Automation has become a crucial component of modern business operations. Business Process Automation (BPA) refers to the use of technology to execute recurring tasks or processes in a business, replacing manual effort. BPA focuses on end-to-end automation of entire business processes. It encompasses various software tools and techniques aimed at optimizing workflows, enhancing productivity, and improving overall operational efficiency. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is often included as a method in BPA strategy.

Generative artificial intelligence (Generative AI, or GenAI) is a form of artificial intelligence capable of generating text, images, videos, or other data using generative models through simple text or voice-based prompts. Generative AI models learn patterns and structures from training datasets—often very large datasets—and generate new data with similar characteristics when prompted. These models are commonly referred to as Large Language Models (LLMs) due to the scale of data they process.

The pharmaceutical industry has begun embracing GenAI amidst rising costs and operational complexities. GenAI holds the potential to revolutionize the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors by providing insights, identifying trends, aiding drug discovery, offering expert advice through digital assistants, and crafting personalized treatment plans tailored to each patient’s unique needs. These advancements result in enhanced, life-changing outcomes.

What Is GenAI in BPA, and Why Is It Important for the Pharma Sector?

Generative AI enhances Business Process Automation by enabling cognitive learning from structured and unstructured data, creating new and more comprehensible patterns or outputs. This represents a significant leap from traditional RPA methods, which primarily automate repetitive tasks. By integrating Generative AI, BPA methods can interpret data cognitively, enabling the automation of more complex operations that require learning or intermediate, data-based decision-making steps—tasks traditionally performed by humans. This reduces human error and allows professionals to focus on value-added activities through GenAI-assisted BPA.

When combined with robotic and business process automation, Generative AI can be applied end-to-end across business processes, driving efficiency gains across various enterprise functions. For industries, including pharmaceuticals, infusing Generative AI offers strategic advantages such as acquiring new customers, lowering customer acquisition costs, shortening time-to-market for new products and solutions, and improving customer satisfaction and retention. These benefits enhance top-line growth, while operational excellence and reduced non-value-added time contribute to margin improvements. The combination of Generative AI, traditional AI, and automation is poised to become a sought-after archetype for enterprises.

Applications of GenAI in the Pharma Industry

Pharmaceutical and healthcare organizations, being some of the most regulated industries, can utilize Generative AI across the value chain. Potential use cases range from simple tasks like active monitoring of outbreaks or medicinal side effects, creating easy-to-understand summaries, data collection for research and quality materials, scientific studies, medico-legal reviews, and marketing content creation, to more complex business process automation.

For instance, Generative AI can simplify compliance-related documentation, transition from manual reviews to exception-based reviews, and manage processes such as matching and validating data, deriving secondary parameters to detect trend variations, capturing anomalies, and inspecting permutations and combinations of contributing factors.

Here are some potential use cases of GenAI in the pharmaceutical industry:

• Personalized Medicine: Creating personalized treatment plans based on patient history.
• In Silico Compound Screening: Streamlining compound screening and animal testing.
• Clinical Trials: Optimizing and automating specific steps in clinical trials.
• Regulatory Intelligence: Establishing an intelligence hub to monitor social media, global activities, and trends, aiding regulatory and compliance teams with quality improvement recommendations.
• Supply Chain and Manufacturing: Automating integrated business planning flows, providing actionable recommendations, and enabling data-oriented decision-making.
• Customer Co-Pilots: Actively monitoring IoT devices to offer personalized exercise, dietary, or lifestyle recommendations.
• Pharmacovigilance: Enhancing drug safety monitoring and adverse event reporting.

Also Read: Trends, Innovations & The Future of Healthcare in 2025

The Road Ahead

As the pharmaceutical industry witnesses complex business processes being solved by Generative AI, early adopters will lead the way. The potential to address intricate pharma processes effectively positions Generative AI as a game-changer for the industry.

Views expressed by: Narendra K. Saini, Chief Digital & Data Officer, Lupin.

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