Building a digitally capable clinical workforce with AI

Published: 30/04/2026

At Digital Rewired 2026, Dr Alexander Aubrey, Clinical Lead for Artificial Intelligence at Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW), outlined a new approach to preparing the healthcare workforce for an AI-enabled future.

The talk focused on a key challenge facing modern healthcare. Knowledge in areas such as AI, genomics and digital health is expanding rapidly, while traditional education models have limited capacity to keep pace. Drawing on the “2-sigma problem” in education, which shows that one-to-one mentorship is the most effective way to learn but difficult to scale, the session explored how AI may offer a solution.

HEIW’s work has been grounded in a national landscape review and training needs analysis. This identified both a clear need for improved AI literacy and strong enthusiasm across the workforce to learn. Staff consistently highlighted the need for learning that is bite-sized, personalised, role-specific and accessible within the flow of work.

In response, HEIW has developed a range of AI-enabled educational approaches. This includes the Foundations in AI module, designed to build baseline understanding, and HALI (Healthcare AI Learning Interface). HALI is an AI-enabled learning tool embedded within the national learning platform that supports conversational, interactive learning and helps staff explore AI concepts in a practical way.

Building on this, HEIW is developing a suite of specialist AI mentors described as a “digital faculty”. These mentors provide domain-specific support across key areas. This includes Gwen, a genomics mentor designed to help clinicians understand how genomics is relevant to their role, explore real-world scenarios and build confidence in applying genomic knowledge in practice.

Looking ahead, HEIW is establishing an AI education innovation hub and community of practice for Wales. This will support the development and evaluation of AI learning tools, connect educators and developers, and explore how AI can be adopted safely and effectively across the workforce.

The overall vision is clear. AI should not replace educators. It should extend their reach and make high-quality mentorship available at scale. As the healthcare workforce evolves, HEIW’s work highlights how AI can support more equitable, responsive and future-ready models of education.

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