2026 PDD Speaker
Dr. Narasimha Gundamraj
"Vigilance, Judgment, and Empathy: A Physician's Playbook for Human-Centered Leadership in the Age of AI"
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About the Speaker
Dr. Narasimha Gundamraj is Medical Director of Pain Management at University of Michigan Health Sparrow, where he oversees five Pain Management Centers across Mid-Michigan. He is also a partner with Anesthesia and Pain Management Consultants and a founding partner of My American Doctor. Dr. Gundamraj has held leadership roles in organized medicine, including serving as president of the Ingham County Medical Society, and currently serves as a Clinical Associate Professor at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine. His work combines clinical decision-making, organizational leadership, governance, and healthcare advocacy.
Session: "Vigilance, Judgment, and Empathy: A Physician's Playbook for Human-Centered Leadership in the Age of AI"
Anesthesiology is one of medicine's most technology-integrated specialties, but data and algorithms do not eliminate the need for human judgment. Drawing from high-stakes clinical practice and healthcare leadership, Dr. Gundamraj will connect that reality to the challenges project professionals face as AI becomes more involved in planning, prediction, and risk monitoring. The session centers on three principles: Vigilance, Judgment, and Empathy. Attendees will examine how continuous monitoring translates to project risk management, where algorithmic recommendations should give way to contextual human judgment, and how empathetic leadership can strengthen trust, psychological safety, and stakeholder management across project teams.
Learning Objectives
Attendees will be able to:
- Apply principles of clinical vigilance to project risk monitoring and early detection.
- Distinguish between decisions that can rely on AI-supported recommendations and those requiring contextual human judgment.
- Identify where AI-driven data and predictive tools can add value to decision-making.
- Apply medical team leadership practices that build trust and encourage people to speak up.
- Adapt these practices to cross-functional project teams and stakeholder relationships.
AI may change how project professionals monitor information and evaluate risk, but it does not remove the leadership responsibilities surrounding judgment, trust, and accountability. This PDD 2026 session approaches those questions from a high-stakes field where technology and human decision-making have worked side by side for decades.
Register here!
