MSD’s CIDO Williams: ‘We Must Shorten Technology Adoption Cycles’

MSD's chief information & digital officer emphasizes the need for pharma to accelerate technology adoption cycles to ensure drugs reach patients faster. The role of a robust digital backbone for seamless data flow, leadership commitment in digital transformation and an upcoming technology center in Hyderabad are other aspects he discussed.

MSD CIDO Dave Williams — MSD EVP and CIDO Dave Williams

Pharma has, at times, had to build the plane while flying it amid tectonic shifts driven by artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technologies, and a senior MSD executive underlined that industry needs to condense the technology adoption cycle to best capture the opportunity on hand.

MSD’s chief information and digital officer Dave Williams said at a recent conference there are probably hundreds or thousands of different tools, applications and platforms just in the AI and machine learning (ML) space, and the rate and pace of technological change is faster than he had seen in his 30-plus years in the segment. This is especially so in the last couple of years with the arrival of