Harrison.ai laid off Australian staff as US doctor venture became growth plan

Harrison.ai laid off Australian employees and moved into hiring doctors for a US teleradiology venture after a $32 million federal investment meant to keep the health AI startup based in Australia, according to ABC News.

Best known for AI tools that help doctors interpret radiology scans, Harrison.ai is now building Frontier Radiology, a US clinical-services business described in job advertisements as a core part of its 2026 growth plans.

The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation invested in Harrison.ai during a 2025 fundraising round. NRFC chair Martijn Wilder said at the time the funding would “ensure that the company continues to base its operations in Australia”, ABC reported.

Australian employees were told in April that Harrison.ai would consult for a week before deciding which staff to lay off, according to an internal document seen by ABC. At least two employees posted on LinkedIn in May that their roles had been made redundant.

The fund told ABC it knew about the layoffs and remained confident in Harrison.ai’s commitment to growing globally while remaining based in Australia. It described the company as moving from product development to commercialising and embedding its technology, changing the skills and roles it needed.

Harrison.ai also outlined a structure in which each employee would oversee AI agents. Matt Geleta, its director of AI operations and enablement, acknowledged in a June interview cited by ABC that some employees had chosen to leave because they wanted more traditional working environments.

Frontier describes itself as an independent medical practice affiliated with Harrison.ai, which supplies administrative, operational and technology support, according to ABC’s account of its website. Its recruitment pay calculator assumes doctors using the technology will be 30 per cent more productive and offers a 25 per cent individual bonus for extra work attributed to AI assistance.