James Blackwood

James has spent nearly a decade taking healthcare AI out of the lab and into clinical practice.

He has worked on more than 100 AI projects across the UK and internationally, covering the full lifecycle from first-principles research through implementation, evaluation and adoption into routine care.

His work spans primary and secondary care, including radiology, pathology, molecular biology, mental health, children's emotional health, skin cancer, hospital operations and neighbourhood health.

He was Healthcare AI Lead for the Scottish Government and AI strategy lead for Scotland's largest NHS health board. He ran the multi award-winning national AI research programme, iCAIRD. He currently advises NHS Lothian and is an Innovation Fellow at the University of St Andrews School of Medicine. Alongside this he founds and scales healthcare AI companies.

He speaks from long experience of what it takes to make AI work safely in real health systems … and where it fails.