What do pharma leaders say about AI when the doors are closed?
Earlier this year, we brought together 31 senior pharma experts who are responsible for the deployment of AI initiatives, from companies including AstraZeneca, GSK, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Roche, UCB, Recursion and Relation Therapeutics. We asked them about how AI is forcing change in pharma R&D, how they are navigating this changing landscape, and strategic recommendations for those who are embedding AI into their pipeline.
Want to know what they said? Some of it may surprise you!
In this new intelligence report, ‘Designing for Scale: How AI is Forcing Change in Pharma R&D’, we present findings from the PharmAI Leaders Exchange.
This free to download resource is available exclusively to individuals working in the pharmaceutical sector, and includes a comprehensive review of the meeting’s outcomes, supplementary post-event interviews, and action points that you and your team can apply immediately.
If you work in the pharma industry, apply for a copy of the report here – please use your work email address:
Highlights from this report include:
- Expert insights on why strategy and organisational design now matter more than AI sophistication in R&D.
- Fresh views on data integration that favour enterprise-wide access over perfect harmonisation
- Practical advice for scaling local pilot successes into sustained, measurable impact.
- Guidance on shifting R&D metrics from activity-based to value-driven outcomes.
- Candid perspectives on why human factors, culture, and cross-disciplinary skills now drive AI adoption.
We would like to extend a huge thanks to our contributors:
Adrian Freeman, Executive Director, Head of Bioanalytics Biopharma Development, AstraZeneca
Aleix Lafita, Associate Director, Computational Biology, GSK
Alireza Moayyeri, Senior Director, Real World Evidence Global, UCB
Andrzej Nowojewski, Director, Machine Learning & AI, AstraZeneca
Basel Abu-Jamous, Director of Computational Biology, Nucleome Therapeutics
Becky Saunders, Associate Director, Computational Biology and Data Science, Tangram Therapeutics
David Ochoa, Open Targets Platform and Informatics Science Coordinator, EMBL-EBI
Elena Arciero, Director Computational Genomics, Relation Therapeutics
Elif Ozkirimli, Head of Computational Science Products, Roche
Fiona Behan, Scientific Director, Target Discovery, GSK
Francesco Tuveri, Senior Machine Learning Scientist, Astex Pharmaceuticals
Friederike Biermann, Computational Scientist Machine Learning, Sanofi
Gabriella Rustici, Head of R&D Data Science Skills and Partnerships, AstraZeneca
Harpreet Saini, Senior Director, Bioinformatics, Astex Pharmaceuticals
Ines De Santiago, Associate Director, Computational Discovery, Tangram Therapeutics
Ingrid Fernandez, Global Head of Strategy & GTM Programs, HPC, AI, and Industry Solutions, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Jana Broeker, Senior Scientific Officer, EMBL-EBI
Jonathan Mangion, Senior Director, Translational Bioinformatics, Data Science & AI, AstraZeneca
Karen Sayal, Honorary Consultant in Clinical Oncology, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Mani Mudaliar, Director, Quantitative Biomarkers, Recursion
Marta Milo, Director of Computational Biology – Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca
Martin Miller, Executive Director, Oncology Data Science, GSK
Matt Hall, Senior Scientific Officer in the Industry Partnerships Team, EMBL-EBI
Nikolina Nakic, VP & Head of Target Discovery, Novo Nordisk
Radha Krishnan, Executive Director, Head of Clinical Pathology, MSD
Radhika Khetani, Director, Data Science Learning/Academy, AstraZeneca
Sam Richardson, Associate Director, Machine Learning & AI, AstraZeneca
Sanjay Budhdeo, Neurology Registrar, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery and InnovateMD Fellow, London AI Centre for Value Based Healthcare
Tom Diethe, Executive Director, Head of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence, AstraZeneca
Victor Neduva, Head of Target Discovery & Disease Data, Roche
Yajing Zhu, Director, Computational RWE, ADI Data Science, Novo Nordisk
We hope you find this resource useful, and we would be grateful if you would share the download link with anyone in your organisation who may benefit from reading the report.
This report was compiled from a Leaders Exchange. What are Leaders Exchanges?
Our Leaders Exchange meetings bring together senior decision makers for candid, closed-door discussions and practical knowledge sharing. Sessions are moderated by senior industry leaders, and participants can share their insights on key challenges in their industry and practical solutions that other attendees can take away to their organisation immediately.
Here is just some of the feedback we received on our recent events:
‘The event was excellently organised with a wide variety of attendees from different backgrounds, which elevated the discussion. In particular, the contrasting experiences between biotech and larger pharma were incredibly interesting and it was useful to see different perspectives of the same problem.’ Attendee from GSK
‘A great way to get to know other pharma leaders operating in the intersection of biology and AI.’ Attendee from Tangram Therapeutics
‘Amazing panoramic view of the role of AI to generate value across the pharmaceutical industry from leaders across the sector.’ Attendee from EMBL-EBI
‘There was a lot of energy in the room, and it was great to hear insights from people from a variety of backgrounds’ Attendee from AstraZeneca
