Schmidt Group Updates | September 2026

Medical Device/MedTech in 2026: Consolidation, AI, and a War for Talent

The medical device industry is having a busy 2026. Total sector value is on track to approach $6 trillion by year-end, but growth is uneven — only about a quarter of companies report genuinely profitable growth, and that gap is reshaping how firms compete, hire, and lead.

Consolidation is accelerating. Boston Scientific's $14.5 billion acquisition of Penumbra set the tone for the year, and analysts expect the deal-making to continue. At the same time, several large players — Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson, and Philips among them — are moving in the opposite direction, spinning off business units into leaner, more focused independent companies. For executive teams, that means two very different playbooks are running simultaneously: integration leadership for the acquirers, and stand-up leadership for the spinoffs. Both require executives who've done it before.

AI is moving from pilot to infrastructure. Beyond AI-enabled devices themselves, companies are leaning on AI to speed up real-world evidence generation, sharpen regulatory submissions, and support clinical decision-making. Surgical robotics is a proof point — Intuitive Surgical's dominance is being tested by Medtronic and a wave of smaller entrants pushing into soft-tissue systems and cardiac applications. The result is more R&D roles that sit at the intersection of software, data science, and clinical practice.

The talent story is the one to watch. MedTech is now competing directly with Big Tech for software engineers, data scientists, and AI specialists — and mostly losing on compensation. That's pushing the industry toward a multidisciplinary hiring model: innovation "pods" that blend clinical experts, engineers, UX designers, and regulatory professionals, plus a new class of hybrid roles — Clinical Product Owner, Biomedical Systems Integrator, Human Factors Data Analyst — that didn't exist five years ago. Leadership is the bottleneck: companies increasingly need executives who are fluent in both clinical and technical worlds, and who can hold together teams with genuinely different professional cultures and incentives.

The bottom line: whether a company is integrating an acquisition, standing up a spinoff, or racing to keep pace on AI, the constraint is rarely capital or technology — it's finding leaders who've operated at that intersection before. That's likely to be the defining recruiting challenge of the next several years in this sector.

Other MedTech News:

Boston Scientific says unlikely to meet 2026 sales, profit forecast after cyberattack

95% vs. 53%: The Sleep Metric That Launched Oura Into Court

Top medtech executive moves in 2026

From MultiCare to Trinity Health: 5 major layoffs kick off September

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Proven Field-Based Clinical Education & Adoption Leader

Field-based clinical education and commercial adoption leader with 20+ years across medical device and healthcare organizations, including Inspire Medical Systems and Medtronic.
Demonstrated long-term success and career progression within two companies over 20+ years, consistently promoted from field clinical roles into national program and education leadership.
Led development and execution of 10+ national education programs, increasing HCP engagement by 40% and improving program ROI by 25% through data-driven refinements.
Designed and launched national onboarding and certification programs, accelerating new hire readiness by 30% and improving training comprehension scores by 20%.
Standardized training frameworks and Care Pathway adoption strategy across regions; coached and developed field personnel in clinical troubleshooting, provider engagement, and procedural execution.
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Ingredients:

2 tablespoons warm water (105°F)
1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
2 teaspoons of vegetable shortening
1 tablespoon sugar (plus a pinch for yeast proofing)
3 tablespoons whole milk
1 large egg white

3 tablespoons of boiling water
1 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour (plus extra for rolling)
pinch of salt
2 cups of neutral oil for frying
1 cup powdered sugar

Instructions:

First, heat the water to 105°F in a small bowl.
Add the yeast and a pinch of sugar to the water. Stir to dissolve. Let it sit and confirm the yeast is active---it will foam. If it does not foam, throw it out and start over.
Meanwhile, combine the shortening, sugar, milk, and egg white in a small cup. Whisk together well, then add the boiling water. Test the temperature of this mixture, and when it's between 105-110°, add it to the foamy yeast mixture. Stir well.
Add the flour and salt to the bowl and stir gently to combine. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 1 hour. You can make the dough ahead of time up to this point. I have kept dough for 3 days in the fridge before frying, and it's fine.
Heat the oil in a deep pot to 360°F.
Meanwhile, divide the dough in half, and roll it out on a floured counter into a square about 6" wide. Use a pizza wheel to cut it small squares.
When the oil is at 360°, drop in 3 squares of dough. Do not walk away. The first side fries for 1-2 minutes. When golden brown on one side, flip the squares using a fork and continue to fry. When that side is golden brown (about 1 minute more), remove from the oil onto a cooling rack lined with paper towels.
Roll out the other half of the dough, cut into squares, and fry all the squares.
After cooling for about 5 minutes, dunk the beignets into the powdered sugar. Serve with all the extra powdered sugar piled on top.