In the latest Autumn 2025 issue of the PM Healthcare Journal, I was honoured to contribute an article titled “The NHS Landscape for AI: Bringing AI into Pharmacy – My Journey with PharmBot AI and AIVAe, and the NHS Challenge.”
The piece explores a question that has shaped my work for years:
How can pharmacists continue to deliver safe, high-quality care when our workloads are rising and our systems are falling behind?
From Concept to Reality
PharmBot AI began as a simple but powerful idea — that artificial intelligence could stand alongside pharmacists, not replace them.
Over time, this vision evolved into AIVAe, an AI-powered assistant designed to support pharmacy service delivery, clinical decision-making, and workflow efficiency.
AIVAe’s purpose has always been clear:
to reduce the administrative burden, support safety, and give pharmacists back the time to focus on what truly matters — patients.
The NHS AI Landscape: Ambition Meets Reality
In the article, I reflect on the current state of AI adoption across the NHS.
While national programmes like the AI Lab, DTAC, and the MHRA AI-Airlock demonstrate ambition, readiness remains inconsistent.
Pharmacy IT systems are often fragmented, data interoperability is limited, and AI literacy within the workforce still lags behind the speed of innovation.
To truly embed AI safely into frontline practice, we need clearer regulatory pathways, interoperable systems, and national investment in education.
Without these, innovations risk being trapped in pilots rather than scaled into everyday use.
Challenges and Opportunities
My journey through innovation has exposed five recurring challenges:
- Regulation – ensuring safety without stifling small innovators.
- Integration – connecting AI seamlessly to existing PMR systems.
- Culture – overcoming fear and mistrust of AI among professionals.
- Funding – moving from short-term pilots to sustainable adoption.
- Credibility – proving that pharmacy-led innovation can shape national strategy.
But these challenges also point to opportunity.
When AIVAe was piloted, pharmacists reported tangible time savings and improved safety — evidence that well-designed AI can enhance care rather than disrupt it.
Learning from Global Leaders
The article also examines how China, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE are embedding AI and robotics across healthcare.
These systems show what can be achieved when investment, infrastructure, and policy align.
While the NHS must follow its own path, there is much we can learn from their ambition, scale, and speed of adoption.
A Vision for the Future
PharmBot AI’s mission has always been to make AI in pharmacy real and accessible.
Our work with AIVAe demonstrates what’s possible when innovation grows from within the profession.
By combining clinical expertise with technology, we can create a future where AI empowers pharmacists — not replaces them — to practise at the top of their licence.
The full article can be found in the PM Healthcare Journal (Autumn 2025, Issue 14) under the AI and Digital section.
You can read the publication at pmhealthcare.co.uk/journals.
About the Author
Asif Mukhtar, B.Sc. (Hons), M.Sc., MRPharmS
Consultant Pharmacist and Founder of PharmBot AI
Asif leads the development of AIVAe, an AI-powered assistant designed to support pharmacists in delivering safe and efficient services. His work bridges clinical practice and digital innovation, focusing on responsible AI adoption across pharmacy and the wider NHS.