The role of artificial intelligence in business transformation: A case of pharmaceutical companies

Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI) is of great interest to researchers and practitioners as a means of achieving the necessary progress in the pharmaceutical industry. However, the role of AI and ways of transforming companies are not well studied. The purpose of the paper is to identify exactly how AI affects the key and support business processes of pharmaceutical companies. We offer a qualitative interview study of five large, five medium, and five small pharmaceutical companies. Based on scarce literature on the role of AI in the pharmaceutical industry, we considered which business processes are subject to transform within it and how they do so. We determine that small pharma companies significantly change research and development, master data management, analysis and reporting, and human resource business processes under the influence of AI. Large pharma companies use AI to transform production, sales, marketing, and analysis business processes. In turn, medium-sized companies are in the middle and individually transform their business processes depending on their specialization.