Technological advances are reshaping most industries and health care is no exception. In fact, health care providers had been moving steadily in the direction employing new technologies before the COVID-19 pandemic and the public health crisis only accelerated that shift.

Perhaps the primary topic of conversation and debate now is the use of artificial intelligence. Professionals in a variety of sectors are discovering that AI can perform tedious, repetitive tasks more efficiently than humans – freeing up people to use their training to greater effect.

The executive who tops our top 10 list this year, Hackensack Meridian Health CEO Robert Garrett, has been exploring the potential uses – and pitfalls – of AI in his role at the World Economic Forum. Upon his return from the WEF gathering in Davos this year, he described the discussions he and other leaders had around the opportunities presented by AI.

“As an example — in the area of expanding health care access, there’s no doubt that AI can connect patients and communities, if you will, with health and health care providers like never before, particularly in underserved areas through information, through algorithms that can really provide better health information to those communities,” Garrett told NJBIZ. “So, there was a lot of discussion around health access, and how we safely deploy AI to improve access to health care with respect to health equity. If you think about it, there’s such a disparity depending on whether you’re in a so-called developed country or underdeveloped country. Life expectancy can vary up to 30 years, depending on where you live. So, the idea was, how can we deploy artificial intelligence to close some of those health equity gaps?”

Accomplishing that feat would, indeed, represent an extraordinary achievement in the annals of AI. But bots cannot duplicate the human touch, human experience or human intuition. It’s a tool, and in skilled hands AI can be a powerful tool. That’s where the individuals on this list come in.

The folks listed here are among the most talented health care researchers, practitioners and executives. They are, quite simply, irreplaceable. But they know how to get the most of their resources – both human and technological. And they are guided by professional and moral values that greatly reduce the dangers associated with the proliferation of artificial intelligence.

Ultimately, the promise of all technology, not just AI, is that it helps unleash humans’ intelligence and abilities. The good get better and the best become even more exceptional. That’s what we expect from every one of the individuals recognized in these pages.

So, please take a look at the profiles that follow and let us know what you think about the choices reflected here and the issues these leaders face. As always, the top 10 honorees are listed in numerical order; the rest are arranged alphabetically.

Power List methodology

The power lists are compiled by the NJBIZ editorial staff based on our reporting throughout the past year with input from experts in a variety of fields and recommendations from our readers. The staff looks for people who have gained public attention – and perhaps acclaim – for their professional accomplishments and public service. Each list identifies individuals who, through their efforts, are helping to make New Jersey a better place to live, work and do business. Honorees are not necessarily better at their jobs than others in their profession, but they have contributed meaningfully to the advancement of the public interest through their work and/or community service.