Paper: Companion Animal Veterinary Software and AI

Part VIII analyzes PIMS market share across 1,273 practices and adds survey data from 20 innovators on API access, ecosystem openness, and the future of third-party veterinary software integration.

• Avimark leads North American PIMS share at 25.4% of practices, followed by Cornerstone at 19.5% and ezyVet at 16.5%
• On-premise PIMS still account for 56.9% of practices, while cloud platforms represent 43.1% and continue gaining ground
• ISVs rated the veterinary PIMS ecosystem 1.94 out of 5 for openness, with every respondent saying read and/or write-back access is important

Supplemental analysis from the Ayers Software in Practice Survey that extends Part VII with a cloud PIMS built-in scribe test, FTE-weighted market share, a Quebec adjustment, and an individual PIMS scribe share breakdown.

• VetRec's FTE-weighted clinical footprint reaches 14.8%, nearly triple its practice-weighted share
• Independent scribes capture 3x to 7x more users than bundled PIMS scribes, even on cloud platforms with built-in options
• No individual built-in PIMS scribe exceeds 1.9% of North American weighted share

Part VII presents the first comprehensive market data on AI scribe adoption in veterinary medicine, showing that usage is far higher than previously estimated, independent vendors dominate market share, and PIMS integration is becoming the next major workflow battleground.

• 47% of veterinary clinical staff personally use an AI scribe, and 50% of practices have at least one scribe user
• Independent scribe vendors hold roughly a 10-to-1 market share lead over PIMS-embedded scribe offerings
• The top independent scribes outperform PIMS-integrated options on satisfaction, with a much lower dissatisfaction rate
• Users increasingly want both read access to patient context and write-back of completed notes into the PIMS

Part VI presents the first survey-based chapter in the series, analyzing responses from 1,273 veterinary practices and showing strong customer demand for open read and write access between PIMS platforms and independent software vendors.

• 80% of practices rate read access from other software into the PIMS as important
• 75% rate write-back into the PIMS as important
• Customer demand centers on patient safety, workflow efficiency, AI scribe usability, and freedom to choose best-of-breed tools
• The paper argues practice consent, not PIMS vendor permission, should govern integration access

Part V compares veterinary PIMS interoperability with patterns in e-commerce, CRM, healthcare, and fintech, arguing that customer-consented API access strengthens systems of record instead of displacing them.

• Open APIs did not displace system-of-record providers in mature software markets
• Customer consent, not vendor permission, is the durable governance model
• Closed platforms push innovation into less safe and less auditable channels
• Veterinary PIMS can unlock ecosystem value by moving toward open interoperability

Part IV breaks down the PIMS into its database (systems of record vs contributory databases) and application layer, and argues that AI will reshape workflows while the enduring moat becomes governance and trust.

• Systems of record vs contributory databases: what must stay authoritative
• AI will replace/evolve the application layer; governance persists
• The moat shifts from UI to trust, auditability, and agent-safe boundaries
• Incumbents face pressure from horizontal AI platforms and enterprise groups

Part III surveys emerging categories of AI-enabled software reshaping how practices operate, communicate, and deliver care, and reinforces why PIMS interoperability determines how much value clinics can capture.

• AI innovation presents an enormous opportunity for veterinary medicine
• AI is also coming to your clients (and your competitors) fast
• Start now, sequentially and strategically
• PIMS are a gating factor and market pressure is building

Industry feedback and post-conference insights validating the openness thesis, introducing agentic engineering, and outlining why agent-native platforms and practice-controlled data access are becoming essential.

• PIMS openness thesis validated by market feedback
• Agentic engineering and veterinarian-built tools
• AI reduces pressure for single-PIMS standardization
• Strategic imperative: enable innovation, do not gatekeep it

A 2026 landscape view of companion animal practice challenges, consumer AI behavior, PIMS as system of record, and why integration quality determines whether AI reduces work or adds admin.

• Consumer AI and what it changes for clinics
• PIMS switching disruption and integration readiness
• AI-assisted radiology as a case study for expanded care