Christopher Khoury has built his career at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and policy, a perspective that shapes how he approaches strategy and insight. He began in electrical engineering and medical device development, but exposure to physiology and a personal loss anchored his long-term commitment to healthcare. Over time, his work expanded beyond products and research into understanding how systems, incentives, regulation, and people interact at scale. In this episode of The Curiosity Current, Christopher reflects on building and leading the Strategic Insights Group at the American Medical Association. When he joined the AMA more than a decade ago, there was no formal strategic insights function and little belief that new intelligence was needed. Credibility had to be earned. He explains how trust was built by saying yes to difficult questions, embedding the team in real business and policy work, and taking social-capital risks by showing up where insights had not previously been invited. The conversation explores why market intelligence in healthcare is uniquely complex. The customer is rarely a single person. Physicians, patients, payers, policymakers, and technology companies all influence outcomes, often with competing incentives. Christopher explains how frameworks and taxonomies help organize this complexity, while emphasizing the need for flexibility in a system shaped by constant change. Stephanie and Molly also discuss how relationships outside the organization strengthen insight quality. Christopher shares lessons from working with startups and cross-sector partners, using the aircraft carrier and speedboat analogy to describe the tension between institutional scale and startup speed. The episode closes with reflections on cross-training teams, approaching AI as a socio-technical system, and building long-term impact through curiosity, patience, mentoring, and relationships.

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