
After helping turn surgical robotics, intravascular lithotripsy and operating-room telepresence into working markets, Daniel Hawkins has chosen a quieter bottleneck: the MRI scanner itself. His method is consistent - find the constraint, simplify the experience, and build until adoption feels natural.
Vista AI (formerly HeartVista) builds AI software that automates MRI exams so any technologist can capture consistent, high-quality scans without a specialist on site. Spun out of Stanford's Magnetic Resonance Systems Research Lab in 2012, its FDA-cleared cardiac MRI product turns a manual, expert-dependent procedure into a largely automated one, and the company is expanding into brain, prostate and spine imaging. Backed by Khosla Ventures and a roster of major U.S. health systems, Vista AI positions automation as a fix for the gap between soaring MRI demand and a shortage of skilled technologists.