The spotlight is on AI at ESC Congress but the ESC has had a wider focus on AI for some time, and that perspective is expanding.
Over the last two years, the ESC has formed a Digital Cardiology and AI Committee, introduced the ESC Digital & AI Summit and released ESC Chat, but in 2026, it will go one step further and launch the new ESC AI Gateway. Professor Folkert Asselbergs explains that the ESC AI Gateway is more than just another committee: “The ESC AI Gateway represents everything the ESC stands for in digital cardiology and AI: trusted knowledge, expert guidance, community connection, responsible innovation and practical adoption. AI is already shaping cardiology and to help it reach its true potential, the ESC AI Gateway will provide a trusted platform that supports not only our society, but the cardiovascular community as a whole.”
Part of the remit of the ESC AI Gateway is to educate clinicians to understand “what good AI tools look like,” highlights Prof. Asselbergs. “Clinicians know how to evaluate new drugs and devices and we will aim to build that same level of understanding for AI tools through various educational offerings, such as curricula updates and masterclasses,” he says. Clinicians are currently faced with a flood of AI models and to help them know which ones are reliable and accurate, the ESC AI Gateway aims to work with regulators to set quality criteria and develop evaluation frameworks. The levels of evidence needed for AI tools to be recommended in ESC Guidelines will also be addressed to help useful tools move from experimentation to adoption.
Having a transversal role, the ESC AI Gateway’s work will span associations, committees, publications and registries. One example is in the standardisation of disease definitions: “AI can help us develop comprehensive phenotype libraries featuring data-driven cardiovascular phenotypes that can be integrated into electronic health records,” notes Prof. Asselbergs. “The ESC AI Gateway will co-ordinate with the ESC Data Science Committee to develop the phenotype libraries, which can then be validated using EuroHeart and implemented into ESC Guidelines to improve decision-making.”
A top priority is growing a credible cardiovascular AI community to facilitate collaborations. “During the first ESC Digital & AI Summit, new relationships were formed and connections were made. We will continue this at the second summit in Basel in November and through ESC AI Gateway meetings and events. We aim to collaborate with startups, tech companies, academics and clinicians to see where AI can help overcome current clinical challenges and address unmet needs,” says Prof. Asselbergs.
Mr Jean-François Riffaud, Chief Executive Officer of the ESC concludes, “The ESC AI Gateway will welcome all players engaged in AI in cardiovascular science and medicine. When times are changing so drastically, the best way to remain relevant and lead the change is to connect actors from all domains. ESC has the capacity and legitimacy to offer this gateway to the community and to show how Europe can lead AI as it develops in the cardiovascular landscape.”