Harnessing the Power of AI in Healthcare: Leadership Insights from Tech Tour AI for Health 2025
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the healthcare landscape, revolutionizing everything from diagnostics and treatment to patient management and drug discovery. With AI-powered tools enabling earlier disease detection, personalized therapies, and streamlined clinical workflows, the healthcare industry is on the brink of a technological renaissance. This transformation is creating unprecedented opportunities for innovation, investment, and collaboration.
To support these developments, Tech Tour is delighted to host the inaugural AI for Health 2025, an investment programme bringing together 40 top AI-driven companies, 40+ leading investors, and 100+ key players in the industry. Taking place on January 22-23, 2025, in Bochum, Germany, this event is set to spotlight transformative AI solutions that are reshaping patient care, medical research, and disease prevention.
For an exclusive preview, we recently spoke with Andreas Ostendorf, President, and Christian Stephan, Vice President of the Selection Panel at Tech Tour AI for Health. Read on for a fascinating glimpse into their perspectives on the latest trends in AI, the significance of fostering innovation in health, and their visions for the future of healthcare. From AI-powered diagnostics to precision treatments, Andreas and Christian’s insights offer a precious perspective into the dynamic landscape this programme aims to amplify.
TT: Please briefly introduce yourself and tell us more about your current position and company?
AO: My name is Andreas Ostendorf, Professor for Applied Laser Technologies at Ruhr University Bochum and member of the Expert Advisory Board of the Health Campus Bochum. As an engineer I have co-founded by myself startup companies and motivated students to think about starting their own business.
CS: I am Christian Stephan, Managing Director of the KAIROS GmbH, a company 100% owned by IQVIA. We are providing software solutions and professional services for data integration in the healthcare sector for the secondary use of data, to build even better research and AI-driven decision support.
TT: Why did you decide to lead Tech Tour AI for Health? What inspired you? What is your mission as a President / Vice President of the event?
AO: The Bochum ecosystem is still focused on early stage startups and their funding. However, especially companies in the digital health sector with a focus on AI could currently grow fast, but they often need to be supported in their expansion phase by capital and, equally important, international networks. Tech Tour AI for Health provides both in a perfect format and, thus, represents a unique opportunity to further develop the health-based ecosystem in and around Bochum.
CS: Healthcare is a field highly open to improvement, by using modern digitalization and therefore specific AI-driven approaches in many ways for future public health. So, it is a topic for everyone- the population, patients, researchers, scientists, physicians etc. In my role as Vice President of the Selection Panel, I enjoy being a part of the meeting and leading the selection panel to find the best AI-driven companies and the most interested investors.
TT: What key AI trends in healthcare are you most excited to highlight at this event?
AO: Applications of AI in the health sector are getting broader. The use of AI tools in the discovery of pharmaceutical products e.g. for rare diseases is still in its infancy, but a growing number of startups is dedicated to this area already. Also the detection of new biomarkers or marker-free technologies is increasingly based on AI. Not to forget the care and even the prevention sectors where the use of AI technologies develops almost exponentially.
CS: Newly-built AI-models to predict diagnosis and therapy. Especially by combining real world data to build up digital twins for better treatments of patients of several disease-entities.
TT: What are you going to look for in the companies to be selected for Tech Tour AI for Health 2025?
AO: The team behind the technology is most often the key success factor. I am very much interested in their background, their engagement and how the team is presented as a whole. Of course, the key technological idea and how they have successfully approached first customers so far is also quite relevant. Startup awards are sometimes a good indicator, but first customers are much more important for long-term success. Thus, I am interested in how the market has reacted to the new offers.
CS: We need already grown up companies that address with modern techniques new solutions for preventing and curing any disease. Because these kinds of solutions are needed to be a medical device, to build a successful product on the market, I focus on a nice, validated dataset to train these AI-models- but it is also important that the companies are focusing on a quality management system to build the solution and to address the labeling of a medical product.
TT: How can startups best position themselves to meet current demands in AI for health?
AO: New startups are probably not well advised to develop a complex AI hardware and software infrastructure by themselves. They either need excellent cooperation partners from the IT sector or to combine forces and share infrastructure. To be successful in the health sector, they should be fully dedicated to the application and how to generate added value for the patients and/or the medical staff.
CS: Focus not only on one AI method, but rather compare the huge possibilities of several AI methods to choose the right model for the right problem. Not all problems could be solved with one AI method. Also, the quality of data and quality-controlled development steps are needed key features of the best position.
TT: What is the value you envision this event will create? What do you consider the best asset of Tech Tour’s activities?
AO: Tech Tour has established a successful series of events where startup and growing companies can meet investors and often also potential international customers. I am very convinced that there will be successful investments following this event and regarding the health region of Bochum, I am sure a further positive impact will result in more startups with respect to AI and health technologies. The combination of AI and solutions in the healthcare sector has a huge potential, and we are still in the initial phase.
CS: The value of this meeting is the concentrated knowledge of industry experts and entrepreneurial investors in the beautiful setting of a large smart-health area in Bochum. As a result, the next up-and-coming companies and AI-driven approaches in the healthcare sector will be developed from this event, which is managed superbly and professionally by Tech Tour. This is happening right now, right here, at exactly the right time. The healthcare sector needs AI right now!
The intersection of artificial intelligence and healthcare presents unparalleled opportunities to transform the lives of patients and revolutionize the medical industry. Through the leadership of Andreas Ostendorf and Christian Stephan, Tech Tour AI for Health 2025 is not just a platform for showcasing innovation—it’s a launchpad for fostering collaboration and creating impactful solutions.
Join us in Bochum this January to connect with trailblazing startups, visionary investors, and industry leaders driving the AI revolution in healthcare.
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