Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health has awarded Amber Nigam, CEO and co-founder of Basys.ai, its 2026 Alumni Innovation Award. The honor, the school's highest alumni recognition, is given annually to one graduate whose work advances public health through innovation. Nigam was recognized for building AI systems that tackle costly administrative problems in healthcare, including prior authorization, utilization management, and payment integrity.
The award
The Alumni Innovation Award is presented to a single alumnus each year for exceptional contributions in science, practice, education, or healthcare delivery. Nigam's work at Basys.ai focuses on explainable, domain-specific AI that supports decision-making with transparency and accountability.
"It is an incredible honor to receive this recognition from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health," said Nigam. "This award reflects the dedication of my team and our shared belief that AI should strengthen healthcare by making critical decisions more transparent, evidence-driven, and trustworthy. We're committed to building technology that improves how healthcare is delivered while keeping patients, clinicians, and healthcare organizations at the center of every decision."
Explainable AI for administrative work
Basys.ai's platform helps healthcare organizations interpret clinical policies, analyze medical records, and improve complex administrative workflows while maintaining human oversight. For organizations handling utilization management and prior authorization, the company's approach applies AI for Healthcare directly to decisions that affect patient care timelines.
The company's payment integrity and fraud, waste, and abuse detection work touches a related set of AI for Insurance workflows. That work has drawn federal attention: Basys.ai was cited in the CMS FWA White Paper for its approach to explainable, agentic AI and was named a national finalist in CMS's Crushing FWA Challenge.
Recognition beyond the award
Nigam has published in Harvard Business Review and given a TEDx talk on aligning incentives across the healthcare ecosystem. He has also presented at Harvard University, Stanford University, and the NCQA Health Innovation Summit.
- Named to Rock Health's Top 50 in Digital Health
- Recognized as a Top Healthcare Technology CEO of 2025 by The Healthcare Technology Report
Why this matters for healthcare professionals
For healthcare professionals, the award signals a shift toward AI that is auditable and explainable rather than a black box. As payers and providers face pressure to reduce administrative waste and prior authorization delays, tools that document how decisions are made will matter as much as the decisions themselves. The CMS recognition suggests regulators are paying attention to that distinction - a signal worth weighing when evaluating AI vendors. Read the original announcement for more details.
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