Based in San Francisco, Ambience Healthcare uses AI tools to cut down on paperwork so clinicians can spend more time caring for patients.
Founded in 2020 by Mike Ng and Nikhil Buduma in San Francisco, Ambience Healthcare creates AI that records patient visits, writes notes, handles billing codes, and summarizes patient info. Their tools work with Epic, Cerner, and other systems in over 100 specialties across offices, ERs, and hospitals, helping ease clinician burnout.
“Ambient” AI runs quietly in the background, capturing details effortlessly. The company has grown fast and now supports groups like UCSF Health, St. Luke’s, John Muir Health, and Memorial Hermann in real healthcare settings.
How They Lead
Mike Ng and Nikhil Buduma lead by staying involved and putting people first while delivering reliable AI solutions. Their culture encourages a safe space where everyone feels comfortable sharing ideas. Team members like Brendan Fortuner and Emma Chiu show values like kindness, curiosity, and teamwork.
They hire people who take ownership, stay humble, and challenge the status quo. Their flat structure builds trust and supports their goal of clear, accountable healthcare. Leaders combine tech skills with insights from nurses and doctors on their team.
Hands-On Experience
The founders bring real AI and medical experience to cut down paperwork. Their AI scribe reduces documentation time by 78% on average and brings 7 to 17 times return on investment within weeks. Doctors start using it fully after just one shift. It drafts compliant notes and quickly flags codes, speeding up ER and clinic workflows while handling complex cases like women’s health and inpatient care.
Health systems see less burnout and better focus on patients. Early funding of $30 million and a $243 million Series C round in 2025 from Kleiner Perkins and Andreessen Horowitz helped support steady growth.
Major Wins
Ambience Healthcare led the way in fully automated AI medical notes, now trusted nationwide with top EHR integrations and support for over 100 specialties in many settings.
The $243 million Series C funding shows their strong impact. Customers like UCSF value detailed data capture and relief from paperwork. Their inpatient tools include feedback from top clinicians, offering quick ROI, big time savings, and lasting use.
Their platform turns busy visits into clear notes, auto-codes bills to protect revenue, and creates patient summaries for smooth handoffs. Daily charts and audits become faster and error-free.
Doctors complete notes in minutes, see more patients, and feel less stressed. Teams get seamless data for research and planning. The AI adapts to different voices and workflows, maintaining accuracy even under pressure, enabling smoother operations.
Their Guiding Style
Ambience Healthcare feels human, warm, and supportive to frontline workers. Ng and Buduma promote “restoring humanity to healthcare” by offering work-life benefits and truly listening to feedback and trials.
Curiosity sparks innovation, kindness builds strong teams, and urgency improves systems. Beyond the code, their AI empowers doctors and gives patients a stronger voice in thoughtful, fast-moving health technology.
What’s Next
Ambience plans to grow its coding, summaries, and workflow tools with better EHR integrations and new care areas, while keeping clinicians in charge. New funding will help them reach more systems and specialties to reduce burnout on a bigger scale.
Their vision lets AI handle the boring tasks so professionals can thrive. User-driven improvements ensure real growth, with a wider 2026 rollout showing AI’s power to improve healthcare.
