New paper: how AI is reshaping veterinary workflows, and why open PIMS APIs and interoperability are key to reducing clinic burden.
ORLANDO, FL, UNITED STATES, January 19, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — A new paper, Companion Animal Veterinary Software: Part I, Navigating the Challenges with Support of Technology and AI, has been published to help veterinary practice leaders and veterinary software stakeholders understand how fast-moving AI capabilities are reshaping client expectations, clinical workflows, and the software ecosystem that supports companion animal care.
Authored by Jonathan Ayers, Jeffrey Dixon, Adam Little, and Adam Wysocki, the paper outlines practical, near-term strategies for practices to stay competitive and deliver better client experiences without unnecessary disruption, while also highlighting structural changes needed across the veterinary software market to enable sustainable innovation.
“The veterinary profession faces real headwinds—four years of declining visits, prices up 45%, and pet owners consulting AI before they call the clinic. But the path forward isn’t necessarily a disruptive PIMS switch. It’s demanding that software providers open their systems to innovation.” said Jon Ayers, co-author.
Here’s what surprised us: we expected AI to replace specialists, but the evidence shows it’s expanding care and increasing demand for veterinary expertise. That’s the kind of counterintuitive finding that should reshape how practices and vendors think about 2026. This paper lays out the evidence and exactly how to act on it.”
What the paper covers
The paper focuses on three connected themes:
• Consumer AI and the shifting “first touch” in pet health, including how practices can maintain trust and elevate communication as pet owners increasingly arrive with AI-informed questions.
• The veterinary PIMS marketplace, including the operational realities of switching core systems, data conversion complexity, and the growing importance of integration readiness.
• AI-assisted veterinary radiology as a case study, showing how AI can expand capacity and utilization while reinforcing the veterinarian’s role as the clinical decision-maker.
Key takeaways
• Veterinary practices can often modernize without replacing their core system, but only if the ecosystem can “play together” through reliable integrations.
• The ability for tools to write back the PIMS as the “systems of record” is increasingly critical, especially as AI tools move from “insight” to “workflow execution.”
• Without robust interoperability, practices risk inheriting workaround-heavy workflows that increase burden (for example, copy/paste documentation and redundant data entry) rather than reducing it.
• Market pressure is rising for platforms to support partner ecosystems in a way that is secure, predictable, and scalable.
Why interoperability, and open APIs, now matter more than ever
The paper emphasizes a practical distinction: AI tools only create durable value when they can reduce work inside real clinic workflows. If outputs cannot flow into the medical record and operational workflows through stable, permissioned write-back, practices often end up with more steps, not fewer steps.
As a result, the authors encourage veterinary software buyers to evaluate PIMS platforms not only for workflow fit, but also for integration readiness, including whether the platform provides an open, well-governed API with read and write access aligned to modern automation and AI use cases.
Availability
The paper is available at: vetsoftwarehub.com/veterinary-software-ai-paper-p1.pdf
(Part II in the series is planned and will expand on ecosystem strategy, platform approaches, and software selection implications.)
About the Authors
Jonathan Ayers, Jeffrey Dixon, Adam Little, and Adam Wysocki are independent advisors working at the intersection of veterinary medicine, business operations, and technology. Their work focuses on practical strategies that improve outcomes for veterinary teams and the pet owners they serve.
Adam W Wysocki
VetSoftwareHub
+1 908-758-3181
email us here
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