Burjeel founder joins WEF board steering AI and digital healthcare

WEF initiative focuses on AI, health data and digital care that can be deployed at scale

Last updated: August 13, 2026 | 13:27

Nivetha Dayanand, Assistant Business Editor

2 MIN READ

Burjeel founder joins WEF board steering AI and digital healthcare

Dubai: Dr Shamsheer Vayalil, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Burjeel Holdings, has joined the Executive Board of the World Economic Forum’s Digital Healthcare Transformation Initiative, which is working to enable the wider use of artificial intelligence, health data and digital tools across healthcare systems.

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The appointment brings a Middle East health-system operator onto a board that includes senior leaders from Mayo Clinic, Medtronic, Philips, Gavi, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise and Mass General Brigham, along with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Health.

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The initiative, led by the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Health and Healthcare, focuses on moving digital health projects beyond individual pilots and towards responsible adoption across healthcare systems, with patient outcomes, care delivery and system efficiency among its areas of work.

AI and digital care at scale

The Executive Board sets the initiative’s direction and priorities, with membership comprising chief executives, ministers and leaders of multilateral institutions.

This experience positions him to contribute practical insights on translating AI, digital innovation, and emerging technologies into improved patient outcomes, more efficient care delivery, and scalable health system transformation.

Dr Shyam Bishen, Head of the Centre for Health and Healthcare and Member of the Executive Committee at the World Economic Forum

Burjeel Holdings operates an integrated healthcare network with capabilities spanning complex care, advanced clinical technology, AI integration and digital infrastructure, alongside its continued expansion across the region.

Abu Dhabi part of global initiative

Launched in 2024, the Digital Healthcare Transformation Initiative works across three main areas, including sharing insights and leading practices, developing health ecosystems and supporting Pathfinder coalitions designed to demonstrate digital transformation at scale.

More than 200 organisations have engaged with the initiative, which covers areas including health data collaboration, AI innovation and regulation, virtual health, digital health incentives and intelligent health systems.

Abu Dhabi is also part of the initiative’s global Pathfinder approach, with work focused on intelligent health systems, international collaboration, developing a global strategy hub and sharing approaches that can be scaled across healthcare systems.

Healthcare transformation will depend on how effectively we bring together clinical expertise, technology, data and collaboration to solve real challenges for patients and health systems. Digital health and AI can create meaningful impact when they are deployed responsibly, at scale and with a clear human purpose.

Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Burjeel Holdings

Global healthcare leaders on board

Other members of the Executive Board include Gianrico Farrugia, President and CEO of Mayo Clinic, Geoff Martha, Chairman and CEO of Medtronic, Roy Jakobs, President and CEO of Philips, Sania Nishtar, CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Suneeta Reddy, Managing Director of Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, and Dr Anne Klibanski, President and CEO of Mass General Brigham.

The board also includes Fahad bin Abdurrahman Al-Jalajel, Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Health, reflecting the initiative’s mix of government, healthcare, technology and institutional leadership.

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Nivetha DayanandAssistant Business Editor

Nivetha Dayanand is Assistant Business Editor at Gulf News, covering aviation, financial markets and commodities. A business and financial journalist with a strong interest in multimedia storytelling, she regularly takes complex financial and economic subjects beyond the written word, producing explainer videos that make them easier for a wider audience to understand. Nivetha has interviewed senior policymakers, business leaders and global financial figures both on and off camera. Her past guests include UAE Minister of Economy and Tourism Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Khaled bin Alwaleed Al Saud, a member of the House of Saud and the founder and CEO of KBW Ventures, Jihad Azour, Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund and Indian ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and N. Chandrababu Naidu. She has also hosted and moderated panels, conferences and awards shows, bringing her newsroom experience to live conversations on business, finance and the economy. An Erasmus Mundus journalism alum, Nivetha is drawn to stories that affect people directly and to reporting that gives a platform to voices that might otherwise go unheard. She was among the first journalists to speak to Petrofac employees in the UAE about unpaid salaries, broke the news of the planned demolition of Dubai’s well-known “Toyota Building”, and helped set the record straight on widely circulated claims that a giant replica of the Moon was coming to Dubai. More recently, her exclusive interview with EDGE Group CEO Hamad Al Marar revealed how the UAE-based defence group deployed its systems along the country’s shore border and established a geofence around the UAE within 48 hours of the February 28 escalation. Prior to joining Gulf News, Nivetha worked at ITP Media, where she helped launch Finance Middle East, a new publication covering the region’s financial sector. Her role spanned reporting and editing, video production, interviews and events. Across print, digital, and video, she focuses on finding the people behind business stories and explaining why those stories matter to the audience reading or watching them.

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