The Operating System for Dental AI | Andrea Albertini, CEO of Global Distribution and Technology, Henry Schein

Speaker A: That gap between how adoption really happens and how the industry imagines it happens, that really fascinates me.

Speaker B: Manufacturing told me how value is created, while distribution told me how value is delivered. The Richa one already operates at very large scale. We have more than 100,000 dental locations. We know what doesn't work, what breaks, what workflows look like under load. There is continuous improvement when you deploy,

Speaker A: uh, across more than 100,000 locations. The Governance and the clinical safety framework cannot come after.

Speaker B: We are not anymore in phase of the early adopter or the extremely curious customer. We are in the phase of what AI is practically delivering.

Speaker A: What is the question almost nobody in this industry is asking?

Speaker B: How do all these AI solutions work together inside the practice? This is where we create real value.

Speaker C: This is the Tech Dental podcast, the strategic intelligence hub for leaders shaping the dental industry. We break down how AI data and operating discipline drive performance and scale. I'm Dr. Randeep. Let's dive in.

Speaker A: Welcome back to Tech Dental. Almost the entire conversation about AI and dentistry right now is happening at the level of products. Which diagnostic tool, which imaging platform, which vendor is furthest ahead? And those are all fair questions, but they're not the most important one because none of those tools reach a single patient on their own. They reach practices through something underneath them, a layer of software, distribution and trust that the whole profession runs on without ever really thinking about it. And whoever builds and controls that layer shapes what AI and dentistry actually becomes. I'm very excited today to be joined by Andrea Albertini, CEO of global distribution and Technology at Henry Schein. He has executive responsibility for both the distribution business and the technology business, including the Henry Schein One joint venture whose software runs in more than 100,000 dental locations worldwide. Before Henry Schein, he was at Scheffler and Castellini on the manufacturing side of dentistry. So he has seen this industry from the factory, from the region, and now from the top of the global dental platform. Andrea, welcome to Tech Dental.

Speaker B: Thank you. And thank you for the generous introduction.

Speaker A: Andrea, uh, I want to start with how you got here, because your path through this industry is unusual and it shapes everything you can see from where you now sit. You started on the manufacturing side before Henry Schein, so let me begin there. What did working inside the manufacturing side of dentistry teach you that you could never have learned from the distribution side alone?

Speaker B: Working on the manufacturing side taught me how innovation is built. Products are conceived, developed, built, but also supported through the entire life cycle. Early my career at Sevla and Castellini I was responsible for operation, fair supply chain, product development, innovation and later general management. And that experience gave me a deep appreciation for the complexity behind every piece of equipment that the dentists use today. To put in simple, very level terms, manufacturing told me how value is created, while distribution taught me how value is delivered. And having experience both has given me a much more complete view of the dental industry. But I want to say that what is unique about a shine is that we don't see in just one part of the value chain because if we operate across metal equipment, products, private label and branded consumables, implants, endodontics, product manufacturing, global distribution, software and practice management through the AirShine one. So we operate uh, really across manufacturing, distribution and the digital infrastructure that connects best practices and that give us a real system level view of dentistry, not just products or not just delivering of products. So for me the key sign that innovation doesn't succeed on the design alone, it succeeds when it's part of a workflow. It's supported by the infrastructure and is aligning all out.

Speaker A: The practice of you spent the better part of a decade in EMEA before moving to a global remit and EMA is messy in the most useful way. You've got regulatory diversity, structural complexity. Every market is slightly different. What does that environment teach you about how technology actually gets adopted inside dental practices as opposed to how technology companies believe it gets adopted?

Speaker B: You are certainly right that EMEA is I did fermented. We can say complicated because of the regulatory framework, the different reimbursement system, different level of digital maturity between countries. I would say that this complexity mirrors what big DSOs or big group practices experience internally. If you think about the variability they can have across different locations, or the different level of staff adoption and digital maturity, or the fact that they have legacy system that they don't always align. And this is one of the key gaps that we have observed especially because as RSI we have a global footprint and we see our company think about adoption versus how the single operators in the practice experience. Adoption depends on easier fuse integration into existing practice management, minimal disruption into the clinical workflow or consistency across location and definitely rely on training to make the most out of this system. So I would say that through Aerishan 1 and our broader infrastructure we see this at scale because we support more than 100,000 locations globally. And this gives us real insight into what price adoption and what slows it down.

Speaker A: Andrea, that gap between how adoption really happens and how the industry imagines it happens that really FASCINATES me. Your current role is unusual in another way. You hold both distribution and technology. Two very different businesses, different rhythms, different metrics. What does holding both at once let you see about the relationship between them that you simply couldn't see when they were separate?

Speaker B: When you bring the distribution side and the technology side together, they are not really separate functions. They are part of a single infrastructure layer that our customer rely on. You are absolutely right that traditionally these are being treated as separate businesses. Distribution more focused on logistics, procurement relationship. While technology is more focused on software, data analytics. But especially for big practices group dsos, this function are deeply interconnected because they don't think in terms of distribution versus technology. They think about running a more efficient practice, delivering better patient care and achieving better clinical and financial outcome. And this is where every component counts. Because supply chain decisions impact the workflow, not only the efficiency. Software drive efficiency in many areas of the practice, but also support clinical excellence or case acceptance, which in turn drive growth and data, enable centralized oversight and signal how these functions are performing. So what becomes clear is that these are not parallel system, they are part of a single operating environment. And this is what our model does that it brings that together global supply chain, distribution, network, practice management platform, ruan product and equipment portfolio, all connected to support our practice, operate day to day. And that creates real leverage and real ability to help standardize protocols, align products with workflows, gain visibility across location for groups. And this is especially important when you adopt technology like AI because AI needs data consistency and integration. And you cannot really layer this technology on top of fragmented ecosystem.

Speaker A: Let me go one step further there, Andrea. The breadth of your remit is the argument for integration. But integration at scale can cut the other way. The the distribution business and the technology business can slow each other down instead of accelerating each other. So honestly, is the combined remit creating strategic leverage or is it creating organizational complexity that makes it harder to move fast in either direction?

Speaker B: It is a fair challenge I take it, because integration does not automatically create value, especially if it is done poorly, can create a lot of complexity or slow down decision making. But I recognize, fully recognize that distribution technology have different cultures. They operate with different models, different investment horizon. If we think about the distribution business, the main focus is on execution, customer service or reliability, operational discipline. When I think about our technology business, the focus is more on innovation, product development and long term value creation. So try to force them into a single model would be a mistake. Holding uh both responsibility for me has made it clear that technology is no longer simply a product Category it is becoming the connective tissue that links the clinical workflow, the practice management, the equipment, the imaging, the relationship with the laboratories, the supply chain component. But at the same time distribution provides something that technology company often struggle to build, that is trusted customer relationship, local presence, the ability to serve the customer locally, the daily engagement. So the real opportunity for us lies in the intersection of the two. Distribution give us the deep understanding of the customer need and an unmatched um, route to market. While technology allows us to solve problems, create recurrent value, become more deeply embedded in our customer workflow. So the answer is separate but with the value of having them working together.

Speaker A: That tension, the leverage versus complexity is really the question underneath the whole platform strategy. So let's go there. Next let's talk about the scale you're operating at because the numbers are genuinely hard to picture. Henry Scheinone software runs in more than 100,000 dental locations worldwide. And the partnership with AWS announced late last year aims to embed generative AI right across the patient journey. From booking, imaging, payments, treatment, presentation across the whole of it. What is the strategic logic behind moving at that scale rather than piloting iterating and rolling out slowly the way most people would expect?

Speaker B: Uh, as you said, Erasure 1 already operates at very large scale. We have more than 100,000 dental location and this base in itself is a sort of proof of concept environment. We know what doesn't work, what breaks, what workflows look like under load and what practices need. So very honestly we are continuously learning in supporting our customer. We are learning and we never leave them to navigate the experimental phase of their own. There is no experimental phase, there is continuous improvement. And the care journey doesn't have interruption. Neither can the AI development because if you think about booking, imaging, payment, treatment, presentation, these are not separate independent modules, they are part of the care journey. That is why we partnered with aws. Because AWS provided the infrastructure and experience that helped Airshine want to accelerate the development of solutions. And the partnership is co investment in architecture that may our solution enterprise grade, security compliant, give the reliability of being always up. Uh, and we operate in a highly regulated and highly distributed network, but also where the request for efficiency and reliability is really high. That is the reason behind this partnership.

Speaker A: Henry Schein1 described the ambition as becoming the world's first AI augmented practice management ecosystem. I want to test that phrase because phrases like that sometimes can run ahead of reality. What does it actually mean operationally? Where is AI genuinely changing how a dental practice runs day to day? And where is the language? Still ahead of what's really happening on the ground.

Speaker B: Historically technology in our industry, but I would say in many industry this kind of technology has functioned as a sort of system of record where you statically put your data. Uh, and we are moving behind that phase because the introduction of AI solution and agents allow us to shift our platform from the system of record to an active participant in how a practice runs. Uh, think about the fact that our technology for example helped to automate and execute activity that previously required many manual hours. This agent handled the heavy administrative repetitive task. So the practice team are free up to focus their time and energy on the patients. So our main focus is on automating administrative tasks, repetitive tasks and supporting the team not to make autonomous decision, but to support the team. And normally AI handle predictable repetitive workflow. Again, so the human being in the practice is free up to spend more time interacting with patients. That is where trust and high quality care are uh, truly built. So I want to give you some example on what AI is genuinely delivering today. Take revenue cycle management, cleaner claims denial prediction, eligibility verification, chair sign. These are all true application that help to create better outcome on the workflow. Better customer experience, higher case acceptance, the scheduling and reactivation. Think about predictive model that can help reduce no show at the chair or recover lapse patients. And this is already running in our Jarvis or dental ascend uh applications. I can mention clinical documentation because AI assists not only with the imaging analysis build the documentation for claims, but also the new voice charting help immensely practitioner to compress documentation time without replacing at all the clinical judgment. So the honest bottom line is that credible AI exists today and started to be deployed I believe is reality. Not anymore.

Speaker A: Andrea. When you deploy uh across more than 100,000 locations, the Governance and the clinical safety framework cannot come after. It has to exist before. So tell me what that framework actually looks like. And the hard part, who owns the clinical responsibility when an AI recommendation influences clinical decisions?

Speaker B: I cannot agree more with your sentence because at the scale we operate, governance cannot be an afterthought. When we deploy a solution, an AI solution across 10 of thousands of practices. The first question is not what the technology can do, but the first question is what role it should play in the clinical workflow. And as of for ownership of clinical responsibility. That is a big question. That is probably one of the most important question in healthcare AI, not only dentistry. And our position is clear. AI has to be used as a decision support tool. The clinical responsibility remain 100% with the clinician so in general, AI and technology serve as a tool, or call it a resource, a partner to support the clinician and argument the clinical decision making, but don't replace it. Of course, our obligation is to ensure that AI is accurate, explainable, and we are very careful not to position it as a substitute for clinical judgment. Because at the end, if we want to build trust on the tool and trust is needed to generate adoption, we have to do it not with the most powerful AI algorithm, but by having the right governance, the right transparency and clear accountability for every stakeholder involved. This will build trust on the practitioner adopting it and at the end also on the patient.

Speaker A: I want to connect it to the commercial picture. Your bold plus one strategy targets 50% of operating income coming from high growth, high margin businesses by the end of 2027. And technology is central to that. So what has to be true about AI adoption at the practice level on the ground for, for that transition to actually happen on schedule?

Speaker B: We have the ambition, uh, to be the partner for practitioner in adopting AI. Today there is a lot of noise, again, not all in dentistry around us every day, a lot of noise around technology, what can do? And this can be overwhelming for all of us and definitely for our customers. What practitioner and practice owner needs is a guide and we are dedicated to effectively helping our customer navigate the transition to digital workflow and to AI. We want to ensure they don't just install a tool, but actually integrate the tool into the practice workflow and into the practice operating culture. The encouraging aspect in my opinion is that dentistry is particularly well positioned for AI adoption because if you think about the workflow is already reasonably digital imaging moved to digital already in the last years. Majority of the practice run on the practice manager software. They do treatment planning digitally because of the insurance process. They have a digital workflow with the laboratory. And also patient communication is increasingly connected digitally. So that creates big opportunity for AI to deliver value across uh, the entire patient journey rather than a single point of this workflow. And our team, our field salesforce and support team in general are the human bridge to this digital ecosystem because our advisor consult the practitioner to identify the specific workflow friction help to ensure that technology is adopted and deliver the promised clinical and operational value.

Speaker A: Andrea People think of distribution as logistics boxes and supply chains, but it's really a trust relationship repeated across millions of customers. And that gives you a view of this market that almost nobody else has. So let me ask you directly, Henry Schein has a direct relationship with over a million customers worldwide right now. What are Those customers actually telling you about AI, where is the genuine demand and where is the noise?

Speaker B: I think that we are not anymore in the phase of the early adopter or the extremely curious customer. We are in the phase of what AI is practically delivering. Probably a year or two ago many conversations were about what AI might be able to do and what in the future AI will do for me. Now customers are asking what AI can do for me tomorrow. And there are solutions already deeply integrated in practice. The strongest demand is probably around the workflow improvement. Think about the fact that many practices are feeling staffing pressure, administrative complexity, reimbursement challenge, especially in US, and increasing patient expectation everywhere. So practices or practitioners are looking for technology that help to save time, reduce friction and improve productivity and AI application that automate documentation, improve scheduling, support patient communication, assist with treatment planning or streamline in general the clinical workflow. These are the ones that tend to generate immediate interest because the value proposition is very clear. Probably if I have to pick one, the most adopted tool today is the AI assisted diagnostic. So the one that helped to make clinical decisions and uh, build treatment planning. And the conversation again is not about replacing clinical judgment, it's about helping the clinician in identifying patterns, improve consistency but also increase confidence in decision making. And we found that it helps a lot to support the communication with patients so it increase patient acceptance. On the other side, where I see more noise than demand is in general on the shiny standalone AI tools. There are many around that claim great algorithm. But when these tools are uh, standalone the adoption is not happening because it's difficult to integrate them in the practice activities in the practice workflow.

Speaker A: The adoption story is interesting because it's not really one single story. DSOs and groups behave completely differently from independent single site practices when it comes to AI. Where is the adoption curve really at for each of these segments right now and what determines which practices move first?

Speaker B: Yeah, you're perfectly right. So normally are eyed on the adoption curve and I would say not because they are more sophisticated or more technology saving, but because they have the scale, they have the right scale to invest in general for a dso, AI has definitely moved behind the exploration phase. We have ah, majority of the big DSOs deploying AI solutions but they are more focused on enterprise solutions, on consistency across practices, on um, centralization of data. While the independent practice are, they are probably early in the adoption curve but I think that they are, they will be the one creating consistency in the future because they are starting to adopt it more based on specific outcome. Question for the Practitioner like what time this can save me? What is the impact on patient care? And I believe that they will catch up here so very fast.

Speaker A: Henry Schein was built on a human relationship model. The field salesforce, the personal relationship with the practice owner. Uh, the next decade is really asking for digital transformation at scale. And is there a real tension between the model that built this company and the model that uh, the next decade demands? And how do you navigate both those realities?

Speaker B: You are right that Tereshan was built on trusted customer relationship. For decades our field organization has been our greatest strength because of the connection with the healthcare provider. Dentists and healthcare professional want trusted partners that understand their practice, their challenges, their goals. But at the same time all customer expectations are changing because customer increasingly expect the convenience of a digital communication, the transparency of online information and in general efficiency on um, digital interactions. But I don't see this as a choice between human relationship and digital transformation. I believe customer want both at our field salesforce and our technology platform are not two separate entities. They are a sort of unified team. The real opportunity is to use technology to automate transaction, simplify workflow and allowing our field team to really focus on higher value activities that is advising customers, helping them adopt new technology, improving the practice performance, being a partner of the practice owner. So this is where we can combine the two.

Speaker A: Henry Schein is in a deliberate moment of transition. A new strategic plan, a major outside investment, a uh, restructure and a CEO succession. After more than three decades. Stanley Bergman spent 35 years building this company into what it is now and named you as one of the executives to carry it forward. So let me ask you not about strategy for a second but about that in particular. What does that legacy look like from inside the company?

Speaker B: Bination was founded in 1932 as a purpose driven company. And the commitment since the beginning was to creating shared values that drives positive societal, environmental impact and support long term business success. Stanleyman built upon this strong foundation for over 45 years, 35 as a CEO and he was instrumental in reinforcing the team shine value that define us today. And specifically one of the belief that Stanley cemented is that we exist to serve our customer and the society at large. Helping health happen for our stakeholders and our communities. So our legacy is today and will always be our commitment to putting the practitioner uh, at the center of every decision and thinking about this DNA. We are incredibly fortunate to welcome the new CEO that is 100% aligned with these values. With this vision and with these beliefs, Fred brings not only huge experience in the healthcare world, but also the same values that define in our company what

Speaker A: does it actually feel like to be handed the responsibility of taking it into its next chapter into the AI revolution?

Speaker B: Exciting. We understand our responsibility and our role in the industry and we take it very seriously. But we are also genuinely excited of what is ahead of us because that history is really changing and is really going through this transformation, accelerated transformation thanks to new technology and new AI solution. And we know we can play uh, pivotal role in this transformation.

Speaker A: You sit at the center of the infrastructure through which dental AI will actually reach practices at scale. Almost everyone else is talking about diagnostic tools and clinical workflows. You know the shiny layer on top that you mentioned? What is the question almost nobody in this industry is asking about the infrastructure layer underneath all of that. And what happens to the entire dental AI market if that question doesn't get answered?

Speaker B: I think probably the most important question the industry is not asking enough is how do all these AI solutions work m together inside the practice? Because most discussions focus on how good is one tool, how intelligent is one tool in itself. But the bigger challenge is not to have single tools, is to have interoperability, because this is where we create real value when the tools connect seamlessly across taking an image, then preparing a practice plan, managing the different steps of the treatment planning, communicating with the laboratory, communicating with the patient. This is all part of the care delivery workflow. And our goal is to build an environment where the integration is so intuitive, so natively embedded into the flow of care that practitioners don't even realize is happening. We want them to feel less like using an AI tool, but more like that their practice is running smarter than before, faster than before, and more efficiently than before. And this is what I believe the industry should discuss more. And you ask it also, what is the risk if we don't do this? There is that we don't adopt technology for what technology can do. The lack of integration will bring lack of adoption and that means we lose the opportunity to improve delivery of care, quality of care in depth.

Speaker A: Andrea, that's been a fascinating insight. We're coming towards the end of the podcast now and I always like to do a lightning round at the end. So it's a quick fire. Set of questions if you're ready. We're going to start with our first one.

Speaker B: M Lady, don't go too fast.

Speaker A: I will promise not to put you on the spot. What's the single biggest structural difference between AI adoption in the US dental market and emea? What's one observation the US is probably

Speaker B: faster to adopt technology when it impacts growth. EMEA is probably faster when it impacts regulatory compliance or complexity Regulatory complexity in general.

Speaker A: Give me one technology your customers are asking for that the industry has not yet built.

Speaker C: Well,

Speaker B: what my customer asking day in day out is revenue cycle management solution that really fully interface across all the steps and automate the different steps from eligibility to the final payment process.

Speaker A: Finally, the one question every dental founder should ask before approaching Henry Schein about a commercial partnership.

Speaker B: Uh, how can we work together to support the practice in helping health happen for that patient, their community?

Speaker A: That's fantastic. Andrea. Um, you've taken people underneath the part of dental AI that everyone talks about and shown them the layer that actually decides whether any of it actually moves the needle. Andrea, where can people connect with you directly?

Speaker B: They can, uh, reach me@andrea albertini.com and I'm always happy to connect with people and with our customers. And I love this discussion. I love technology and I love the fact that we are changing healthcare in that industry.

Speaker A: And to, uh, our listeners. If this episode moved the needle for you, subscribe Share Comment your support means a great deal. Until next time. I'm Dr. Randeep and this is Tech Dental.

Speaker C: You've been listening to the Tech Dental podcast, Strategic Intelligence for Dental leaders navigating Structural Change.

Speaker A: If you're responsible for growth, performance or

Speaker C: long term value in this industry, make sure you're subscribed. I'm your host, Dr. Randeep. We'll see you next week.