Two-thirds of pharma companies plan to up IT investments in 2024, survey finds

Two out of three pharma companies (67%) plan to ramp up investment in IT, including AI, over the next 12 months, according to a survey from the cloud vendor Rackspace Technology and Dell/VMware conducted in October 2023.

About the same amount, 68%, reported challenges in recruiting and hiring talent skilled in cloud and AI technology. Among the most challenging roles to fill were 5G specialists (47%), data analysts (44%), data scientists (38%) and cybersecurity experts (33%).

AI offering tangible gains

On a positive note, generative AI tools appear to have helped convince pharma businesses of the potential of AI. Approximately 68% of pharma businesses identified pervasive AI as the technological trend with the highest potential impact on their business/market environment, according to the survey, which involved 1,420 IT cross-industry professionals.

Gartner notes that many life science firms are already exploring the use of generative AI to help create reports and regulatory documents, summarize publications in medical affairs, and generate market performance insights. In drug discovery, some companies are tapping the technology to help identify novel targets. The analyst firm expects that the trend could gain steam as generative AI capabilities are natively integrated in a greater number of technology products and services, including in life sciences. Generative AI tools potential to automate a substantial portion of programming — 30% to 40% in Gartner’s estimate — could bolster informatics and analytics in the life science sector, given the current prevalence of “high code” technology and bespoke legacy systems in the sector. The analyst firm, in its Hype Cycle for Life Science Clinical Development, 2023 report, projects mainstream adoption of generative AI tools over the next two to five years preceded by an initial phase of exploration and experimentation.

Cloud also fueling efficiency gains

And while the pharma sector may be in a relatively early phase of digital transformation, the Rackspace Technology survey found that almost one out of two firms (46%) are already seeing gains in process efficiency thanks to the public cloud. Additionally, 39% reported faster testing of new products and 37% had achieved reduced IT spending.

Similarly, private cloud adoptions helped 49% craft personalized customer journeys. In a similar vein, earlier McKinsey’s research has highlighted the importance of rethinking the end-to-end customer journey, especially digital interactions. For instance, a pharma company could use a cloud-based system to provide a digital companion app for patients to offer personalized medication reminders, custom educational content, and a direct line for queries to healthcare professionals. Such a cloud-enabled app could also dynamically adapt its content and recommendations based on patient feedback and interactions.

In addition to facilitating personalized healthcare experiences, the Rackspace survey also found 47% of respondents reported private cloud adoption helped them create new revenue streams, and 38% reported improved ease of use for customers. “In the cloud arena, the increased focus on edge and private cloud indicate that organizations are simultaneously migrating more of their critical workloads while adopting a more sophisticated approach to their overall cloud infrastructure,” noted Jeff DeVerter, chief technology evangelist, Rackspace Technology, in a press release.

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Filed Under: Uncategorized
Tagged With: AI drug discovery, artificial intelligence, Biotechnology Trends, drug development, Gartner, Innovation in Healthcare, pharma R&D, pharmaceutical industry, Rackspace
 

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