AI breakthroughs are reshaping industries across the globe, with transformative impacts in healthcare, finance, and beyond. At the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium, Ruth Porat, Google’s CFO, shared insights on how artificial intelligence is unlocking unprecedented opportunities—not just for technology companies, but for economies as a whole. Drawing from Google Trends data, Porat highlighted a striking shift in public interest: while AI once sparked fears about job displacement, the conversation has evolved toward empowerment. People are now asking, “How can I use AI?”—a change that reflects growing confidence in its potential. One of the most common queries? “Can AI cure cancer?” That question, she noted, captures the profound hope AI now inspires. Porat introduced a powerful mental model to frame AI’s impact: health. She chose health because it is deeply personal, universally relevant, and a domain where AI is already delivering life-changing results. Three key areas stand out: advancing science, enabling early detection, and boosting operational effectiveness. In advancing science, Google’s AlphaFold revolutionized biology by predicting the 3D structure of all known proteins in months—something that would have taken centuries manually. This breakthrough accelerates drug discovery and brings us closer to curing diseases like cancer. The lesson for financial institutions? Identify your most intractable problem and ask: can AI solve it? On early detection, AI is saving lives in oncology. Google’s deep learning models can detect tiny cancer clusters in pathology slides with greater accuracy and half the time of human pathologists. This same capability applies to finance: AI can analyze vast transactional data in real time, identifying suspicious patterns—like shell companies making small, scattered deposits to avoid detection—before money is laundered. One banking client saw three times more fraud detected, 60% fewer false positives, and a 50% faster response time. In cybersecurity, AI is proving vital. Google’s DeepMind developed an AI agent called Big Sleep that proactively hunts for unknown software vulnerabilities. It recently discovered a flaw that was already being exploited by hackers—making it the first known case of AI stopping a live cyberattack. This capability is now being extended to secure open-source software across the internet. On operational effectiveness, AI is reducing administrative burdens. In healthcare, it can cut doctor workload by up to 30%, freeing time for patient care. In finance, AI-powered tools like NotebookLM allow teams to analyze reports, videos, and audio files, extract insights, and even generate summaries in podcast form. Meanwhile, AI coding assistants are dramatically increasing developer productivity. Finally, AI is driving innovation and growth. Agentic AI—systems that can reason, access tools, and act autonomously—is helping financial advisors serve the “HENRYs” (High Earners, Not Rich Yet) at scale. By automating 60% of preparation work, advisors can focus on building relationships, not paperwork. Porat emphasized that success requires leadership, experimentation, and structured innovation. Google’s Labs model—small, agile teams running rapid sprints—has produced tools like NotebookLM. The key takeaway? AI is not a distant future—it’s here, and it’s already delivering value. With thoughtful leadership and a culture of curiosity, organizations can harness AI to drive efficiency, safety, and growth for years to come.