The challenge invites individuals and teams to demonstrate how open data standards can enable responsible, scalable AI in healthcare.
Health Level Seven International (HL7) announced the AI Challenge 2025, a global innovation competition designed to spotlight the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) when powered by open health data standards.
Selected winners will be recognized on stage during HL7’s 39th Annual Plenary, Working Group Meeting, Sept 13-19, 2025, in Pittsburgh. The HL7 AI Challenge is open to any individual, team, or organization across academia, industry, and government using HL7 standards to power AI applications that solve real-world clinical, operational, or equity-focused problems.
HL7 membership is not required, and there is no cost to participate. The competition builds on HL7’s commitment to enabling interoperable, standards-based healthcare innovation and reflects growing global interest in aligning AI adoption with ethical, explainable, and secure data practices.
“As AI becomes more deeply embedded in healthcare, we must ensure it advances—not undermines—trust, transparency, and patient outcomes,” says Charles Jaffe, MD, PhD, CEO of HL7 International, in a release. “The HL7 AI Challenge invites technologists, researchers, and clinicians worldwide to showcase how open standards can anchor responsible, scalable AI innovation, bridging the health IT and AI communities for the benefit of all.”
‘Calling for More Trustworthy, Explainable, and Universally Adopted Uses of AI in Healthcare’
The competition arrives at a time when regulators, health systems, and consumers are calling for more trustworthy, explainable, and universally adopted uses of AI in healthcare. By showcasing real-world solutions that pair AI with HL7 standards, the challenge aims to accelerate industry-wide adoption of responsible and scalable innovation.
The challenge offers winners global exposure and opportunities to showcase their solution on a national stage to HL7’s international community of over 1,600 members across more than 50 countries. There is no financial prize.
“We’re proud to bring together a global panel of judges who represent both a broad spectrum of disciplines across healthcare, and who understand the foundational role of interoperability in advancing responsible AI,” says Ken Rubin, interoperability architect at the University of Utah’s Department of Biomedical Informatics and AI challenge coordinator on behalf of the HL7 board, in a release. “Their participation underscores the urgency of building AI-driven applications grounded in open standards that can scale, integrate, and evolve with the health ecosystem.”
Submissions must be received by July 30, 2025, and finalists will be notified in early September.
