AI expected to transform life sciences operations, says KPMG global tech report 2024

KPMG International has released its latest findings from the KPMG global tech report: Life sciences insights, highlighting how organisations in the life sciences sector are approaching digital transformation, technology investment, data strategy, AI integration, and cyber security.

The report draws insights from the KPMG global tech report 2024, which surveyed 2,450 technology leaders across 26 countries and eight industries. Of these, 123 were senior life sciences technology function leaders, including chief digital officers, CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, and chief AI officers. The findings explore how these leaders are navigating regulatory environments, legacy system integration, and transformation scale in a sector often defined by siloed structures.

According to the report, 73 per cent of respondents believe AI will revolutionise industry practices by significantly improving efficiency and enabling new business models. However, 63 per cent indicated that organisational risk aversion from senior leadership is delaying digital transformation efforts, with life sciences being the sector most likely to express this concern.

Only 59 per cent of life sciences tech leaders said their technology investment decisions typically lead to valuable outcomes. Meanwhile, 40 per cent reported planning to balance legacy infrastructure with new technology — 14 percentage points higher than the cross-sector average.

The sector also leads others surveyed in prioritising and investing in technologies such as edge and quantum computing, extended reality (VR/AR/XR), spatial computing, XaaS (everything as a service), and modern delivery platforms.

Commenting on the report, Vijay Chawla, Partner and Head – Life sciences, KPMG in India, said, “Many companies in the life science sector are embracing Digital transformation to accelerate innovation and bring products to market faster. However, transformation initiatives come at a cost and organisations are increasingly mindful of their impact on margins. A key insight is that a siloed and fragmented approach to transformation often results in higher costs and inefficiencies. This report provides guidance to help companies make more strategic and cohesive investments in critical areas such as data, Ai and cyber security ultimately enabling more effective and sustainable digital transformation.”

The report also outlines specific recommendations for life sciences organisations seeking to manage technology change more effectively. These include conducting comprehensive technology capability assessments, developing enterprise-wide digital strategies, and applying a value-stream approach to identify tech solutions that improve performance and adaptability.

On cyber security, the report advises organisations to shift their perception of cyber risks from barriers to transformation toward strategic enablers. It recommends adopting more comprehensive protection models and integrating AI and machine learning into cyber security systems to enable predictive capabilities.

KPMG’s report suggests that aligning digital transformation with enterprise value and long-term resilience will be key to overcoming fragmentation and operational inefficiencies in the life sciences sector.