The road to digital transformation: Roles and requirements for organizational success

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In March 2021, eight biopharma executives joined Pharmaceutical Executive to discuss digital transformation in the industry. Welcoming the panel to the virtual roundtable, Michael J. Hennessy Jr., president and CEO of MJH Life Sciences, parent company of Pharmaceutical Executive, said that while the COVID-19 crisis of the last 12 months has seen the acceleration of digital transformation for many organizations, there are still those that continue to be challenged and are unsure of what to expect going forward.

Moderated by Olivier Leclerc, senior partner at McKinsey, who in recent years led the firm’s digital analytics group in pharma and biotech, the roundtable drew on expert insights from a panel composed of pharma chief digital officers (CDO), chief information officers, and other leaders in the digital space to explore three broad themes: how to scale an organization’s digital transformation, the capability and talent required to support that digital transformation, and defining and optimizing the role of the CDO. Presented here are highlights of the discussion.