Reinventing Pharma Commercialization with AI with Faruk Capan

Faruk Capan is rethinking how pharmaceutical companies bring products to market by rebuilding the entire commercialization model around AI. As Chief Innovation Officer at Eversana, he is leading the development of an AI powered platform that replaces slow, manual, and highly regulated workflows with a faster, more scalable system driven by intelligent agents and human expertise.In this episode, Russ and Faruk explore why traditional pharma marketing and commercialization can take months to execute and how Eversana’s AI agency model is cutting that timeline down dramatically. Faruk explains why simply adding AI tools to existing workflows is not enough, and why his team took a startup approach to rebuild processes from the ground up with an 80 percent AI and 20 percent human model.They also dive into how the platform orchestrates the entire lifecycle from strategy and content creation to compliance and activation across channels, while maintaining strict regulatory standards. Faruk shares how partnering with Google enables enterprise grade security and scalability, why explainability and trust are critical in healthcare, and how AI is unlocking true personalization in an industry that has historically struggled to deliver it.Along the way, he discusses the real business impact including faster speed to market, reduced costs, and fewer people required per project, as well as the organizational challenges of driving AI transformation at scale. Faruk also offers practical advice for leaders on where to start, why pilots often fail, and how to balance innovation with real business accountability.Topics Covered:[00:01] Welcome and intro, Faruk Capan and Eversana’s AI award win[00:44] The role of commercialization in pharma and why it is so complex[02:03] Compliance challenges and why traditional workflows take months[03:45] Why AI requires rethinking the business, not just adding tools[04:25] Taking a startup approach to rebuild workflows from scratch[05:56] The 80 percent AI and 20 percent human in the loop model[08:25] Building an end to end AI platform from strategy to execution[10:01] Orchestrating campaigns across channels with AI agents[11:57] Partnering with Google for security, scale, and compliance[14:25] Explainability and avoiding black box AI in healthcare[15:47] Measurable impact including speed, cost savings, and efficiency[17:14] Unlocking true personalization in pharma marketing[17:58] AI generated doctor avatars and patient acceptance[20:04] Balancing automation with human trust in healthcare[21:04] Driving organizational change and leadership buy in[23:26] Why hands on AI adoption matters more than theory[24:16] Prioritizing innovation with real business accountability[26:11] Advice for leaders on AI strategy and avoiding pilot traps[28:43] Scaling the platform and iterating at startup speedAbout The Winners Circle:The Winners Circle is hosted by Russ Fordyce, CEO and founder of Business Intelligence Group. Each episode features leaders and innovators recognized through BIG’s annual award programs across AI, innovation, sustainability, cybersecurity, and more. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.Nominate your company or team for a BIG award: https://www.bintelligence.com