Life Science Success

Send us Fan MailEveryone’s talking about AI in life sciences, but how much of it is actually running in production, and how much is still a pilot that never quite launched?On this episode of Life Science Success, we brought together four people who are doing the work, not just talking about it:Josh Bersin, Founder & CEO, The Josh Bersin CompanyMichelle Bridenbaker, Global Head of Medical Excellence & Communications, RecordatiJanik Jaskolski, CEO & Co-founder, SemalytixBeena Wood, Chief Product Officer, QinecsaThey’re refreshingly honest about it. Michelle talks about her “epic fail” of a chatbot with IBM Watson over a decade ago, and how it took years of trial and error before AI started paying off for her team. Beena describes LLM-written safety narratives that sounded perfect but described pregnant male patients, and explains why she calls today’s state of the industry “Schrödinger’s AI.” Janik shares how his team listens to patients across 26 languages and turns those conversations into evidence pharma can actually use. And Josh makes the case that AI won’t replace your job, but it will change what your job looks like.You’ll also hear how each of them decides what AI should handle and what has to stay with a human, why you can’t just bolt AI onto a broken process, and what they expect to see by 2030.If you work in pharma, biotech or anywhere in the regulated side of healthcare and you’re trying to separate hype from reality, this one’s for you.Chapters:00:00 Show Intro 00:30 Panel Setup: AI Through 2030 01:19 Patient Data and AI Value 03:56 AI in Drug Safety 07:42 Medical Affairs AI Wins 11:35 Workforce and Jobs Shift 15:47 Product Deep Dives Begin 16:02 Semalytix Atlas Explained 20:20 PV Trust and Governance 25:11 MedInfo Use Case Framework 30:50 Galileo, Jupiter and Trusted HR AI 34:41 Specialist Agent Networks 35:44 Sponsor Break 36:39 Platforms vs. Point Solutions 38:50 Market Segmentation Strategy 42:28 Human-Led Automation 47:20 PV Governance Framework 50:57 Future of Agent Workforces 52:46 2030 Outlook: Medical Affairs 54:23 Safety Intelligence Vision 56:21 Company Second Brains 59:03 Where to Find Panelists 01:02:20 Final Thanks and Sign-OffConnect with our guests:Josh Bersin: joshbersin.com (and check out his new book, Superpowered)Michelle Bridenbaker: find her on LinkedIn, and follow Medical Information Leaders in Europe there tooJanik Jaskolski: semalytix.comBeena Wood: qinecsa.comThanks to our sponsor, Life Science Wealth, a wealth management firm that works only with life science professionals. Book a free consultation at lifesciencewealth.com.

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of the Life Science Success Podcast my guest is Chris Sarlo. Chris is the founder of Life Science Wealth, a wealth management practice built exclusively for people inside the life science industry, and the author of The Wealth Gap, a book about why success in science so often fails to turn into lasting wealth. He earned a Bachelor of Commerce from McMaster University, became an accredited financial advisor by twenty-four, and has spent his career working with the founders and scientists who move the industry forward.00:00 Show Introduction00:30 Meet Chris Sarlo01:10 Why Life Sciences03:48 Early Wealth Lessons07:26 Income vs Net Worth08:50 Inside Life Science Wealth09:45 The Wealth Gap Book13:46 Founder Wealth Planning17:25 Business Personal Firewall22:41 Funding and VC Readiness35:43 Exit Planning and QSBS40:48 Leadership Inspiration Concerns48:31 Connect and Closing

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of the Life Science Success Podcast my guest is Stella Vnook. Stella is the CEO, Co-Founder, and Executive Board Chair at Kaida BioPharma, where she is advancing precision oncology therapies and bringing her experience as a serial biotech entrepreneur, investor, and life sciences leader to the future of cancer treatment.00:00 Welcome to the Podcast00:38 Meet Stella Vnook01:23 From Big Pharma to Startups04:58 Thriving as Startup CEO08:08 Mission Driven by Family10:27 Hard Lessons in Translation15:08 Building Kaida BioPharma18:12 Fundraising in a Tough Market22:33 De Risking and Milestones25:03 Faster to Clinic with Rigor29:12 Women Leading in Biotech35:47 Precision Medicine Outlook38:17 Inspiration and Concerns45:46 How to Connect and Wrap Up

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of the Life Science Success Podcast my guest is Dr. Seth Toback. Dr. Toback is the Chief Medical Officer at ARMR and a board-certified physician-scientist with over 20 years of experience leading clinical development and medical affairs across biotech, pharmaceuticals, vaccines, infectious diseases, and respiratory medicine.00:00 Show Introduction00:29 Meet Dr Seth Toback01:28 From Pediatrics to Vaccines03:11 Pandemic Vaccine Milestones04:51 Speeding COVID Development07:04 Leading in Crisis08:59 ARMR Mission and Opioid Waves11:00 How the Fentanyl Vaccine Works12:45 Who Benefits Most14:12 Human Challenge Trial Design16:02 Endpoints and Real World Evidence17:57 Clearing Up Misconceptions21:21 Risk Disinhibition Concerns22:27 Defining Success and Impact24:14 Rapid Fire Fun Questions26:44 How to Learn More28:01 Closing and Subscribe

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of the Life Science Success Podcast my guest is Simran Padam, MD, APMMC, Executive Director of Medical Affairs at Worldwide Clinical Trials. A physician with 17+ years guiding global studies, she shares insights on medical monitoring, complex oncology and hematology programs, and the clinical judgment behind drug development highlighted in her newsletter, The Medical Monitor’s Desk.00:00 Show Intro and Guest01:49 Simran Career Journey04:22 Why CRO Variety Matters05:48 What Medical Monitors Do08:04 Protocol vs Reality09:43 Physicians Role Evolving11:14 Better Trial Decisions13:31 Newsletter Behind Scenes16:09 LinkedIn Newsletter Reach17:07 From Science to Execution19:18 Therapeutic Specialization21:20 Collaboration Across Teams23:05 Capabilities for Future25:16 Rapid Fire Inspiration32:44 Where to Connect34:09 Podcast Outro

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of the Life Science Success Podcast my guest is Megha Sinha. The founder and CEO of Kamet Consulting Group LLC, she brings 17+ years of experience advising global pharma and life sciences on regulatory operations, quality, and large-scale transformation, including senior leadership at PwC solving complex regulatory, supply chain, and lifecycle management challenges.00:00 Show Introduction00:30 Meet Megha Sinha01:18 Engineering Into Life Sciences03:29 First FDA Audit Lessons04:29 PwC Shaping Consulting07:27 Three Career Pivots12:22 Why Found Kamet17:24 Mission And Programs19:27 Global Regulatory Depth24:57 Transformation In Practice30:24 Scaling Team And Tech35:14 Leadership Inspiration Concerns40:48 AI Beyond Automation44:27 Closing And Next Steps

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of the Life Science Success Podcast my guest is Ian Crone. He is the VP Regulatory strategy and growth at ArisGlobal and a global life sciences leader known for RIM, UDI, IDMP, and data migration expertise, inspiring teams to deliver compliant, client-centric solutions.00:00 Show Intro00:30 Meet Ian Crone01:12 From Lab Bench Up03:07 Regulatory Deja Vu05:15 IDMP Explained07:39 Single Source Truth10:38 Why Migrations Fail14:40 Interpretive Drift Risk15:56 Best of Breed Debate21:27 Compliance Clock Ticking23:59 AI Needs Humans26:00 Why ArisGlobal27:33 Sportify Overlay Approach28:49 Data Cortex XDI31:10 IDMP Data For AI32:31 AI As Experimentation33:54 Leading Under Pressure36:20 Mentorship Lessons37:05 Personal Motivation Story39:23 AI Hype Versus Readiness42:15 Human In The Loop44:42 Breaking Silos Wins47:02 Closing And Next Steps

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of the Life Science Success Podcast my guest is Jennifer Vavala, Founder & Principal at AlignPoint Partners. With more than 27 years in pharma, medical device, and diagnostics leading QA/QC in complex regulated organizations, she focuses on quality systems, inspection readiness, and operational delivery, and developed the Operational Stability Recalibration framework to help leaders rebalance escalating mandates with operating capacity before compliance or delivery risks surface.00:00 Intro00:30 Meet Jennifer Vavala01:39 Microbiology Origins04:13 Capacity Not Capability08:43 Across Regulated Sectors12:25 AlignPoint Partners Mission13:15 Operational Stability Framework18:02 Early Warning Signals19:52 Inspection Readiness Reality23:55 Executives And Regulators32:37 Quality Leadership Future36:15 Inspiration Concerns Excitement39:39 Wrap Up And Where To Connect40:19 Outro

Send us Fan MailIn this episode of the Life Science Success Podcast my guest is Dean Erhardt, President and CEO at D2 Solutions. He brings more than 20 years of experience across pharmaceuticals and consumer products, with expertise in support program development, distribution, and specialty product management, and has worked with over 100 pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device manufacturers as well as many small and midsized organizations on commercial operations, strategy, and national accounts.00:00 Intro00:34 Dean's career: HMO, Cardinal Health, Express Scripts03:00 Founding D2 Solutions in 200804:00 Pricing strategy and middlemen taking 50–70% of revenue08:00 What separates successful commercialization from failure10:00 D2's three pillars: distribution, reimbursement, patient services15:00 Pharmaceutical support programs for specialty medications16:00 D2's digital patient engagement platform in action21:00 Resource challenges for small and mid-sized pharma22:00 Retail deserts and the rise of direct-to-consumer models24:00 National accounts strategy and long-term payer relationships26:00 When to engage D2 and cleaning up commercialization missteps28:00 The prior authorization crisis31:00 Leadership advice: one vision, said a million times32:00 AI, remote surgery, and the future of care34:00 Looming shortage of 3.9 million healthcare workers36:00 Concerns: aging population, lost patients, NIH funding37:00 Technology accelerating drug approvals38:00 Outro

Send us Fan MailJesse Mendelsohn and Michael Grosberg from Model N discuss why U.S. pricing complexity is spreading globally, the collapse of the PBM rebate model, what's really driving the pharmaceutical manufacturing boom, and why direct-to-consumer discount programs won't solve America's drug access problem.00:00 Introduction to Life Science Success Podcast00:34 Pressing Issues in Pharmaceutical Manufacturing00:51 Introducing the Experts from Model N03:08 Understanding International Reference Pricing04:14 Impact of US Pricing on Global Drug Launches09:26 Challenges with Pharmacy Benefit Managers16:29 Domestic Manufacturing Boom in Pharmaceuticals23:08 AI in Drug Discovery and Personalized Medicine29:03 Access and Policy Discussion30:01 Direct to Consumer Pricing31:32 TrumpRx Overview33:11 Compliance Challenges38:30 Pharmaceutical Revenue Management41:38 AI in Life Sciences48:35 Future of Life Sciences50:45 Concerns and Challenges53:52 Excitement in Current Work55:54 Conclusion and Final Thoughts