Artificial intelligence and other advances in technology are having a huge impact on every sector of human activity. New ways of researching, manufacturing, commercialising and delivering products and services appear every day, with more than a few paradigm-shifting technological breakthroughs seemingly on the horizon. The intersection of technology and medicine has always been an important one. The way we identify, diagnose and treat diseases is fundamentally linked to technology. In this article, I examine three key ways technology, and especially artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), are changing the face of Pharma.

We in pharma are all about improving our customer experience and customer engagement. A lot is being done in this area. However, if you really want to put your customer experience and customer engagement on steroids, you need to consider using AI in the process. For the past decade, pharma companies have employed one-to-many communications using social media in their customer engagement efforts. There is a great opportunity for companies to use conversational AI for ongoing customer engagement rather than just a one off transactional point in time. I mean conversations that use natural language with a conversational flow, not'Push 1 to discuss X, Push 2 to discuss Y' prompts.

I recently presented the plenary session at a pharma conference covering how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming pharma sales and marketing, I provided examples Eularis had completed for pharma client projects. Several of the attendees sent me emails afterwards wanting to know more about the specific examples I gave, which were as varied as our client needs. It was interesting to learn how few of these types of applications they were familiar with, and I thought the readers of my white papers would want to know about them, too. I've written about many of these topics before, and I'm including those links at the end of each section in case you are interested in digging deeper into a specific topic. According to Takeda Pharmaceuticals, the average time taken to diagnose a rare disease without technology is 7.6 years and comes after countless tests and physician visits. This creates a high cost to the healthcare system, not to mention much suffering for the patient. And some cases are even worse.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used by businesses around the world, in every industry and market. It is changing the way companies function at all levels and reshaping the relationship with the consumer. Businesses that make good use of AI see increases in efficiency and innovation, while those that fail to do so are being left behind. The proper implementation of AI in a business is no easy task. It requires knowledge and understanding, foresight and strategy.

Everyone is aware of AI now, and a lot of people are using it, but many are still sitting on the side lines wondering if it is relevant to them and if so, how to get started and get the value from it that they keep hearing about. The key things foremost in the minds of the non-users appear to be'I understand it can be beneficial for increasing productivity and generating faster revenue – but how?' and'Will it take my job?' I believe that the best way to think of AI is a tool that will save you time and allow you to do your job better to enable you to achieve better results and your company growth gets supercharged. AI is a powerful tool for helping people do a far better job by taking away the guesswork and being able to take in and process more data than a human could ever dream of, and then find the important patterns and connections that humans would miss due to being physically impossible to synthesize that level of data. Take strategic planning for example. I am currently involved with the most amazing piece of AI that actually combines data and does your strategic planning for you – more effectively than humans – and generates stronger results with real time constantly market monitoring.

We have the technology … We can make him better than he was. You may recognize that as the intro to The Six Million Dollar Man. But it could just as easily be about pharma sales reps. I've written before about how AI can make sales reps more productive. AI used across sales force functions from targeting to messaging to automating admin tasks will create stronger engagement, cut costs and help reps exceed their sales quotas.

Given consumers interact with a complex mix of touchpoints for brands, how seamlessly these integrate, and how immediate and personalized it is for them, will play a significant role in their success. A recent survey found that 64% of consumers and 80% of business buyers said they expect companies to respond to and interact with them in real time. With so many companies now employing sophisticated AI systems and Augmented Reality that provide a highly personalized and rich experience while providing customers with an immediate response, immediacy has become an integral part of creating a strong customer experience. Some companies have been creating immediacy options for almost a decade. Amazon created Mayday in 2013. This was a single click video chat solution with a tech support rep 24/7 that allowed real time interaction in which the customer could see the tech support person and the tech support person could see their screen to guide them what to do.

One thing I have heard a lot recently is the increased difficulty in getting heard above all the digital noise. This is in part because Covid-19 accelerated the digital journey of many companies. However, now there is so much digital marketing from pharmaceutical companies that the competition to get to the physician and the patient has intensified dramatically. I don't know about you, but I have so many webinars that I would love to attend but there just isn't enough time in the day. Pre-Covid, there were nowhere near as many and I could make time to attend the ones of interest as they were few and far between.

Pharmaceutical companies are set to benefit from intelligence on asthma as Aerobit, provider of a smart respiratory device, teams with artificial intelligence experts to unlock the potential of big data. To more effectively manage asthma care, Aerobit has introduced a smart inhaler which tracks medication use and records each time an inhaler is taken by an asthma patient. Patients receive reminders and alerts for their prescribed medical regime. Doctors are able to track treatment progress and compliance. In recognising the value of big data, Aerobit has teamed with artificial intelligence experts Eularis, to enable pharmaceutical companies to gain a deeper understanding of patient needs, drug efficacy and adherence, and real world data to drive accelerated growth for asthma drugs.