Artificial intelligence and knowledge management in healthcare: a pathway to SDGs achievement

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the role of artificial intelligence (AI) and knowledge management (KM) in advancing sustainable development within the health-care sector. It explores how AI-driven KM systems can foster the achievement of key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while highlighting the challenges constraining their large-scale adoption. Design/methodology/approach – This study offers a broader perspective, including thematic and content analysis of academic and practitioner sources. Scientific papers were selected from the Scopus database, while newspaper articles were retrieved via NexisUni to reflect a professional view. Textual data were analyzed using Leximancer 4.0 to identify key themes and co-occurrences across both domains, allowing for a comparative reading of conceptual trends, governance issues and operational applications. Findings – The analysis highlights a shared recognition of AI and KM as enablers of health-care innovation and sustainability. A synthesis of academic and practitioner perspectives on the evolution of the health-care sector reveals a complementary relationship, despite differing primary concerns. Scholarly discourse emphasizes the foundational significance of ethics, governance and inclusive knowledge systems, while practical applications focus on the imperatives of implementation, competitiveness and collaboration. Importantly, these seemingly distinct priorities converge in their shared recognition of the critical importance of human-centered, responsible and cross-sectoral approaches. Originality/value – By combining academic and practitioner insights, this study bridges the gap between research and application, offering a comprehensive view of AI’s transformative role in sustainable health care and contributing to both scholarly and practitioner debates while demonstrating how AI and KM can actively support SDG achievement in complex health-care systems.