Pharmaceutical leaders are navigating one of the most profound shifts the sector has ever faced. AI is changing how knowledge is generated and decisions are made. It’s even reshaping the working culture of organisations and teams.
And as AI more firmly roots itself into working life, a clear pattern is emerging. The organisations making the fastest progress generally aren’t defined by access to better models of bigger budgets. What separates them is mindset and leadership.
In our whitepaper, Beyond the Algorithm: How Pharmaceutical Leaders Can Navigate Cultural Transformation in the Age of AI, we explore seven core mindset shifts that enable breakthroughs with AI. They are observable behaviours that determine whether AI becomes embedded into the fabric of an organisation, or remains confined to isolated pilots. Together, they can provide the starting point for a meaningful, scalable transformation.
1. Let go of the past
AI exposes legacy assumptions faster than maybe any previous wave of change. Long-standing habits around risk, control, data ownership, and hierarchy, for example, can emerge as friction points.
In response, leaders must be willing to challenge deeply embedded norms and allow and even encourage their teams to do the same. This means really interrogating processes that once served the organisation well, but which may now be limiting collaboration and the ability to respond quickly when circumstances change.
In essence, breakthrough change when it comes to AI begins when leaders successfully shift the context.
2. Develop breakthrough ambition
Incremental goals generally only produce incremental behaviour change, but maximising the transformative potential of AI requires something different.
Breakthrough ambition creates a new vantage point. It encourages leaders and their teams to move beyond cautious optimisation and instead reimagine what’s possible when human expertise is amplified by AI.
It essentially re-frames ambition and widens the scope of what’s possible. In turn, this shifts decision-making. People begin acting in service of a future that feels bold and compelling, rather than simply maintaining the present. But first, you need to…
3. Declare a bold and believable future
Setting ambition internally is one thing, but declaring it clearly and confidently is quite another. The language we used shapes reality inside organisations. When leaders articulate a compelling future, they begin to align team’s energy, focus, and accountability around it.
A declared vision provides orientation during uncertainty. In turn, this sense of forward direction galvanises teams and makes clear why experimentation matters, why collaboration needs to increase, and why speed of adaption is a key competitive advantage in the age of AI.
4. Engage people in the future you’re building
Like any kind of major change, AI transformation can’t be imposed on teams. It requires genuine engagement and back and forth. As new technologies re-shape roles and ways of working, uncertainty will naturally arise. Concerns needs to be addressed openly.
The full buy-in and engagement that a successful AI transformation demands will only happen when people understand their role in the bigger picture. When people see how their contribution connects to a meaningful purpose, ownership increases, and momentum generates.
5. Cut through the organisational DNA
Every organisation carries behavioural patterns that operate beneath the surface and shape how work gets done. This can be a positive thing, but without really understanding these (often accidental) patterns, bad habits can embed themselves. For example, risk aversion, over-control, siloed-decision-making, and fear of failure.
And AI can bring these kind of tendencies into sharper relief. Leaders need to be willing to identify and challenge habits that slow learning or inhibit collaboration. This involves stepping outside comfort zones and encouraging teams to test new pathways (while maintaining clear guardrails around compliance and safety).
6. Keep the organisation future-focused through the conversations you have
In times of disruption, conversations drift easily towards obstacles and risks. Anything that gives a reason to ‘play safe’. Leaders can shape the trajectory of transformation through the conversations they have.
A coaching culture that consistently returns to possibility, progress, and continuous learning can keep attention anchored on the future. And regular reflection on progress, learnings from experiments, and a visible reinforcement of collaborative behaviour sustain energy.
7. Gain energy from setbacks
Any transformation will inevitably involve missteps. Experiments may fail or prototypes underperform. But they can still have value if interpreted and communicated in the right way.
Setbacks are just data that can accelerate learning for the next time. And when leaders model resilience like this, it signals to the rest of the team that intelligent risk-taking is expected rather than punished.
Why these shifts matter now
AI is expanding capabilities of teams, but it’s also compressing timelines. And as Bryn Roberts, SVP & Global Head of Data, Analytics & Research at Roche, says in our whitepaper: “The technology life cycle is now so fast that it exceeds the capabilities of classical management processes.”
So without a corresponding shift in leadership mindset, friction within teams and a failed transformation is almost inevitable.
The pharmaceutical sector stands at an inflection point. AI represents a fundamental shift that will redefine how the sector operates and delivers value to patients. If you want to learn more about the culture, leadership, and human capabilities to thrive in an AI-powered world, download the whitepaper.