Sam De Brouwer, xy.ai, TEDAI

Cofounder and CEO of XY.AI Labs; Curator and Producer, TEDAI San Francisco

After Sam De Brouwer’s AI company,  doc.ai, was acquired by Atlanta-based Sharecare in February 2023, it went IPO at a valuation of $3.9bn. Sam then founded healthcare startup xy.ai Labs, offering AI automation for revenue cycle management (RCM), data entry, document processing, and scheduling, empowering providers to focus on care, not clicks.

Sam also curates and produces TEDAI, the first-of-its-kind TED Conference in San Francisco, inspired by her non-profit work with One Laptop Per Child from MIT MediaLab and TED conferences. Ahead of the third TEDAI San Francisco Conference (October 21 and 22), Sam shares her vision for the future of healthcare while we witness a new stage in human evolution in real time.

Tell us about xy.ai labs.

xy.ai Labs is an agentic AI platform for healthcare operations, helping save the $1.5T operational bottleneck in healthcare. Our agentic platform offers a suite of AI agents to streamline operations, optimize revenue, and give clinicians back the gift of time.

I founded xy.ai Labs two years ago after spending almost 15 years in AI for healthcare and seeing firsthand how AI agents could solve problems we couldn’t before. Starting with healthcare operations was obvious because the need for this technology is massive, especially for small and medium-sized operators.

What have been your most significant milestones, and what are you looking forward to?

We have raised our $3M seed, released our agentic platform, pushed our first agents into production, and closed our first paying customers with annual contracts and first price validation. We have also expanded the team and added velocity, filed our second patent, and started serious conversations with strategic partners for expansion.

In a couple of years, I see healthcare becoming more financially efficient, with more time spent on patient care and new nodes of intelligence at the point of care.

What developments in your field are you most excited about?

It’s hard to keep up with AI. The field of edge computing has always fascinated me because I am all for privacy-preserving approaches first, and the fields of reinforcement learning and continuous learning. Intelligence is the new asset, and anything that doesn’t learn will not survive. I like the idea of the cost of building software nearing zero, making it more affordable. I wrote about “From Code to Care: How Zero-Cost Software Is Reshaping Healthcare” recently on LinkedIn.

I am excited by the opportunities that generative AI can offer in education and healthcare, specifically in medicine and biotech, and how it could accelerate discoveries in science. I’m also fascinated by the conversations that generative AI triggers and how it pushes us to think and reflect on progress. It’s almost like witnessing a new cycle of human evolution in real-time.

Are there any changes or developments you want to see in this sector?

More decentralization and more transparency in the concept of consent regarding our data.

How do you define success?

Always doing the right thing with purpose and fairness and going for the win.

What is TEDAI’s relationship to the TED organization?

TED is a known format and began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment, and Design converged. Today, it spans many worldwide communities and initiatives exploring everything from science and business to education, the arts, and global issues. It is devoted to curiosity, reason, wonder, and the pursuit of knowledge—without an agenda. TED AI, co-hosted by Chris Anderson, Head of TED, is new and focuses on the power and impact of AI in all its nuances.

Tell us a little about how your CANOPY membership relates to your role at TEDAI.

My relationship with CANOPY’s SF coworking spaces is linked to the TEDAI conference I curate and produce here in the city. I’m using the TED format to invite AI pioneers and trailblazers to share the profound implications of generative AI on our civilization, industries, businesses, institutions, and culture. CANOPY is a TEDAI partner: our volunteers will use CANOPY spaces in San Francisco and Silicon Valley for meetings. 

What’s on this agenda for your team ahead of this year’s event?

A team of 100 volunteers from the Bay Area is working to bring together talks and panels representing systems, tools, and frameworks already used by at least half of the planet. We expect 1000 attendees at the Conference, featuring phenomenal speakers deploying AI across various sectors, as well as panels and workshops featuring CTOs and EVPs from some of the largest companies, investors, researchers, and more.

Every speaker’s TED talk will be hosted on TED’s ecosystem and reach millions of viewers post-event. We’re also hosting a two-day hackathon organized by the Open Source community to utilize AI’s transformative power for good and to benefit everyone.

To mention a few names, we’re looking forward to welcoming:

What’s the most valuable piece of advice you’ve ever received?

If you need help, ask.

What’s the greatest lesson you’ve learned in your career?

Don’t take no for an answer.

What’s the one destination you never get tired of traveling to?

Paris. It’s my hometown.

What’s one thing—either industry-related or not—you learned in the last month?

It’s too late to retire!

Is there a skill you think everyone should master?

The one that gives you purpose.

A fact everyone should know?

It’s incredible to have access to clean, free water. Let’s be grateful.

Is there a musician, band, or album you’d recommend to everyone?

Hotel California by The Eagles.

What’s your greatest source of inspiration?

My husband —we’ve been together for more than 33 years — and he is still my greatest source of inspiration.

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Follow Sam on X, formerly Twitter @sam_debrouwer, and LinkedIn.
Follow TEDAI San Francisco on X @tedaisf, on Linkedin, and Instagram @tedaisanfrancisco.