Akbar Shah

I work at the intersection of Healthcare, Design and AI to build experiences for both, patients & the people delivering care.

For close to two decades I have built digital products people actually use. Currently, I lead UX and digital marketing for patient engagement at healow.

02 / About
First person

A little context

The work, in one paragraph.

I have been helping design digital products since 2006, across healthcare IT, consumer internet, and design agencies. Currently, I lead UX and digital marketing at healow, the patient engagement arm of eClinicalWorks, where the daily question is a simple but hard one: how do you make healthcare feel less heavy for the people moving through it.

AI has changed what that question looks like. I spend most of my time figuring out where it genuinely helps, where it quietly gets in the way, and how good design decides the difference. 

03 / Writing
Connecting Dots

Recent writing

A blog on AI, design, and healthcare.

A few recent pieces from Connecting Dots, my notebook on AI, design, and healthcare.

04 / FAQ
Third person

Questions people ask

Frequently Asked Questions

A little more about me

01Who is Akbar Shah?
Akbar Shah is a design and digital product leader based in Mumbai, working at the intersection of AI, design, and healthcare. He leads UX and digital marketing for patient engagement at healow, part of eClinicalWorks, and has been designing digital products since 2006.
02What does Akbar Shah do?
Akbar Shah leads the design of patient engagement products in healthcare IT. His work covers user experience, digital marketing, and the practical use of AI inside clinical and patient facing software. He shares the thinking behind that work on his newsletter, Connecting Dots.
03What is Akbar Shah's professional background?
Akbar Shah has close to two decades of experience in digital product design, spanning healthcare IT, consumer internet, and design agencies. That mix shapes how he approaches problems, with a product builder's instinct rather than a single industry's playbook.
04Where does Akbar Shah work?
Akbar Shah leads UX and digital marketing at healow, the patient engagement vertical of eClinicalWorks. healow builds the tools patients use to connect with their care, from appointments to records to telehealth.
05What does Akbar Shah write about?
Akbar Shah writes about AI, design, and healthcare, and the places those three meet. His essays are less about predictions and more about the real questions a practitioner runs into: what AI changes about product design, what it does not, and how to keep healthcare software humane while it gets smarter.
06Is Akbar Shah a writer?
Not in the traditional sense. Akbar Shah is a designer first. Writing is simply how he thinks out loud and shares what he is learning with people working on similar problems.
07What is Connecting Dots?
Connecting Dots is Akbar Shah's newsletter where he shares his thoughts on AI, design, and healthcare. It is where he works through ideas in the open, as a practitioner rather than a commentator, and shares them with readers facing similar problems.
08What is Akbar Shah's view on AI in healthcare?
Akbar Shah sees AI as a powerful tool that only matters if it is designed well. His focus is practical, where AI genuinely reduces friction for patients and clinicians, where it quietly adds risk or noise, and how thoughtful design decides the difference between the two.
09Who is Akbar Shah's writing for?
Akbar Shah writes for two overlapping groups i.e. healthcare IT and product leaders thinking about where AI fits, and designers and product people working at the same intersection. The common thread is people building real things, not just observing the space.
10What makes Akbar Shah's perspective different?
Akbar Shah writes from inside the work, not from the sidelines. His perspective comes from nearly twenty years of helping ship digital products and from leading design in healthcare IT today, so the thinking is grounded in practice rather than theory.
11Where can I read Akbar Shah's work?
Akbar Shah publishes on Connecting Dots, his newsletter, and shares regularly across LinkedIn, X, Instagram, and Medium, all under the handle @akbarhshah.
12How can I contact Akbar Shah?
The easiest way to reach Akbar Shah is through the social links on this page. He is most active on LinkedIn.
05 / Elsewhere
@akbarhshah

Find me online

A few places, same handle.

I share work and thinking across a few places, all as @akbarhshah.

Newsletter
Connecting Dots connectingdots.akbarhshah.com
read →
LinkedIn
in/akbarhshah
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X
@akbarhshah
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Instagram
@akbarhshah
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Medium
@akbarhshah
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06 / Contact
Say hi

Get in touch

Working on something at the edge?

If you are working on something at the edge of AI, design, or healthcare, or just want to compare notes, I am always glad to hear from you. The links above are the best way to reach me.