Unpacking the QuantumBlack AI integration with Google Cloud’s AI suite

Artificial intelligence has moved beyond experimentation and is now being applied to niche-specific use cases across industries. In sensitive sectors such as healthcare, however, progress demands precision, accountability and deep domain knowledge. That’s where the partnership between Google Cloud and McKinsey & Co. comes in — blending Google’s full-stack AI capabilities with McKinsey’s domain-centric approach, powered by QuantumBlack AI.

With more than 1,200 technologists and experience spanning 16 healthcare domains, QuantumBlack AI is unlocking broader capabilities by leveraging Google Cloud’s Vertex AI and Gemini models. The goal is to turn fragmented healthcare data into usable insights — enabling safer, more efficient and more responsive operations at scale

McKinsey’s Jessica Lamb shares details on QuantumBlack AI.

“I think when you look at market trends from a technology standpoint, multimodal is key, understanding text data and imaging,” said Jim Anderson (pictured, left), vice president of North America partner ecosystem and channels at Google Cloud. “You combine that with the fact that if you look at patient-centric focus along with the proliferation of data, and the fact that all the hospitals are looking for efficiency. That’s why the partnership is so important from our standpoint, because we’re bringing the domain expertise, the process knowledge — the fact that McKinsey understands the opportunity and challenges with our core AI stack to solve customer problems in ways we could never do before.”

Anderson and Jessica Lamb (right), partner at QuantumBlack AI by McKinsey & Co., spoke with theCUBE’s John Furrier for the Google Cloud Partner AI Series during an exclusive interview with theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the Google Cloud–McKinsey partnership, highlighting how collaboration between technology providers and domain experts is enabling meaningful change in healthcare. (* Disclosure below.)

QuantumBlack AI represents a turning point in healthcare tech

While healthcare has traditionally lagged in AI adoption, the landscape is changing fast. More than 85% of healthcare organizations are now experimenting with generative AI, according to Lamb. Such a figure shows immense promise in a traditionally cautious and regulated sector.

This shift is driven by technological advancements combined with the critical mass of untapped data and the pressing need for operational efficiency. In short, healthcare organizations are dealing with petabytes of underutilized data. For reference, McKinsey alone manages 1.5 petabytes in its healthcare practice, according to Lamb.

“The biggest thing there with the data is you have to understand how to make it usable,” she said. “Healthcare has some of the most data available. You’re getting it from all of these different sources, but figuring out how to use it well to solve the business problems, not just to build a cool model, or predict something here or there. But, really, to get under how the industry works and use that data in the right way, to solve the problem that you need safely and responsibly.”

Ultimately, the partnership’s power lies in its ability to deliver scalable solutions that are technologically advanced and operationally viable. By integrating into Google’s stack, QuantumBlack AI delivers capabilities such as provider search optimization, AI-assisted transcription, revenue cycle management and compliance automation.

“Our goal at Google is to provide a full AI stack — we’re unique in the industry with that,” Anderson said. “Provide a robust data platform so they can leverage that data and then do it securely, so security in healthcare is non-negotiable. We focus on that with regards to our strategy and vision around AI, driving on some of the things that I talked about earlier, around multimodal technology, AI assist technology, agents and those types of things.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Google Cloud Partner AI Series:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for the Google Cloud Partner AI Series. Neither Google Cloud, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE