Kenya’s health sector is set for revolution with the introduction of SERA.ai, an artificial intelligence tool designed to speed up the formulation and updating of how health policy is written.
Visortech Solutions and Yemaya Health Advisory launched the technology during a workshop in Nairobi that brought together Ministry of Health officials, policy experts, and other important stakeholders. Public health icon Dr. Nduku Kilonzo headlined the event by describing the tool as a “game-changer” in the country’s policy sphere.
“Kenya’s health policy-making has been for decades a slow, complicated process that tends to lag for months, even years,” added Dr. Kilonzo. “This tardiness typically causes our policies to fall behind the latest evidence, even in cases of epidemics, where interventions made in time can be life-saving.”
The Promise of SERA.ai
It is named after the Kiswahili word for “policy.” SERA.ai uses advanced large language models to search vast amounts of data, ranging from WHO databases and academic studies to Ministry of Health reports and stakeholder feedback. It then distills these into brief, evidence-based advice tailored to Kenya’s health priorities.
“This is not about replacing human judgment,” stated Dr. Kilonzo. “It’s about supplementing decision-making with timely, balanced insights that policymakers can trust.”
Among its key features, the platform allows upload of policy or research papers for analysis by users directly, offers automated source referencing for transparency, and in-built feedback mechanisms to improve with time.
The MVP1 version of the software has already received ethical approval from Strathmore University and is awaiting stakeholder testing.
The workshop highlighted how SERA.ai can help address some of Kenya’s biggest health policy challenges everything from antimicrobial resistance and pandemic readiness to maternal health, tuberculosis control, and even budgetary clearance.
“Whenever there are health emergencies like COVID-19, we all saw just how crucial it is to have timely evidence-based policies,” stated Dr. Kilonzo. “SERA.ai gives us a chance to be ahead of the game, ensuring our policies respond quickly to threats and solutions alike.”
Collaboration at the Core
The conference drew representatives from every corner of the healthcare ecosystem, from policymakers, researchers, and AI engineers to advocacy organizations and user experience designers.
That multi-stakeholder approach, organizers said, will be useful in streamlining the tool and having it play well within Kenya’s policy space.
Culture sensitivity and ethics are also core to the project. As Dr. Kilonzo explains, the team has built robust data security features and role-based access controls and made sure that the system accommodates Kenya’s cultural and social context.
Looking Ahead
SERA.ai has the potential to compress the policy cycle from years to mere months if it is adopted broadly. It also holds out the promise of more inclusive conversations, better integration of evidence, and increased alignment between stakeholders.
“This workshop is not only a rollout of technology,” Dr. Kilonzo said. “It’s about reimagining how we do health policy in Kenya making it faster, more open, and ultimately more accountable to the people we’re supposed to help.”
