Stryker (NYSE: SYK) + announced today that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Care.ai.

Care.ai specializes in AI-assisted virtual care workflows, smart room technology and ambient intelligence solutions. Stryker officials believe the acquisition strengthens the company’s growing healthcare IT offering and wirelessly connected medical device portfolio.

Stryker said it continues to place emphasis on this segment as customers face nursing shortages, employee retention challenges, overworked and cognitively burdened staff and a rise in workplace safety concerns. CEO Kevin Lobo said last fall that Stryker targeted growth in connected care as a significant part of its strategy.

“I think there’s going to be an explosion of opportunities over the next 5–10 years around connected care using data and predictive algorithms,” Lobo said at The MedTech Conference in Anaheim, California last October. “There’s just a tremendous amount of excitement that I see around digital robotics, data and technology, so a lot of our innovations, even in orthopedics. If you walk through an orthopedic congress now, you used to look, and all you’d see before were implants everywhere. Now, all you see are robots and screens with pictures and all kinds of uses of data. These are the types of innovations that are going to be, I think, exploding.”

Lobo cited the 2022 acquisition of Vocera as a source of particular excitement there. The company today said Care.ai brings complementary technology that can integrate seamlessly with the Vocera platform and Stryker devices. This deal offers an enterprise-wide ecosystem with dynamic clinical workflows, the company said.

The acquisition remains subject to customary closing conditions. Both companies intend to operate as separate entities until the deal closes.

“This acquisition underscores our commitment and focus on our customers,” said Andy Pierce, group president, MedSurg and Neurotechnology, Stryker. “care.ai will help Stryker significantly accelerate our healthcare IT and digital vision to provide customers with real-time, smart and connected decision-making tools that enhance the lives of caregivers and their patients.”