Fishbone Advisors Study Finds Institutional Investors Question the Financial Impact of Healthcare AI Hype
A new report from Fishbone Advisors suggests that the healthcare industry’s enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence is increasingly facing scrutiny from institutional investors, with many investors questioning whether companies are placing too much emphasis on AI relative to the technology’s measurable financial contribution.
The capital markets intelligence firm’s latest report, “Hallucinating Value: Healthcare’s AI Narrative,” found that investors across every major healthcare subsector are skeptical of the way companies communicate their AI strategies. Between 48% and 67% of institutional investors surveyed agreed that management teams overemphasize artificial intelligence compared with its actual contribution to financial performance.
The findings highlight a growing divide between the enthusiasm surrounding AI across the broader economy and the level of evidence investors expect from healthcare companies. While AI continues to attract significant attention from executives, analysts, and investors, the Fishbone Advisors study suggests that institutional investors are increasingly demanding concrete proof of commercial impact, measurable financial returns, and clearly defined use cases.
The results come from the fourth wave of the Fishbone Healthcare Benchmarking Study, a quarterly research initiative designed to track institutional investor sentiment across the healthcare sector. The study has been measuring investor views since August 2025.
The June 2026 wave focused specifically on artificial intelligence and included the first published investor-assigned AI scores for 30 large-cap healthcare companies.
AI Has Yet to Become a Major Valuation Driver
One of the report’s central conclusions is that AI has not yet become a material valuation driver for any healthcare subsector.
This finding remained unchanged when investors were asked the same question six months later, despite the significant increase in AI enthusiasm that has influenced financial markets more broadly. While artificial intelligence has become a major theme in technology, business services, and other industries, healthcare investors remain more cautious about the extent to which AI is translating into actual financial value.
Investor expectations varied significantly depending on the healthcare subsector.
Biotechnology recorded the highest level of optimism, with 66% of investors saying AI could significantly influence valuations within three years. Medical equipment recorded the lowest figure, at just 20%.
Payers and healthcare providers experienced the most significant change during the six-month period. The share of investors who believed AI would significantly influence valuations in these subsectors declined by 14 percentage points to 34%.
The findings suggest that investors are not treating AI as a universal catalyst across healthcare. Instead, they are evaluating the technology based on how closely it is connected to a company’s business model, data assets, products, clinical development programs, and ability to generate measurable economic benefits.
Investors Want Evidence Rather Than Ambition
The study indicates that institutional investors are becoming increasingly selective when evaluating corporate AI strategies.
Rather than rewarding companies simply for announcing AI initiatives, investors appear to be placing greater value on specific, measurable programs that demonstrate a clear connection to revenue growth, cost savings, improved productivity, clinical development, or other financial outcomes.
Geoff Serednesky, Founder of Fishbone Advisors and author of the report, said healthcare companies should focus less on increasing the amount they discuss AI and more on demonstrating tangible results.
According to Serednesky, institutional investors are signaling that companies should provide evidence supporting individual AI programs rather than presenting a long list of ambitious initiatives.
This distinction may become increasingly important as AI becomes a standard part of corporate messaging. As more companies describe themselves as AI-enabled or AI-driven, investors may become less impressed by broad claims and more interested in specific details.
Questions such as how AI is being deployed, what data supports the technology, how the system is being integrated into existing operations, and what financial results have been achieved may become increasingly important in investor evaluations.
Healthcare Specialists Are More Skeptical Than Generalists
The report also revealed a notable difference between generalist investors and healthcare specialists.
A majority of generalist investors, or 51%, expect AI to significantly influence healthcare valuations within the next three years. However, only 33% of healthcare specialists share that view.
The difference suggests that investors with deeper sector expertise may be more cautious about the pace at which AI will translate into measurable value across healthcare.
Healthcare is a complex industry in which the adoption of new technologies can be influenced by regulatory requirements, clinical validation, reimbursement structures, data privacy rules, workflow integration, and the need for healthcare professionals to adopt new systems.
These factors can make the commercialization of AI more complicated than in industries where new software tools can be deployed rapidly.
Healthcare specialists may therefore be more likely to distinguish between technological potential and actual commercial impact. They may also be more familiar with the challenges associated with deploying AI across hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology businesses, insurers, and medical device manufacturers.
The report suggests that companies capable of meeting the expectations of expert healthcare investors may also be well positioned to attract generalist investors.
Biotechnology Leads AI Expectations but Also Faces the Most Skepticism
Biotechnology emerged as the healthcare subsector with the strongest expectations for AI-driven valuation impact. However, it also recorded the highest level of concern regarding management overstatement.
Sixty-six percent of investors expect AI to significantly influence biotechnology valuations within three years, while 67% agree that management teams overemphasize AI relative to its actual financial contribution.
The combination of high expectations and high skepticism creates a challenging environment for biotechnology companies.
Investors may believe that AI has substantial potential to transform drug discovery, target identification, molecular design, clinical trial development, and other areas of biotechnology. At the same time, they may be demanding stronger evidence that these technologies can generate sustainable commercial value.
The development of new medicines can take many years and requires extensive clinical testing and regulatory approval. As a result, the financial benefits of AI-driven discoveries may not be immediately visible.
Biotechnology companies may therefore face increasing pressure to demonstrate how AI is improving development timelines, increasing the probability of clinical success, reducing costs, or contributing to differentiated products.
AI Leaders Receive Stronger Investor Recognition
The Fishbone study also found that investors generally view AI as a positive force across the healthcare sector, but recognition is concentrated among a relatively small number of companies.
Twenty-seven of the 30 companies rated in the study received net-positive AI scores. However, investors assigned significantly greater recognition to a limited group of perceived leaders.
Companies viewed as having proprietary data, clearly identified AI programs, and a direct connection between AI capabilities and commercial opportunities were more likely to receive stronger scores.
Eli Lilly led the investor AI scoreboard with a score of +78. Investors reportedly associated the company’s AI capabilities with its obesity and diabetes franchises.
UnitedHealth followed with a score of +72, while Moderna, IQVIA, and Illumina recorded scores of +64, +63, and +62, respectively.
The rankings suggest that investors may place greater value on AI when it is closely connected to a company’s existing competitive advantages.
For example, a company with access to significant proprietary datasets may be viewed as having a stronger foundation for developing AI capabilities. Similarly, AI initiatives tied directly to established commercial products or high-growth therapeutic areas may be perceived as more credible than broad corporate claims.
Investors Remain Positive on Healthcare Overall
Despite their skepticism toward the sector’s AI narrative, institutional investors remain broadly optimistic about healthcare.
According to the June 2026 survey, 81% of investors said they were positive on healthcare over the coming year.
This optimism is notable because the healthcare sector has recently underperformed the broader market. Some investors view the performance gap as a potential opportunity, particularly if healthcare valuations remain attractive relative to other areas of the market.
The findings suggest that investor skepticism toward AI should not be interpreted as a negative view of healthcare as a whole.
Instead, investors appear to be separating their outlook for the healthcare sector from their assessment of the current AI narrative.
Healthcare remains supported by long-term trends such as aging populations, increasing demand for medical services, advances in biotechnology, innovation in medical devices, and the ongoing development of digital health technologies.
However, investors may be increasingly unwilling to assign additional valuation premiums to companies based solely on AI-related messaging.
A Higher Standard for Corporate AI Communication
The Fishbone Advisors findings point to a broader shift in how institutional investors may evaluate AI strategies.
As AI becomes more common across healthcare companies, simply announcing an AI initiative may no longer be enough to attract investor interest. Companies may need to demonstrate measurable results and provide more detailed information about their technology strategies.
Investors may increasingly ask companies to explain how AI contributes to their competitive positioning and financial performance.
This could include evidence of improved research productivity, faster drug discovery, reduced operating costs, enhanced clinical trial performance, better patient outcomes, or increased revenue.
The study suggests that companies with clear and well-supported AI strategies may benefit from greater investor credibility, while those relying on broad or vague claims could face growing skepticism.
Implications for Healthcare Companies
For healthcare companies, the report offers a clear message: AI remains an important strategic opportunity, but investors are becoming more demanding.
Management teams may need to move beyond general statements about transformation and innovation. Instead, they may need to identify specific programs, explain their commercial relevance, and provide measurable evidence of progress.
The companies most likely to stand out may be those that can clearly demonstrate the relationship between their AI capabilities and their existing competitive advantages.
This could include pharmaceutical companies using AI to support drug discovery, healthcare providers deploying AI to improve operational efficiency, payers applying advanced analytics to improve care management, or medical device companies integrating AI into clinical technologies.
The more direct the connection between AI and measurable business results, the more likely investors may be to view the strategy as credible.
Fishbone Advisors’ latest healthcare investor survey highlights a growing disconnect between the enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence and the evidence required to demonstrate its financial value.
While investors continue to recognize the long-term potential of AI, the technology has yet to become a significant valuation driver for any healthcare subsector. At the same time, a substantial share of institutional investors believe that management teams are placing too much emphasis on AI relative to its current financial contribution.
The findings also reveal that healthcare specialists are more cautious than generalist investors, suggesting that companies face a higher credibility bar among investors with deep sector expertise.
Nevertheless, the outlook for healthcare remains broadly positive. With 81% of surveyed investors expressing optimism about the sector over the coming year, skepticism surrounding AI does not appear to undermine confidence in healthcare’s broader investment potential.
Instead, the findings indicate that investors are becoming more selective. They are looking beyond the AI narrative and seeking evidence of real-world value.
For healthcare companies, the message is increasingly clear: the future of AI may be significant, but investors want companies to demonstrate exactly how the technology is improving performance, creating competitive advantages, and generating measurable financial returns.
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