The rise of surgical intelligence
Surgery is entering a new era—one where data, AI, and connected technologies could help every procedure inform the next. This report explores the rise of surgical intelligence, the barriers standing in its way, and the coordinated action needed to unlock its potential.
Based on interviews with 44 senior leaders across the surgical ecosystem and a review of more than 100 publications, the report offers a practical view of what must happen next.
Explore how AI, data, and connected surgical technologies could help move surgery from isolated procedures to a continuous learning ecosystem—and what it will take to get there.
Converging medical technologies—AI, advanced computing, and integrated hardware—are giving us the ability to transform raw surgical data into a powerful, dynamic clinical asset.
This is the dawn of surgical intelligence.
At its most ambitious, surgical intelligence could achieve “collective intelligence” where everything and everyone is connected, with every surgery–anywhere on Earth—informing the next. This transformation is already beginning. AI-guided colorectal cancer surgery has reduced complication rates by 36 percentage points,1 and AI-assisted robotic spinal surgery has cut complication rates in half.2
While the challenge is partly technological, it is mostly cultural, organizational, and systemic—the deeply human challenge of aligning incentives and behaviors. Surgery is approaching a tipping point where the primary constraint is no longer technical feasibility, but the readiness of all stakeholders to work together to shape a new future for surgery.
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The moment for stakeholders to act together is now. The ambition: use AI to help every procedure improve the one that follows.
The untapped data inside the OR
Today’s surgical suites generate data across devices, systems, and workflows. Yet much of this information remains fragmented, limiting its ability to support learning across the surgical journey.
Why technology alone is not enough
Realizing the full potential of surgical data will require more than new tools. It will depend on shared incentives, trusted governance, and collaboration across surgeons, providers, payers, regulators, and medtech companies.
The mindset gap slowing transformation
While the technology is advancing quickly, the greatest barrier may be the willingness to share, trust, and act on data. Closing this mindset gap is central to surgery’s next era.
How surgical intelligence could change care
By connecting multimodal data with AI across the surgical journey—from pre-op through post-op—surgical intelligence could help augment clinical judgment, support continuous learning, and improve care over time.
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July 17, 2026
Explore the rise of surgical intelligence
Read the full report to explore a practical framework for moving from fragmented surgical data toward collective intelligence—where learning compounds across clinicians, hospitals, industry, and regulators through trusted collaboration and governance.
References
- Rosen AW, Ose I, Gögenur M, et al. Clinical implementation of an AI-based prediction model for decision support for patients undergoing colorectal cancer surgery. Nat Med. 2025;31(11):3737-3748. doi:10.1038/s41591-025-03942-x
- Wah JNK. The rise of robotics and AI-assisted surgery in modern healthcare. J Robot Surg. 2025;19(1):311. doi:10.1007/s11701-025-02485-0