Maria Ansari, MD, Co-Chief Executive Officer of The Permanente Federation and Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of The Permanente Medical Group at Kaiser Permanente

In this episode of Leadership Unscripted, Chris Sosa interviews Dr. Maria Ansari, co-CEO of The Permanente Federation and CEO of The Permanente Medical Group at Kaiser Permanente. Ansari shares her transformative journey from academic medicine to joining Kaiser Permanente after a pivotal realization: that the integrated, value-based care model significantly reduced heart attacks and strokes among patients—something her fee-for-service academic practice could not achieve. She reflects on her most proud accomplishment: leading the largest nationwide rollout of ambient AI scribe technology across 35,000 physicians and staff, which dramatically reduced physician burnout, improved job satisfaction, and lowered primary care attrition. Ansari passionately advocates for value-based care as the key to sustainable, patient-centered healthcare, emphasizing that systems should reward wellness, not disease. She calls for broader adoption of this model beyond Kaiser’s walls, including through partnerships with community health centers. The conversation closes with a powerful message on authenticity in leadership—encouraging leaders to shed the weight of others’ opinions and bring their true selves to work, citing figure skater Alyssa Liu as an example of joyful, authentic presence.