By the FL Innovation News editorial team · Entrepreneurship
Dr. Severence MacLaughlin’s journey to founding DeLorean AI is anything but typical. Raised on a farm in Rhode Island, he now leads one of the most innovative healthtech companies in the country, using predictive AI to improve outcomes for patients with chronic conditions like kidney disease and depression. In this Q&A, Dr. MacLaughlin opens up about the lessons that shaped him, why Florida is the perfect launchpad for his mission, and how DeLorean AI is helping healthcare providers make smarter, faster, and potentially life-saving decisions.
1. You’ve gone from a farm in Rhode Island to the forefront of predictive AI in healthcare. What inspired your journey, and how did that early background shape your approach to innovation?
If you had told me back then where I’d end up, I never would have believed it. Growing up on a farm, the most academically accomplished person I ever met was our veterinarian, Dr. Kaplan. He inspired me. I was always a geek, and he instilled in me that no one could ever take away what you learn. That stuck with me.
Originally, I wanted to become a vet. My parents pushed hard work and grit, my dad told me I could have anything I wanted if I was willing to work for it. Over time, my path shifted, but those lessons stuck. Being a founder is tough. Things never go as planned. If it were easy, everyone would do it. I knew that to develop meaningful medical AI, I couldn’t do it within the walls of a company, I had to go out and build it myself.
2. DeLorean AI’s mission is “turning data into life saving decisions.” What does that look like in practice, especially when it comes to conditions like kidney disease or depression?
Today, it’s easy to answer that, but three years ago, I couldn’t. Back then, a senior VP at Anthem asked me, “How do you measure health outcomes and savings?” At the time, we weren’t working directly at the point of care. Now we are. For example, we’ve reduced hospitalizations for dialysis patients by 27% in just 90 days, and by 50% over a year. That’s a huge win for both lives saved and cost reduction. One in 11 dialysis hospitalizations results in death. We’re also able to identify chronic kidney disease up to five years earlier and prevent its progression by as much as 20 years.
Depression was never a focus for us until a client asked us to explore it. I didn’t realize how deeply mental health impacts conditions like kidney disease or cardiovascular health, especially around medication adherence. Now, we use AI to help healthcare providers objectively determine the stage of depression, reducing over- and under-medication. Our technology helps clinicians adjust dosages faster, predict disease progression, and ultimately improve outcomes.
3. You’ve been vocal about moving AI out of the ‘science project’ phase. What’s the biggest barrier stopping organizations from adopting AI that actually drives ROI?
There’s a lot to unpack. Between 2015 and 2019, most companies were outsourcing “ML” projects to consultants and renting talent through system integrators. Then, around 2019, they started trying to build internal AI teams, but they made a critical mistake: leadership often placed AI and data science under the CIO or CTO, who weren’t experts in the field. That led to hiring analysts instead of people who truly understood AI.
By 2024, the mindset started shifting. Companies realized AI isn’t their core business and that they didn’t have the right internal talent to build these systems. So now we’re seeing a shift to buying AI platforms rather than building them from scratch.
At this point, if a company hasn’t started its AI journey, that’s a problem…the train has left the station. The good news is that executive teams no longer need to be convinced that AI matters; the challenge now is internal alignment on what to fund and who leads it. This is especially true for public companies and large healthcare insurers like the Blues, which often still believe they can develop these technologies in-house.
On the other hand, private equity–backed and family-owned companies move more decisively. They see the ROI, make an executive decision, and fund both the purchase and implementation. That’s been my observation over the past decade.
4. Florida is now home to DeLorean AI. What drew you to the state, and how do you see its role in the national healthtech and AI innovation landscape?
That’s an easy one. I love the Free State of Florida. Great weather, business-friendly, and people who genuinely want you to succeed. It might sound like common sense, but after living in the Northeast, the contrast is stark, even something like dealing with the DMV is easier here.
We avoid hiring in certain states due to heavy regulatory burdens. Florida, by contrast, is shaping up to be the next Silicon Valley or Cambridge-style tech hub. Tampa, Miami, and Orlando are bursting with talent, capital, and strong incubators (shoutout to Tampa Bay Wave!). The universities are producing strong grads, and with an aging population, the healthcare need is massive. Governor DeSantis and the state government have done a phenomenal job and we’re grateful for that.
5. What’s a common misunderstanding people have about predictive AI in medicine and how is DeLorean AI helping shift that narrative?
It’s changed over time. When we launched DeLorean AI in 2019, only about 25–33% of healthcare professionals trusted AI. Now, that number is close to 70%. Bessemer Venture Partners recently said that “AI in healthcare is an overnight success that took decades” which couldn’t be more true.
The general public is more familiar with AI now, thanks to tools like OpenAI, that “Netscape moment” has made AI feel less intimidating and more tangible.
DeLorean AI brings predictive medical insights right to the point of care. We surface information a human brain couldn’t process in seconds, allowing physicians and nurses to practice at the top of their license. Our AI is proactive, not reactive, detecting chronic diseases up to five years earlier, extending lives, and reducing costs. And we have the peer-reviewed data to back it up.
My favorite analogy? Think of a flight from Miami to New York, would you rather have just the pilot, just the computer, or both? I’ll take both. That’s what DeLorean AI offers doctors, the best of human judgment, backed by the smartest technology.
