This article was originally published on May 29, 2025, when Covista was Adtalem Global Education. It was updated on February 5, 2026.
 

What Covista Chairman and CEO Steve Beard shared at the Axios Future of Health Summit.
 

Against a backdrop of healthcare staffing crises, policy changes in Washington and the evolving needs of patients, Covista, formerly Adtalem Global Education, Chairman and CEO  Steve Beard shared his vision for increasing access to healthcare higher education and alleviating workforce challenges at the Axios Future of Health Summit on May 14.   

Speaking with Axios publisher Nicholas Johnston, Beard described Covista’s educational approach and use of technology like artificial intelligence as well as how it improves health outcomes.   

“Much of higher education has chased a value proposition rooted in high selectivity and historical prestige,” Beard said. “We want to expand the opportunity for folks who want to be clinicians, and we take a holistic approach to building classes that are broadly representative of the communities those clinicians are ultimately going to serve.”

Technology and AI in Higher Education

Speaking about accomplishing those goals at scale, Beard delved into how Covista’s five universities leverage technology, including artificial intelligence.   

“We think generative AI is a game changer in a very positive way,” Beard said. “We’re leveraging it across a host of use areas.” Those include AI tutors and student support capacities that allow Covista’s institutions to meet students where they are.  

Education for Patient Outcomes

While Beard believes that new technologies can relieve clinicians of burdensome administrative tasks and improve outcomes for patients, he also reiterated the importance of cultural competence for medical professionals.

One of the central pillars of the research around health inequities that isn’t in dispute is that people receive more compassionate and competent care when they have a relationship of trust with their provider. We want to send day-one-ready, compassionate clinicians into the workforce across the United States.