Congratulations, it’s 2025 and you are now the COO of a major pharma (or life sciences) company. Right away you get to work improving your company’s value chain including all those activities and processes involved in creating whatever product or service is being offered.
These challenges require at least a tertiary mastery of a myriad of operational topics (i.e., risk management, quality control, resource allocation, supply chain, technology, finance, strategic planning, etc.). You know that success (or failure) will ultimately impact the lives of patients or consumers (not to mention quite possibly the future of your own career) and you are worried that you may not be successful.
Compounding the issue, it becomes increasingly necessary to consider the changing societal and technological landscape. Widening gaps between the economic classes and political parties are met with advancements in social technology and new ways of working. This all comes together to produce a landscape that has not seen this much tumult since the late 80s to early 90s when we witnessed the end of the Cold War and the rise of the internet. Back then we had to deal with factors like the debt crisis and globalization; but what factors should be considered in today’s evolving socio-economic landscape and how do we rise to meet those challenges?
Here are three things to take into consideration in 2025.
1. The Impact Advances in Machine Learning (ML) & AI Have on Structured Operations
By now you may be tired of hearing about how everyone is talking about ML and AI. For many, AI is that cool chat interface which, when provided with a detailed prompt, can quickly provide feedback in human terms. Machine learning, a component of AI, is just a tool to connect data tables to provide useful insights across data sets. The truth is that ML and AI are much more than that with a host of operational use cases.
- Customer Service: AI-powered chatbots handle customer inquiries, providing instant support.
- Cybersecurity and Fraud Management: AI detects anomalies and protects against threats.
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM): AI optimizes interactions with clients.
- Digital Personal Assistants: AI assists employees with tasks and scheduling.
- Inventory Management: AI helps optimize stock levels.
- Content Production: AI generates written content.
- Product Recommendations: AI suggests personalized offerings.
- Accounting: AI streamlines financial processes.
- Supply Chain Operations: AI enhances logistics and inventory control.
- Recruitment and Talent Sourcing: AI aids in candidate selection.
* https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/software/ai-in-business/
* https://www.investopedia.com/how-ai-is-used-in-business-8611256
In the very near future, the flavor of the ML and AI application selected for your use case will not be as important as how it is used. As ML and AI become adept at accepting more than simple prompts and data tables as inputs (i.e., using robotic sensors, scanners, cameras, etc.), the line between human and machine resources will blur. While operational decisions today are only supported by ML and AI, who is to say how they will be made moving forward given that human-to-machine parity*. As COO, it will be up to you to define those decision boundaries by ensuring controls and governance are put in place to make sure that ML and AI remain as tools and do not become carpenters.
*https://techxplore.com/news/2024-01-ten-ways-artificial-intelligence-years.html#google_vignette
2. Using Portfolio Harmonization to Drive Strategic Operations
This may not seem as cool or sexy as ML and AI, however, its relevance is projected to continue long after ML and AI have matured from nascent operational tools to fully adopted operational mechanisms. From the perspective of the COO, aligning portfolio activity with your organization’s long-term objectives becomes your primary concern. In addition, external environmental considerations, which can potentially disrupt your otherwise harmonious operations, must also be considered.
Portfolio management methodologies like Axelos Management of Portfolios (MoP) may be used to align the state of external markets and competitor landscapes with internal organizational imperatives through the establishment of operating principles to optimize delivery cycles. PMI’s Portfolio Management Professional (PfMP) certification methodologies may also be leveraged to standardize day-to-day portfolio operations while taking into consideration the impact of changes in the operating environment.
As COO, your insights into portfolio performance will come from both strategically focused and qualitative objectives and key results (OKRs) to drive the measurement of strategic imperatives and operationally focused and quantitative key performance indicators (KPIs).* Introduction and support of the toolsets offered by these and similar methodologies is and remains paramount to ensuring factors of changing landscapes are incorporated successfully into your organization's operations.
3. Planning Financing Today for Investment Spending Tomorrow
According to the July 2023 US Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on the 2023-2025 Outlook, the economy is anticipated to continue on its positive trajectory as business investment spend increases from 1.9 % in 2024 to 3.5% in 2025. This increase will be due, in no small part, to the projected decreases in the cost of capital as interest rates level off and begin to recede.
Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) echoes this sentiment globally, forecasting infrastructure spend (including technology, education, and research) to reach nearly $9 trillion in 2025 (up from over $4 trillion just 12 years prior). More specifically, within R&D, spending is predicted to increase from $212 billion to $255 billion in 2026*. In short, the days of temporary spending austerity will come to an end and COOs will need to be poised to invest in tools and technologies that drive real value and efficiency. The trick for COOs is to time operational spend to take advantage of the ebbs and flows of capital value while continuing to deliver on organizational needs. Two-to-five-year budget forecasts need to account for this increase to ensure readily available funding for the anticipated spending increase in 2025 and 2026.
*Pharmaceutical Market Size, Share & Trends Report, 2030 (grandviewresearch.com)
Focus on these considerations should not diminish the impact or importance of typical issues plaguing operations management in pharma and life sciences (i.e., changing product landscapes, supply chain pressures in meeting demand surges, developing or acquiring talent, etc.). Rather, these viewpoints should serve as a lens through which to begin to tackle them. For example, in thinking about the changing product landscapes like the rise in new modalities (e.g., gene and cell therapies), it may be helpful to consider the extent AI is being used to drive innovation and the subsequent potential legal pitfalls (e.g., patent and intellectual property disputes).
As COO, you are poised to best position your organization to address the coming tide of operational evolution. Keeping these things on your radar can ensure you are not blindsided by the coming waves of change.
