Disillusionment after the AI frenzy - where are the concrete benefits in pharmaceutical sales?

As the initial storm of AI enthusiasm in pharmaceutical sales slowly subsides, an increasingly urgent question arises: where are the real, tangible benefits of this technology for operational departments? The initial fascination with the seemingly endless possibilities is giving way to a sober view of reality.

As someone with two decades of experience at the interface of business intelligence and CRM in the pharmaceutical environment, I have seen many technology cycles come and go. The current AI wave is undoubtedly fascinating, but it risks getting bogged down in a sea of superficial applications if we lose focus on real use cases and measurable outcomes.

It is encouraging to hear a few voices on social media critically questioning how a meaningful AI project can be realized based on existing BI data. These voices rightly emphasize the need to do the homework first in order to achieve high-quality results.

The truth is: it is not enough to set up a task force whose members are AI experts simply by virtue of their participation in this group. Equally ineffective is the unthinking equipping of all employees with tools such as Copilot or ChatGPT in the hope of miraculous increases in efficiency. Without clear use cases, without precisely defined goals and without a deep understanding of the underlying data, the result is yet another unused tool that is quickly forgotten after initial curiosity.

We are talking here about AI applications that go far beyond automated text creation or simple information retrieval. We are talking about the intelligent analysis and processing of internal company data in order to make well-founded decisions, optimize processes and ultimately increase sales success in the long term.

In the next part of this series, we will take a closer look at the fundamental prerequisites that need to be created in order to master the step from AI frustration to real added value in pharmaceutical sales.