SAS and Coleman Parkes Research have officially published the results from a global, cross-industry survey of 237 life sciences and pharma leaders and 240 health care leaders, who are decision makers on their organization’s GenAI, data and analytics strategy.
According to certain reports, the stated survey was designed to expand upon how organizations are implementing GenAI, what are their biggest challenges, as well as how health care and life sciences compares to industries like insurance, the public sector, banking, manufacturing and more, in the given technological context.
Talk about the published results on a slightly deeper level, we begin from the healthcare space, where more than 46% of organizations were found to currently use the technology, compared with an average of 54% across all sectors.
Furthermore, 95% of organizations said they are already in the process of using or have plans in place to adopt GenAI within the next two years.
Another detail worth a mention here is rooted in the fact that 87% of health care organizations are presently planning to invest in GenAI during the next financial year, whereas on the other hand, 92% of those investing have a dedicated GenAI budget for the next year.
As for organizations who have already integrated GenAI, the top measurable outcome was adjudged as efficiency in processing large data sets (89%), followed by risk management and compliance measures (88%).
“The unique challenges and diverse functions of the health care sector demand special consideration to regulatory and compliance issues, data sensitivity, interoperability and bias in AI algorithms,” said Alyssa Farrell, Global Health and Life Sciences Industry Marketing Director at SAS. “The adoption of GenAI in health care is projected to rapidly catch up as the industry addresses these concerns.”
Turning our attention towards life sciences and pharma sector, it had nearly 58% of life sciences organizations currently using AI.
If we dig deeper into the contingent of organizations already using or have plans to adopt GenAI, it had a total of 97% players. Out of that, 85% of life sciences organizations plan to invest in GenAI in the next financial year.
Markedly enough, an estimated 86% of life sciences organizations already using GenAI also reported increased efficiency in processing large data sets, with almost 79% experiencing operational cost and time savings with the technology.
“The life sciences sector is looking toward a GenAI future with strong rates of organizational use – and the budgets to back it up,” said Farrell. “The technology’s strengths in prediction and modeling suggest incredible potential to accelerate initiatives across the entire value chain, from R&D through clinical trials and commercialization. Leaders are feeling positive about what GenAI can do, particularly when it comes to innovating and maintaining a competitive advantage.”
Among other things, we ought to mention that data privacy and security emerged as top concerns across healthcare and life sciences. You see, well over three-quarters of leaders in life sciences (79%) and healthcare (77%) reported they are unsure about data privacy and security when it comes to using GenAI in their organization.
In this regard, 62% of health care organizations and 59% of life sciences organizations went to name governance as a leading concern for GenAI, marking higher percentages than almost all other industries.
Rounding up highlights would be a piece of data, which reveals how no more than 14% of life sciences leaders and 9% of health care leaders say their organizations’ current AI governance framework is well-established and comprehensive.
“Data is the lifeblood of the digital health ecosystem. Continued investment in interoperability and data governance is key to provide the fuel for a GenAI future,” said Farrell. “Incorporating synthetic data and technology, such as digital twins, is yet another way to derive more value from data for the benefit of patients and population health outcomes.”
