Episode #176. How AI Is Becoming A Survival Skill For Modern Clinicians, with Dr. Kathryn Alderman, CEO and founder of Intelligent Care Alliance

Summary

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Risk Never Sleeps Podcast – Episode #176

Title: How AI Is Becoming A Survival Skill For Modern Clinicians
Host: Ed Gaudet
Guest: Dr. Kathryn Alderman (CEO and Founder of Intelligent Care Alliance)
Date: December 23, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this special live episode from the AI Med25 conference in San Diego, host Ed Gaudet speaks with Dr. Kathryn Alderman about how artificial intelligence is reshaping clinical care and why mastering AI is essential for clinicians in today’s healthcare environment. They discuss the convergence of medical and dental care, risk-taking in entrepreneurship, leadership lessons, and the urgency for clinicians to adopt AI tools—not just for efficiency, but for survival in a rapidly changing industry.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

The Convergence of Dental and Medical Practice

• Dr. Alderman’s Background and Vision

  • Clinician and dentist with 20 years of experience, focused on integrating dental and medical care for overall patient wellness.
  • Now leads Intelligent Care Alliance, which aims to bring AI-powered, 360-degree support to both dental and medical offices.

    “At this point I am using AI to bring to dental offices, to medical offices, to optimize patient care, but also to support clinicians.” (00:42, Kathryn Alderman)

• The Medical-Dental Divide

  • Persistent silos exist between dental, medical, mental health, and pharmacy specialties.
  • Upcoming summit in June 2026 in London to bridge these professional silos and foster global collaboration with AI as the catalyst.

    “We call it medical and a dental bridge. Yes. So... we are gonna be bridging medical and dental.” (03:02, Kathryn Alderman)

The Role of AI in Clinical Practice

• AI as a Survival Skill

  • AI literacy is now considered a fundamental requirement for clinicians—not just an advantage, but a necessity to remain relevant.

    “If you not use an AI, you will be replaced... You have to use AI. You have to know AI. You have to know how to choose AI, how to implement AI, how to deploy AI.” (10:48, Kathryn Alderman)

  • The conversation reflects a sense of urgency and inevitability: AI will transform every clinical specialty.

• AI Adoption and Security Concerns

  • Ed mentions excitement at the conference but notes concerns around security (e.g., prompt injections) and compliance standards.
  • Importance of giving clinicians direct access to AI tools and not being paralyzed by fear.

    “AI is moving fast. You always have to be learning. There's concerns around security... compliance standards... getting the AI to the fingertips of the clinicians.” (09:40, Ed Gaudet)

Risk-Taking and Leadership

• Entrepreneurial Mindset

  • Dr. Alderman shares her approach to risk: regularly starting new companies, innovating, and embracing failure as part of growth.

    “I do what people say is impossible... I'm not afraid of anything. I'm not afraid to fail in business. I'm not afraid to start business. I'm not afraid. I'm just not afraid.” (04:13, Kathryn Alderman)

• Family Influence

  • Her courage and drive came from growing up with a professional racer dad (risk-tolerant) and supportive, grounded mom.
  • Practicality learned from her father: having a detailed plan, taking daily actionable steps, and not letting fear block execution.

    "Even if you don't want to. You have to get up and do it... build a plan and do measurable steps every day." (05:56–07:13, Kathryn Alderman)

Music, Motivation, and Mindset

• Personal Motivation
  • Dr. Alderman shares her favorite music—ranging from “Lady in Red” to Elton John and MercyMe’s “Imagine”—which shape her daily optimism.
  • Sees each day as a blank canvas: “Let's make some magic.”

    "It's up to me what my day will look like. And it's up to me how I will paint it. So always start with Imagine me..." (08:29, Kathryn Alderman)

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On AI Survival:

  “If you not use an AI, you will be replaced by somebody that does know and use AI as a clinician, as a doctor, as administration. You have to use AI.”
  (10:48, Kathryn Alderman)

• On Innovation and Risk:

  “Creating an agent is very bold. Creating, bringing innovations to doctors are scary... But here you are, I'm on a front line saying, Hey, I create AI agents and I work with AI. That's a pretty bold move to make.”
  (04:44, Kathryn Alderman)

• On Daily Success:

  "You have to build a plan and you have to do measurable steps every day. That's how you become successful entrepreneur.”
  (06:08, Kathryn Alderman)

• On Motivation:

  “Let's imagine the best day you can have. And let's go for magic. Let's make some magic.”
  (09:07–09:14, Kathryn Alderman)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:42 – 01:40: Dr. Alderman’s background and vision for integrating medical/dental care with AI
• 02:00 – 03:06: Discussion of the upcoming London summit to bridge medical and dental professions globally
• 04:13 – 05:54: Dr. Alderman’s risk-taking philosophy and entrepreneurial journey
• 05:56 – 07:13: Lessons learned from family about boldness, planning, and execution
• 08:29 – 09:25: Dr. Alderman’s motivational music choices and daily mindset
• 09:40 – 10:48: AI conference highlights: security, clinician adoption, and the urgency of AI literacy
• 10:48 – 11:33: Why clinicians must master AI to remain relevant

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Connect with Dr. Kathryn Alderman

• Organization: Intelligent Care Alliance
• How to Connect:
  • LinkedIn: Kathryn Alderman
  • Instagram: @intelligentcarealliance
  • Email: [e-mail]

Dr. Alderman offers resources and an “Advantage framework” for teaching medical and dental professionals how to choose, implement, and deploy AI successfully in their practices.

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Summary Tone

The episode is energetic and candid, with Dr. Alderman’s fearless and optimistic approach shining through. The conversation balances practical wisdom for clinicians with personal stories, encouragement, and a clear message: AI is not just a future tool, but a current necessity for any health professional committed to patient safety and career longevity.

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Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Welcome to Risk Never Sleeps where we meet and get to know the people delivering patient care and protecting patient safety. I'm your host, Ed Gaudet.

[A]

Hello everyone. Welcome back to the AI Med Insight series recorded live here in San Diego at the AI Med25 conference. I'm here with Dr. Catherine Alderman. She is the CEO and founder of Intelligent Care Alliance. Katherine, welcome to the podcast.

[C]

Thank you so much. Thank you for having me here.

[A]

Of course, of course. What brings you to Aimed?

[C]

I actually am a clinician by training, dentist by training. I have been doing clinical care for 20 years and managing multiple dental practices. My practices and my clinical care was really centered around dental and medical coming together. Basically I was a biological dentist, all functional dentist. So what it means that I always prioritize the overall medical health and the wellness being of my patients. But fast forward, fast forward. At this point I am using AI to bring to dental offices, to medical offices, to optimize the patient care, but also to support clinicians. So basically I have full 360 support using AI for any physician in a dental or medical office.

[A]

Well, that's fascinating and I'm a huge fan of this convergence between dental and medical, mental and medical. Like there's no reason it should be siloed.

[C]

It is. And I don't understand why it's siloed and it's still siloed. And it's been siloed for so many years. Actually saying that. I'm so glad you brought it up.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

We actually have a London summ coming up in 2026. June of 2026.

[A]

What's the summit?

[C]

Let's talk about it because this is really exciting.

[A]

Tell me all about it.

[C]

I love it. Let's talk about it in June. Yes, in June it's actually going to be in London and AI Mad will be there as well. Okay, cool. But we, the goal is to bring dentists and medical doctors.

[A]

Dr. Shaw.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

Dr. Shah, right? Yeah, yeah, we had him yesterday. Yes, I'm connecting dots here. Yeah, we had Dr. Sean yesterday.

[C]

Yeah. So that was Dr. Shah. He's a founder of a global summits institute, founder of a top doctor movement. So we actually invite in top doctors, not just top dentists, but top doctors to join a network so we can unite dental and medical and pharmacy and mental health and all subspecialties working together. But the event that we will host will be in London and we call it medical and a dental bridge.

[A]

Love that.

[C]

Yes. So it's gonna be, we are gonna be bridging medical and dental.

[A]

Let's bridge it, people. And we need.

[C]

We need. It's about time to bridge it. It's about time to bridge it.

[A]

Yeah, you know, we gotta do this. And by the way, we'll link up this conference in London, the summit in London, inside of our show notes so you two can learn about it in a tent if you're in the area. Or why not just take a trip out there?

[C]

Oh, it's all amazing and it's all this. Such a great networking opportunity with doctors, dentists, technologies, technology, people, investors. It will be just wonderful. We actually, many people from other countries come in, not just from US and uk, but we have Saudi Arabia, all Latin countries. It's gonna be just a big global AI hangout. Yes, it's gonna be. I call it an AI hub. It's gonna be an AI international hub. And we're gonna talk about medical and dental connecting together. But it's not just about that. That's basically it. I love it.

[A]

All right, guys, you have to make it there. Obviously, the people here are going crazy about it, so definitely make it out there. Catherine, what is the riskiest thing you've ever done?

[C]

Oh, I have done so many. I am such a risk taker. And when I Riskiest. Yeah, the risk is, well, okay, let's put it this way. I start companies all the time. I take a risk. I do what people say is impossible. When I lose that age, I go surfing or swimming with a shark. So I am actually probably extreme. So I'm not afraid of anything. I'm not afraid to fail in business. I'm not afraid to start business. I'm not afraid. I'm just not afraid.

[A]

And where did that come from? Have you always been like, oh, it's actually.

[C]

That's interesting. That's interesting. I grew up on a racetrack, so my father is a professional racer. So it's like driving horses, race cars, motorcycles. So I rode motorcycles with him. And I rode motorcycles on my own. You know, I serve, but outside of that, really, how does it translate to my life? I'm an entrepreneur, I'm an inventor, I'm a creator. So I created dental offices for years. I created brands, and now I'm creating AI agents to help clinicians. So I create. And creating an agent is very bold. It's really bold. Creating, bringing innovations and bringing innovations to doctors are scary. It can be scary because it's really you taking a risk and it's not easy to create a product. But here you are, I'm on a front line saying, Hey, I create AI agents and I work with AI. That's a pretty bold move to make. And I'm doing it. So that's, I would say that's risky too. That's your dad.

[A]

Your dad had a big part in it.

[C]

Yes, he did.

[A]

You know, he was a great driver.

[C]

He was really great driver. He was not a really good business person. So I really learned what not to do. And truly what I learned from him, what not to do is when you have an idea. And that applies to many entrepreneurs out there. When you have an idea and when you want to execute something, you actually have to plan it, write it down, and do things every day. Even if you don't want to. You have to get up and do it. Maybe you get up and you don't want to do it at 8 o' clock in the morning, but you make sure you get it done by 3 o' clock in the afternoon. So maybe you cannot do it right at 8, but you have to build a plan and you have to do measurable steps every day. That's how you become successful entrepreneur. And you learn not to be afraid of challenges. You just do it. You just do things, execute your plans every single day. So my father was great to give me that sense of being fearless and bold. I also learned from him, what does it take to be bold but yet organized and execute your dreams and not to be afraid to execute your dreams.

[A]

That's awesome. What about your mom?

[C]

My mom was amazing. She's just a sweetheart. Yeah, you know, she's just amazing. My mom was like, my mom looks at me and she goes, okay, you do you.

[A]

She's supportive.

[C]

Yes, she's just supportive.

[A]

Like, I don't know where this girl came from.

[C]

Yeah, she knows. She's very aware. But yeah, so that's really cool.

[A]

That's awesome. So if you were stranded on an island and you could pick five records to listen to, what would you listen to?

[C]

Lady in Red. I would just listen to it over and over. 90s love that, you know, And I love old music. I have teen girls, so I love rap. I love all of it, but I just love 90s. And I love Elton John.

[A]

Oh, yeah, you throw some Elton John.

[C]

Yeah, you know, jamming. But, you know, but then it's like, then I will. It's really. Honestly, if I'm stranded on the island, you can give me polka music. I will love it.

[A]

You'll be jamming, I'll be jamming.

[C]

I'll be jamming to polka. If I'm stranded to the island. I will be jamming to anything you give me. You know, like, it's like, I'll listen to anything.

[A]

All right, you got two more. Two more.

[C]

I mean, country music. Any country music is good and Christian. Mercy me. Like, mercy. I start my day with mercy. Every day.

[A]

So great.

[C]

I start every day listening. Imagine. Because it's like, hey, I'm gonna start my day. You have this beautiful day ahead of you. You have a beautiful day ahead of you. And it's like, I want to get up every day. It's like a little canvas that is up to me what it will be. It's up to me what my day will look like. And it's up to me how I will paint it. So always start with Imagine me, because it's like, okay, read me. Imagine me by mercy me. And it's like, it's just a reminder to really, Hey, I am blessed to have this day. I'm blessed to have this new day.

[A]

And.

[C]

And let's imagine the best day you can have. And let's go for magic. Let's make some magic.

[A]

Let's go for magic.

[C]

Let's go for magic. Let's make it magical today. Let's make it magical. But when you live like that. So I would say that's like my. Probably the songs that is the most played on my playlist.

[A]

Beautiful.

[C]

You know, let's make some magic. Imagine. Yeah. So that's really.

[A]

That's so good.

[C]

Tell me you had a mad talk to me. Tell me. What do people tell you? What do they tell you about AI? This is new.

[A]

It has been incredible. Well, we have been here having conversations with speakers, attendees, panelists, and there's a lot of excitement. AI is moving fast. You always have to be learning. There's concerns around security. We had a gentleman talking to us about prompt injections, for example, this idea of bad actors falsely placing information that an LLM will access in order to output, things like that. Those security issues. Right. Something to keep in mind, compliance standards. It has been incredible. Right? Some of the discussions that we've had with the leaders and you getting the AI to the fingertips of the clinicians that are going to be able to do the most with it and not to be afraid just to go do it. Right. So it's just been an incredible opportunity to have these conversations just like everybody listening right now. You're going to want to check out the entire series. Katherine, you're going to want to listen in, obviously, to yours. But all of our other guests that we've had the privilege to have on the podcast. But yeah, it's just been a great run.

[C]

Isn't that amazing? Isn't it crazy how life has changed just like that, in two years, everything has changed. And now we literally. Anybody that says I don't trust or believe in AI, well, you got to get it. Because if you not use an AI, you will be replaced. You will be replaced by somebody that does know and use AI as a clinician, as a doctor, as administration. You have to use AI. You have to know AI. You have to know how to choose AI, how to implement AI, how to deploy AI. And truly, every leader, every leader has to now talk about, has to learn about AI, how crazy it is.

[A]

It's insane. And that's the age that we're in.

[C]

Yeah, isn't it?

[A]

That's the age that we're in. Yeah. So, Catherine, tell us how we can get in touch with you and learn more about you and your organization.

[C]

Yeah, so I'm actually what I do was the most important things that I offer is a Advantage framework. So basically I teach dental and medical teams on choosing, implementing, and deploying AI. I also speak a lot. So I also teach speak a lot. But then I help to create that framework as well. So to find me is very easy. It's Intelligent Care alliance. And you can find me on LinkedIn under Katherine Alderman. You can follow me on Instagram or you can email me intelligentcare alliance gmail.com.

[A]

Amazing. There you have it, folks. In the show notes, you'll find all the ways to get in touch with Dr. Katherine Alderman. She is the founder and CEO of Intelligent Care Alliance. Thank you all for tuning in to this AI Med Insight series. And Katherine, thanks for being with us.

[C]

Thank you so much. You're a wonderful podcast host. I really enjoyed it. Thank you. Thanks.

[B]

Thanks for listening to Risk Never Sleeps. For the show notes, resources and more information and how to transform the protection of patient safety. Visit [e-mail] that's C-E N S I N E T dot com. I'm your host, Ed Gaudet. And until next time, stay vigilant because Risk never sleeps.