How life sciences CIOs can make the most of GenAI investments

In addition, life sciences CIOs’ optimism is being reflected in their budgetary decisions. Almost eight in 10 (79%) of them expect to allocate 5% to 25% of their tech budget toward GenAI spend for the next two years.

Also of note is the sector’s heightened focus on R&D. Life sciences CIOs are expected to invest 5% more in R&D, compared with the overall respondent pool. This strategic investment, which speaks to the role of breakthrough innovations in driving business, can help companies better navigate the sector’s prolonged product development cycles. Boosting this investment will also help companies meet the imperative of improving R&D productivity.

Stepping up capabilities

When it comes to strengthening their organizations’ GenAI capabilities, life sciences CIOs are primarily depending on acquisitions and partnerships rather than building these competencies in-house. Of the CIOs who see GenAI as enhancing their organizations, 55% are looking to acquire a GenAI-based software platform or business and 69% are interested in partnering with a third party.

Partnerships and acquisitions put companies in a better position to focus on their core competencies, which leads to faster progress toward achieving their business goals. These approaches also help organizations address GenAI skill set gaps.

The importance of alignment

More than one-third (38%) of life sciences CIOs identify revenue generation as the main reason for their organizations’ GenAI deployment. However, plans for investments in the technology may not seem aligned with that objective: Only 23% plan to focus these investments on front office functions that can drive the ability to capture revenue. And only 36% are pursuing GenAI use cases involving software development even though the technology can help software developers identify more patterns that may lead to additional revenue-generating insights.

If the main objective is revenue generation, organizations will need to shift gears to align their GenAI investments accordingly. These investments must reflect a stronger focus on enhancing front office functions, such as sales and marketing, which have a significant role in impacting organizations’ ability to capture revenue.

But sales and marketing aren’t the only front office functions that can benefit from GenAI. Chatbots and virtual assistants powered by artificial intelligence (AI) can provide 24/7 support to health care professionals and patients, offering information on drug interactions, side effects and usage guidelines, thus improving customer service and engagement.

Alignment from a cultural standpoint is also critical. According to 43% of life sciences CIOs, cultural misalignment is among the top challenges they face during the M&A lifecycle, after cybersecurity risk (58%) and data integration (46%).

However, there seems to be a trend toward unified leadership in AI strategy. Sixty-one percent of life sciences CIOs are primarily supported by their chief data officers, highlighting strong leadership alignment in AI initiatives. This is especially critical given that most of these CIOs have planned significant tech budget allocations toward GenAI in the coming years.

The need for governance

Life sciences CIOs are instrumental in driving the integrity and security of the data being used by AI to generate insights, as well as ensuring the ethical use of these insights.

Because AI-generated insights are derived from the data used to train the models, organizations must prioritize their data’s integrity and security while addressing potential biases. This starts with implementing the right governance frameworks and policies (see the “Strengthening data governance” section below).

A comprehensive approach to data governance can also address another hot topic in the GenAI realm — ethical use of data. This is an especially vital practice given the highly sensitive nature of the personal data that is regularly exchanged for everything from R&D to clinical trials. And in a highly regulated sector like life sciences, the need for regulatory compliance with data privacy standards adds to the importance of practicing responsible AI.

Vital next steps

To position their organizations to optimize their GenAI investments, CIOs must prioritize the following critical goals:

Fostering organizational AI alignment

To drive cohesive progress and maximize the impact of technological advances, companies need a unified vision concerning AI and technology across all parts of the organization. An organization’s leaders and non-leaders must be on the same page so that everyone works toward the same AI objectives. This alignment also makes it easier to create a consistent, organization-wide strategy.

However, the survey revealed a disconnect between how life sciences CIOs and their organizations view technology when it comes to driving growth. Many of the organizations do not seem to share their CIOs’ belief that technology is the leading driver of growth.

In addition, change management has a significant role in organizational alignment. This is how companies can implement GenAI initiatives smoothly so that they pave the way for long-term value delivery and alignment with the organization’s strategic objectives. The organization needs a change management approach that addresses all aspects of the GenAI transformation — human, operational and cultural.

In life sciences and other fields that rely heavily on technological advances, an organizational culture that promotes innovation is a must-have. Because technology is constantly evolving, the organization must drive continuous learning and adaptability within its people if it wants to keep up with all the developments. Only then can the collaborative pursuit of breakthrough solutions extend across the entire organization.

Strengthening data governance

By implementing robust data governance frameworks, life sciences companies can drive the integrity, security and ethical use of AI-generated insights. Doing so would also help them protect the quality of their data, a critical element in driving AI model performance and informed decision-making. Data governance policies must include validation processes to maintain the integrity of data through its lifecycle.

Robust security measures, including encryption and regular security audits, are a critical part of protecting sensitive data from unauthorized access and breaches.

And strategies to mitigate biases in data sets must be developed so that companies can avoid discriminatory outcomes. Regular reviews and diverse data sources can also help in reducing bias.

Accelerating GenAI adoption

A company can’t establish itself as a trailblazer with the potential to shape the industry if it is lagging in its use of GenAI. As the use of GenAI continues to grow, and as this technology continues its rapid evolution, adopting it with urgency is key to keeping an organization at the head of the market.

This starts with developing a tailored GenAI adoption strategy that’s aligned with the organization’s unique goals, yielding impactful outcomes and streamlining infrastructure upgrades.

Businesses should also prioritize GenAI projects with the highest potential ROI. This makes it easier to confirm that the organization’s financial resources are being used to drive growth and profitability.

In addition, for organizations that adopted GenAI primarily to generate revenue, investments in the technology should mostly focus on front office functions, such as customer service and sales, which impact organizations’ ability to capture revenue. However, companies also need to allocate some of their investment dollars to R&D since breakthrough innovations are so important to the business.

In closing

In life sciences, promptly embracing GenAI is not an option; it’s a strategic imperative that can make or break an organization’s future. And with their strong optimism about technology’s impact on their businesses, life sciences CIOs are not just participants in the GenAI revolution — they are its champions, driving progress toward a future where technology and human ingenuity intersect in the pursuit of breakthroughs that will change lives. By driving organizational alignment when it comes to GenAI, facilitating a strong data governance approach and speeding up adoption of the technology, CIOs will position their organizations to fully reap the benefits GenAI can drive.

Daniel McCarthy, Senior Director at EY-Parthenon, also contributed to the writing of this article.