AI scribes are suddenly everywhere. From Epic and Microsoft Nuance to fast-moving startups like OpenEvidence, the race to solve physician burnout through “ambient documentation” has turned into one of healthtech’s hottest arenas in 2025.
Vendors, both big and small, are promising a future where doctors can finally ditch the keyboard, reclaim hours of their day, and restore eye contact with patients.
But beyond the buzz, what do doctors really think? Can startups stand a chance in a market where enterprise giants dominate? Is this hype cycle masking the real challenges of adoption?
To explore these questions, we spoke with Rustom Lawyer, Co-Founder & CEO of Augnito, a voice-AI platform already used in 25+ countries, including India, the UK, and Saudi Arabia.
Rustom has spent two decades working on medical speech and documentation technology, long before “ambient AI” became a pitch-deck staple. He has seen the hype cycles come and go, and knows what it takes to actually win trust inside the clinic.
Here are his insights on the AI scribe boom, a perspective that blends optimism and hard-earned caution.
There’s been a lot of hype around AI scribes. Why now?
Every new technology wave comes with hype. However, Rustom points out that the AI scribe boom is rooted in a very real and deepening crisis in healthcare: physician burnout.
For years, clinicians have spent nearly half their working hours documenting care instead of delivering it.
“This is more than speech-to-text,” he says. “We’re seeing agentic AI that listens, understands clinical context, structures data for the EMR, and even suggests medical codes. That’s not hype. That’s a real transformation that gives clinicians their time back.”
The buzz exists because the need is undeniable. If the technology works, it doesn’t just save minutes; It restores the human element in healthcare.
But with so many players entering the market, is it overcrowded?
Rustom agrees that the market feels crowded with Epic, Microsoft Nuance, OpenEvidence, and the other giants pushing hard. But, he also points out that the presence of large players validates the market and pushes everyone to innovate faster.
He says, “While the barrier to entry for basic transcription tools may seem low, creating a solution that is accurate, secure, and deeply integrated into complex clinical workflows is another matter entirely.”
With startups popping up weekly, consolidation feels inevitable.
“I see consolidation around two paths: a few enterprise-grade winners who scale across specialties and hospital systems, and a long tail of niche players solving very specific problems—from surgery subspecialties to linguistic markets.”
Healthcare, he reminds us, is not one monolith. “Survival depends on deep domain expertise and solving specific problems better than anyone else.”
In such an overcrowded space, can startups like Augnito stand out?
“For a focused startup like Augnito, our opportunity lies in our agility, deep healthcare DNA, and human-centric approach,” says Rustom.
“Our vision for Augnito was born from two decades of firsthand experience with the UK’s National Health Service (NHS), which taught us the critical importance of interoperability and understanding intricate clinical workflows. This isn’t something that can be easily replicated.”
What differentiates Augnito is our:
- multilingual accuracy (99% with no voice training required, in diverse global accents),
- flexibility between cloud and on-premise deployment to meet the strict data residency and security needs of different institutions.
- interoperability that seamlessly integrates with any existing EMR or hospital information system.
By positioning Augnito around interoperability, multilingual accuracy, and clinician-first design, we give a deliberate counter to the “closed ecosystem” approach of bigger incumbents.
Startups can win by being more than just a software vendor. By becoming a true partner in transformation and offering a level of focus and customisation that larger players often cannot match.
-Rustom Lawyer
How are physicians reacting to AI scribes? Is there real adoption happening?
Definite adoption comes from a demonstration of clear benefits of the technology.
Rustom quotes the MIT State of AI in Business 2025 report that found only 5% of GenAI pilots delivering a measurable impact on P&L.
“Their success was in factors like workflow integration, domain specificity, and vendor-led solutions that scaled where others stalled.”
Doctors have been burned before. EMRs promised efficiency and instead delivered endless clicking. So initial skepticism is natural. But once they experience a well-designed AI scribe, the sentiment shifts dramatically to relief.
When an AI scribe works as intended, silently and accurately in the background, it is unequivocally a time-saver.
At Augnito, on a 6-month case study with Apollo Hospital, we saw physicians save 44 hours a month and report a 46% productivity boost. More importantly, they tell us they can finally maintain eye contact with patients. They feel like doctors again, not data-entry clerks.”
That, arguably, is the true measure of adoption, not just minutes saved, but trust rebuilt.
What does it take to win a doctor’s confidence in AI scribes?
Rustom says winning a clinician’s confidence hinges on flawless performance, ironclad security and compliance, flexible deployment, and seamless integration.
Confidence isn’t won with marketing; it’s earned through consistent, reliable, and secure performance.
Moreover, doctors are not willing to make any changes that disrupt their ingrained workflows or compromise patient interaction. They will always prefer to adopt tools that require zero workflow change.
Technology that adapts to humans, not the other way around, is the key to successful adoption.
Investors are pouring money into AI scribes. Is funding moving faster than reality?
Rustom doesn’t think so. “I would say it’s a healthy mix.” There is some hype, but definitely several cases of real adoption, which makes us increasingly confident.
The investment surge is a direct reflection of a massive, quantifiable need in the market. The burnout crisis is pushing healthcare systems to their breaking point, and leaders are actively seeking solutions that can improve efficiency and retain staff.
“We’ve seen hospitals achieve a 21x ROI in just six months. Administrative tasks eat up a quarter of hospital budgets. AI scribes address that head-on.
Investors aren’t just betting on software budgets. They’re betting on AI as staff, an entirely new category of value,” he argues.
That distinction matters: AI scribes are being positioned less as IT tools and more as workforce multipliers.
You’re building for very diverse systems—India, UK, Saudi Arabia. How does adoption vary across global markets?
Unlike some markets where English dominates, large parts of the world require multilingual, context-aware solutions.
In India, the doctor-to-patient ratio is 1:1700, so efficiency and multilingual adaptability are key.
In the UK, you’re dealing with a single-payer system where trust, compliance, and measurable outcomes drive adoption.
In the Middle East, governments are pushing top-down innovation. Which means you need localization, data residency, and Arabic dialect support.
“Each region has unique drivers. That’s why one-size-fits-all solutions won’t win.”
Multilingual capability in this space is a real differentiator in this space.
For startups, this creates an opportunity. Large incumbents may excel in English, but the agility to build accurate multilingual models can be a decisive edge. It turns a potential barrier into a significant competitive advantage.
Looking ahead, where do you see AI scribes in five years?
“I don’t think we’ll even call them ‘scribes,’” says Rustom. “They’ll be clinical partners offering decision support, orchestrating workflows, and even predictive insights. If we get this right, every clinician will have an AI assistant as standard as the EMR itself.”
If AI scribes fail to deliver on the hype, what’s the biggest risk for healthcare?
The stakes are high. If the technology fails, burnout will worsen, and the projected 10 million healthcare worker shortfall by 2030 could become catastrophic.
This would lead to a cascade of failures: reduced access to care, higher rates of medical errors, and skyrocketing costs as administrative waste continues to choke the system.
“The failure of this technology would not just be a failed product category; it would be a failure to address a systemic crisis that threatens the very foundation of healthcare,” says Rustom.
But if it succeeds, medicine could be reshaped not by removing the human, but by restoring it.
“What excites me most is bringing humanity back to the forefront of medicine,” Rustom reflects. “Technology has long been a wedge between doctor and patient. Now, we have a chance to remove that barrier and create superclinicians empowered by AI, but defined by empathy.”
Parting words
AI scribes sit at a crossroads: one of the most hyped tools in digital health, but also one of the most necessary interventions for a strained global system.
The winners won’t be those with the loudest marketing, but those who can:
- Earn clinician trust
- Prove ROI
- Adapt to diverse markets
- Stay invisible in workflows while making a visible impact
For now, the question isn’t whether AI scribes will matter. It’s which ones will endure long enough to prove that the transformation is real.
-By Jhanvi Shah with insights from Rustom Lawyer, Co-Founder & CEO of Augnito
About Rustom Lawyer
Rustom Lawyer is the Co-Founder & CEO of Augnito, a global Voice AI platform transforming clinical documentation and helping physicians reclaim time.
In just three years, Augnito has expanded to 300+ hospitals across 25 countries, including the US, UK, India, and the Middle East.
A serial healthtech entrepreneur, Rustom also co-founded Scribetech at 19, pioneering clinical documentation for the UK’s NHS. He has pursued executive education at Harvard Business School and Stanford University.
