Equity Why the operating room is ripe for AI, according to Akara
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Dec 24, 2025 Conor McGinn, Co-founder and CEO of Akara, is on a mission to revolutionize operating room efficiency with AI. He reveals how hospitals lose 2-4 hours daily due to disorganized coordination. Conor discusses Akara's transition from robotics to using thermal sensors for sensitive data collection, ensuring privacy while enhancing OR management. He also addresses the impending nursing workforce crisis and why now is the time for automation. Ultimately, Conor highlights the need for hospitals to adopt smarter infrastructure to enable robot technology.
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ORs Lose Hours To Coordination Chaos
- Operating rooms lose two to four hours daily because coordination and manual workflows create delays between cases.
- Conor McGinn describes Akara as adding structure like an "air traffic controller" to reduce that downtime.
Robots Led To A Data Realization
- Conor McGinn recounts starting with cleaning robots because cleaning was frequently cited as the biggest block of time between cases.
- That robot work revealed the need for better data and later led to ambient sensing instead of leading with robots.
Start With Low-Friction Wins
- Do lead with low-friction solutions when selling to risk-averse hospitals rather than radical, high-disruption devices.
- Conor McGinn says ambient sensing met hospitals at their level and unlocked immediate value before larger changes.