In a special live episode recorded on the floor of HIMSS 2026 in Las Vegas, David Wright sits down with four healthcare technology leaders to capture a snapshot of where healthcare innovation stands right now. The guests are Benjiman Jennings, Assistant Program Manager of PEO DHMS; Dustin Hufford, Senior VP and CIO of Cooper University Health Care; Maria Sexton, Senior VP and CIO of UT Medical; and Michael Hasselberg, Chief Transformation and Digital Officer of Nebraska Medicine.KEY TAKEAWAYS00:00:00 Introduction.00:06:30 Benjiman Jennings describes how cybersecurity requirements and budget instability compound inside government healthcare IT, creating a uniquely constrained environment for innovation.00:14:00 Solving today’s problems creates tomorrow’s problems — and the real leverage is building for challenges five years out.00:27:00 Dustin Hufford discusses foundational AI priorities: a cloud data lake, native AI development and a Chief AI Officer hire to coordinate maturation.00:33:00 Consolidating patient data at health system level is impractical at scale, and there is a case for patient-held data with AI summarisation.00:39:00 Maria Sexton reframes the ‘IT and the business’ language as a structural problem — one IT has largely created for itself by accepting a satellite role.00:49:00 Maria shares what she learned when she arrived at UT Medical to find 430 listed projects, and what the CPO told her about running too far ahead of the organisation.01:07:00 Michael Hasselberg explains how it has never been easier to build AI in-house.01:09:30 An AI governance model, where use cases are voted on by the chiefs and CEO, ensures senior-level resource commitment before every build.01:14:00 A clinician was convinced a vendor had the only solution, until process engineers scoped the problem and built it in five weeks.RESOURCES MENTIONEDBenjiman Jenningshttp://linkedin.com/in/benjimanjenningsPEO DHMShttp://linkedin.com/company/peo-dhmsDustin Huffordhttp://linkedin.com/in/dustin-hufford-ba70352Cooper University Health Carehttp://linkedin.com/company/cooperuniversityhealthcareMaria Sextonhttp://linkedin.com/in/mariasextonUT Medicalhttp://linkedin.com/company/ut-medicalMichael Hasselberghttp://linkedin.com/in/michael-hasselberg-793a4111bNebraska Medicinehttp://linkedin.com/company/nebraskamedHIMSS 2026https://www.himss.orgCMS Tech Ecosystemhttps://www.cms.govPEO DHMShttps://health.mil/Military-Health-Topics/Technology/PEO-DHMSCooper University Health Carehttps://www.cooperhealth.org/Nebraska Medicinehttps://www.nebraskamed.comUT Medicalhttps://www.utmedical.org/Thanks for listening to the “Disruptive Innovators” podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, hit the subscribe button and never miss another insightful conversation. And be sure to leave a review to help get the word out about the Champions of Digital Business.#DisruptiveInnovation #Innovation #DisruptiveTech