AI Systems in Healthcare Must Be Tested on Diverse Population Datasets: NHA CEO

Speaking at the Federated Intelligence Hackathon on Health AI, a pre-event to the India AI Impact Summit 2026 held at IIT Kanpur, Dr. Barnwal said India is transitioning from experimentation to building benchmarked, reliable AI models for healthcare.

Healthcare artificial intelligence models must be tested on large and diverse population datasets before deployment to ensure accuracy, inclusion, and public trust, National Health Authority (NHA) CEO Dr. Sunil Kumar Barnwal said on Sunday.

Speaking at the Federated Intelligence Hackathon on Health AI, a pre-event to the India AI Impact Summit 2026 held at IIT Kanpur, Dr. Barnwal said India is transitioning from experimentation to building benchmarked, reliable AI models for healthcare.

He highlighted that federated and consent-driven AI systems allow innovation to scale without centralizing sensitive health data, thereby safeguarding privacy and strengthening public confidence. Referring to Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB PM-JAY) and the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), he noted that AI solutions must be context-ready and reflect India’s demographic and regional diversity.

The hackathon, organised by the NHA in collaboration with the ICMR-National Institute for Research in Digital Health and Data Science (NIRDHDS) and IIT Kanpur, ran from January 19 to January 24, 2026. It focused on developing secure, scalable, and privacy-preserving Digital Public Goods for Health AI.

The inaugural session featured addresses by Prof. Sandeep Verma, Head of the Gangwal School of Medical Sciences and Technology; IIT Kanpur Director Manindra Agrawal; and Ritu Maheshwari, Secretary, Medical Health and Family Welfare and State Mission Director, ABDM-Uttar Pradesh. Speakers highlighted the growing role of research institutions, governments, and technology in shaping India’s digital health ecosystem.

Dr. R.S. Sharma, Distinguished Visiting Professor at IIT Kanpur and former NHA CEO, emphasized that interoperable Digital Public Goods and Digital Public Infrastructure are key to building secure, scalable, and citizen-centric health data systems, ensuring both innovation and accountability.

Vivek Raghavan, CEO and Co-founder of SarvamAI, added that high-quality data, strong privacy safeguards, and security are essential for effective AI adoption. He also stressed the importance of indigenous, open-source AI models to ensure local AI sovereignty and reduce reliance on external systems.

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