How CVS Health Is Using Agentic AI Twins to Transform Patient Experience

In this episode of the Becker's Health IT Podcast, Jacob Emerson interviews Shrey Pat, Vice President of Enterprise Customer Experience and Insights at CVS Health, about the company's groundbreaking use of agentic AI twins to transform patient and customer experiences. Pat explains how CVS has developed over 100,000 AI-powered 'twins'—digital representations of real customers—using consented behavioral data, spend patterns, and interviews. These twins simulate real decision-making, emotional responses, and behavioral patterns at scale, enabling CVS to test products, messaging, and operational changes in a safe, controlled environment before real-world rollout. The technology has dramatically accelerated insight generation—from weeks to minutes—and uncovered previously hidden pain points, such as patients' anxiety around medication refills and pet owners' dual emotional-pragmatic concerns about pet prescriptions. Pat emphasizes that the AI does not replace human interaction but augments it, with rigorous governance including backtesting against real-world data, human researcher oversight, and ongoing customer engagement to ensure accuracy and ethical use. The approach is already driving faster, more empathetic, and more effective healthcare delivery across CVS’s retail, pharmacy, and Caremark operations. The episode underscores a paradigm shift in healthcare innovation: using AI not just for efficiency, but to deeply understand and amplify the patient voice. Key takeaways include the ability to test thousands of scenarios with high fidelity, unlock insights from hard-to-reach populations, and reduce the risk of real-world pilot failures. CVS is using this technology to improve medication adherence, refine marketing strategies, and design better care journeys—all while maintaining ethical standards and human oversight. As Pat notes, this isn’t just experimentation; it’s a scalable, responsible transformation in how healthcare organizations listen to and serve their customers.