Aktana, the leader in intelligent customer engagement for the global life sciences industry, reports new indicators of a shift in artificial intelligence (AI) implementation strategy in commercial life sciences. Notably, Aktana crossed a milestone of 30 million next-best-engagement (NBE) suggestions, including an unprecedented 45% increase in AI-driven omnichannel actions, directly impacting the customer experience of more than 700,000 healthcare professionals in 2021 alone. Leading pharmaceutical companies are now scaling AI capabilities simultaneously across multiple geographies, therapeutic areas and brands rather than taking a market-by-market approach. "Rather than just validating the value of AI, life sciences commercial and medical teams are now realizing the value of AI – in a big way" LEO Pharma, for instance, is expanding use of Aktana's Contextual Intelligence 360 platform across multiple European countries and Canada. "We want to leverage the power of AI to better support healthcare professionals with relevant information when they need it throughout the omnichannel journey," said Marc Tàpies Llobet, senior director, commercial excellence in the EU at LEO. "The rollout of Aktana's solution globally is also key to increase the effectiveness of all our commercial teams with helpful next-best-action suggestions and insights."

Aktana's Clay Hausmann recently had a chance to chat with Edouard, who has dedicated the last three years to reimagining and recasting the organization's commercial model to be both customer-centric and unafraid of change. Prior to Grünenthal, Edouard spent 12 years shaping and delivering global strategy at AstraZeneca, in Japan and the UK. He also brings a background in banking and tech startup companies. This unique mélange of experience gives Edouard a unique perspective on the business of marketing and what needs to change for commercial success in life sciences. Clay Hausmann: Let's start with the term "customer-centric" and what it means, specifically in terms of AI.

The Delivery Consultant at Aktana translates business needs into requirements and design of the Aktana solution, ensuring the customer's business and functional requirements are met. They use exceptional analytical skills and knowledge to deliver operational value. The ideal candidate has a strong background in developing and managing business requirements and conducting statistical analysis. The Delivery Consultant is expected to drive requirements gathering and documentation and to make sure that business and functional requirements are met. The role is critical to the delivery team and will engage frequently in collaboration with Delivery Engineers to match business requirements with technical designs, and to ensure that the eventual system fully meets expectations.

Alan Kalton, Vice President and General Manager of Aktana Europe, is a leader in data analytics and manages all new Contextual Intelligence implementations and developments across Europe. He comes to Aktana from Cape Town, South Africa where he led a data analytics venture called BroadReach and prior was the Analytics Leader of EY in South Africa. He also held prominent executive leadership positions in data analytics at IBM, Elsevier, Cognizant, Steris, Novartis, GSK, and ZS Associates. He graduated with a BS and MSc of industrial and operations engineering from the University of Michigan. Kalton can be reached at alan.kalton@aktana.com.