CVS Health Calls the Healthcare Experience Broken and Looks to AI

CVS Health has spent the past decade assembling one of the most far-reaching healthcare businesses in the United States. Insurance through Aetna. Pharmacy benefits through CVS Caremark. Nearly 10,000 retail pharmacies. Primary care, home health, and in-person clinics spread across the country. What has remained elusive is a consumer experience that reflects that scale.

At its investor day this week, CVS Health said it believes artificial intelligence can finally change that. The company outlined a plan to use AI and technology to create what it calls “engagement as a service,” an integrated platform designed to connect its businesses into a single, consumer-facing system.

“We are executing with discipline, strengthening our core businesses and delivering meaningful progress across our enterprise,” said President and Chief Executive Officer David Joyner. “As we look ahead, we are focused on building a simpler, more connected and more affordable healthcare experience for consumers, healthcare professionals and payors, delivering value for all stakeholders.”

Joyner, who became CEO in October 2024, inherits a strategy first articulated under his predecessor, Karen Lynch. In late 2023, CVS Health described a plan centered on a data flywheel that would use insights across its customer base to improve care delivery at multiple points. Lynch referred to the goal as providing “panoramic care.”