How AI Is Redefining Medical Rosters—and Boosting Staff Wellbeing
RosterLab, a New Zealand-based health‑tech startup, slashes roster‑building time by 90%, giving clinicians more time for patient care.
Founded three years ago, RosterLab uses advanced mathematical optimisation to transform how hospitals build rosters.
“RosterLab is built to handle the complexity of healthcare scheduling. The rosterer must follow complex rules, minimise staff fatigue by distributing shifts fairly and ensuring adequate rest, and maintain optimal staffing levels based on patient demands all at once,” explains Sunny Feng, one of RosterLab’s co-founders.
Validating the Problem with Frontline Clinicians
Before developing their product, the team conducted extensive market validation, speaking with doctors and nurses from various hospitals to understand their rostering processes.
"Some have told us they’ve been building rosters in Excel for over a decade, and not much has changed," Feng says. "The process is still painfully manual and time-consuming. It’s difficult for a human to think through all the elements that go into a roster, and when a mistake is made, the impact can be huge.”
They’ve been building rosters in Excel for over a decade, and not much has changed.
AI-Powered Rostering, Built on Research
The underlying technology was built on PhD research by Feng’s co-founder, Isaac Cleland, which focused on optimising healthcare rostering.
RosterLab’s AI-powered platform transforms the rostering process. Staff enter their availability and preferences via a mobile app, which feeds directly into the system. The senior doctors or nurses who are responsible for the roster can then set parameters around staffing requirements and rules before generating optimised rosters that comply with union regulations while balancing everyone's requests.
By allowing staff to submit requests without worrying about breaking department-level rules, RosterLab’s solution has also improved engagement.
“We’ve been hearing things like, ‘Fewer staff quit or called in sick this month. People are actually getting the shifts they wanted,’” Feng says. “Staff on the roster feel more in control of their work-life balance. And that sense of being valued leads to stronger staff engagement.”
Community and Mentorship: The Backbone of RosterLab’s Growth
Feng credits much of RosterLab’s success to the support of New Zealand’s startup ecosystem, particularly the connections made after winning the Velocity competition in 2020.
“It’s really about the people you meet along the journey,” she says. “After winning Velocity, we joined Venture Lab and met Ken Erskine, who’s been our mentor ever since.”
That mentorship proved critical as the team tackled the complexities of building a company from the ground up.
The Ministry of Awesome also played a key role in RosterLab’s development, offering guidance and vital connections.
“At Ministry of Awesome, I had support from Jeffrey Ling and Zach Warder-Gabaldon,” Feng says. “I also met other founders, especially those with similar backgrounds and business models. Sharing ideas and experiences helped us navigate challenges that many early-stage startups face.”
Fuelled by Investment and Momentum
RosterLab recently closed a $1.75 million seed round led by Movac, an important milestone as the company prepares to scale. Feng describes the fundraising journey as exciting and rewarding.
“We’ve just doubled our team, and this is an exciting new chapter, all within a month,” Sunny says. “With more talent, we now have the capacity to meet growing demand in the Australian market and bring AI rostering to the wider world.”
Expanding Across Australia, With Eyes on the US
RosterLab is rapidly expanding across Australia. One of RosterLab’s recent wins includes partnering with Royal Perth Hospital in the AMU and ICU departments. Beyond that, the company is expanding into other hospitals across Western Australia, NSW, and VIC.
We typically start with one or two departments, and it’s amazing how fast word spreads - before long, we’re running demos for other departments in the same hospital,” Feng explains.
That grassroots momentum is powering RosterLab’s growth. With a strong foothold forming in Australia, the company now has its sights set on the United States.
We’ve poured our hearts into building software that’s not only functional but truly transformative.
Founder’s Journey: Learning on the Go
Sunny’s background in accounting, finance, and website design gave her a rare blend of analytical precision and creative problem-solving, an ideal foundation for building a startup from the ground up.
“We had to invent our own wheel because our technology is new and unique,” Feng says. “There’s no playbook to follow, no designs to copy. We spoke with every client to understand their challenges and how rostering should work. We’ve poured our hearts into building software that’s not only functional but truly transformative.”
“Running your own business is a completely different world,” she reflects. “But I’m deeply passionate about what we’re creating. Every now and then, we pause and think - Wow, look at how far we’ve come. It’s incredibly rewarding. And it’s a constant learning curve, no two days are ever the same.”