Healthcare's GenAI Future Hinges on Trust, Talent, and Infrastructure
The healthcare industry is betting big on generative AI (GenAI)—and the numbers are staggering. According to the 2025 Nutanix Enterprise Cloud Index (ECI) for Healthcare, 99% of healthcare organizations surveyed are already using GenAI applications.
That kind of unanimous adoption is rare. But it also comes with serious risks.
Most healthcare organizations believe GenAI solutions will help improve levels of productivity, automation, and efficiency. Yet beneath the excitement lies a difficult truth: most healthcare organizations agree that their organization could be doing more to secure its GenAI models and applications.
Security and Privacy: The Sector’s Top GenAI Concern
It’s no surprise that privacy and security top the list of GenAI challenges. Healthcare handles the most sensitive data imaginable—personal health records, diagnoses, medications, genomic data—and that data is now being fed into large language models that are notoriously hard to govern.
39% of healthcare organizations ranked privacy and security of using LLMs with sensitive data as their No. 1 GenAI challenge.
92% said data privacy is/would be a priority when implementing GenAI.
96% agreed their organization could be doing more to secure GenAI models and applications.
Security and privacy will remain a major challenge for organizations as they seek to justify the use of emerging, GenAI-based solutions and ensure that they adhere to traditional security norms, as well as new requirements for data governance, privacy, and visibility..
Scaling GenAI Is a Struggle—Because Infrastructure Isn’t Ready
Healthcare may be deploying GenAI, but it’s not necessarily scaling it.
Every single healthcare respondent—99%—reported challenges moving GenAI from development to production. The No. 1 problem? Integration with legacy IT infrastructure.
This makes it clear: without modern, scalable, cloud-native infrastructure, even the most promising GenAI pilot is likely to stall.
81% say their current IT infrastructure needs at least moderate improvement to support data security.
79% say it needs improvement to support containers and cloud-native apps.
For GenAI to move from isolated pilots to enterprise-scale transformation, infrastructure modernization is no longer optional. It’s foundational.
Containers and Kubernetes: The Quiet Backbone of GenAI
While much of the GenAI conversation focuses on applications, the 2025 ECI healthcare report reveals a quiet revolution in containerization that’s enabling these innovations to run.
99% of healthcare organizations are in the process of containerizing their apps.
71% have containerized GenAI applications—the most commonly containerized workload.
KubernetesⓇ use is also widespread, with 84% of organizations operating in multiple Kubernetes environments.
This architecture matters. Containers and Kubernetes bring the flexibility and scalability needed to support complex GenAI workloads—especially across hybrid and multicloud environments. But they also introduce new complexity.
65% of healthcare organizations report challenges with data silos.
61% struggle with application portability between on-prem and cloud environments.
59% find cloud-native app development difficult.
To realize GenAI’s full potential, organizations must move beyond simple adoption and begin optimizing and orchestrating these environments with clear governance and lifecycle strategies.
Skills Gaps Are Slowing Healthcare’s GenAI Momentum
Talent may be GenAI’s most overlooked success factor. The ECI report highlights a concerning skills shortfall:
Only 58% of healthcare respondents believe their organization has the necessary GenAI skills.
Already 67% are actively hiring for GenAI talent.
The No. 3 area in need of investment to support GenAI? IT training and hiring.
This isn’t just a hiring issue—it’s a capability crisis. Organizations must focus on both upskilling current teams and recruiting specialized talent to build and manage secure, scalable GenAI environments. Without the right people, even the best tools will fail.
Healthcare’s GenAI ROI Outlook: Optimistic—but Realistic
The good news? Healthcare leaders are taking a long-term view of GenAI investments.
69% of respondents expect to see ROI (a gain) over a 1–3-year period.
Only 17% expect a loss in that same timeframe—down from 29% over the next 12 months.
That’s a significant confidence boost and reflects a healthy shift toward treating GenAI as a strategic initiative—not a short-term experiment. However, there’s a warning sign too:
4% of respondents say they struggle to measure GenAI ROI over time, compared to 0% who said the same in the short term.
This suggests that as GenAI programs mature, metrics and ROI frameworks must evolve. Organizations need to design long-term performance measurement strategies today to track success, avoid disillusionment, and iterate effectively.
Five Strategic Imperatives for Healthcare IT Leaders
The 2025 Nutanix ECI healthcare findings are more than a snapshot—they’re a roadmap for what must happen next. Here’s where IT leaders should focus:
1. Modernize Infrastructure Now
Legacy systems are a big barrier to scaling GenAI. Cloud-native, container-ready infrastructure is a prerequisite for secure, compliant AI.
2. Elevate Data Privacy and Governance
Security is not a “GenAI feature”—it’s the foundation. Build AI-specific privacy policies and governance frameworks that align with regulatory standards.
3. Invest in People, Not Just Platforms
Without internal AI fluency, innovation will stall. Prioritize hiring, training, and developing talent with GenAI and cloud-native expertise.
4. Design for Long-Term ROI Measurement
Track performance over time. GenAI’s value compounds—but only if you measure it effectively.
5. Align GenAI with Real Healthcare Outcomes
When establishing GenAI ROI measurements, take caution to ensure reporting and metrics can be consistently tracked and compared to historical results across multiple years.
Healthcare’s GenAI Transformation Starts with IT Leadership
The takeaway from the 2025 ECI report is clear: GenAI is transforming healthcare. But if organizations don’t modernize their infrastructure, secure their data, and empower their people, that transformation could falter under its own weight.
This is a moment for bold leadership. IT decision-makers in healthcare have an opportunity—and a responsibility—to build the secure, scalable, and intelligent systems that GenAI demands.
Because in healthcare, GenAI isn’t just about business outcomes. It’s about patient lives, clinical breakthroughs, and equitable access to care.
And that’s worth getting right.
Want to learn more? Download the full 2025 Nutanix Healthcare ECI Report
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