosystem. I also value our role in contributing to the economy of all the countries in which we have a presence. I hope that wherever the future takes me that I will continue to have the ability to grow impactful businesses.
What advice would you give to individuals looking to break into the healthcare technology field, or transition into a leadership role?
Take some time to understand the skills and experience that are needed in the leadership role you are aspiring for. For example, when leaving science for my first management role, I needed to develop my financial acumen. So I developed a learning path for myself and sought opportunities that tested my financial management and investment skill sets (at first this took the form a volunteer opportunities until I could make this skill a cornerstone of my day job). Look for opportunities to take on more responsibility, but also be sure those opportunities are developing you in the direction you want to go.