Half of healthcare professionals already use AI. That changes everything about how they are engaged.
At the recent NEXTPharma CX & AI Summit in Vienna, one message stood out: AI isn’t optional anymore - it’s the new differentiator for customer experience.
The Shift in Pharma Marketing
For years, omnichannel strategies focused on reach and frequency. Today, the conversation has shifted to value and impact.
Brand leaders are asking:
How can authentic, meaningful experiences be created in a digital-first world?
For many, the answer starts with a mindset shift: Think like a publisher, not a brand manager. Content should deliver value, relevance, and trust - not just volume.
AI offers solutions to help achieve this - when applied thoughtfully.
Three Key Themes That Hit Home
1. Value Over Volume
Traditional KPIs like call frequency and CTR volume are giving way to value-based metrics - think lifetime value and retention. AI enables smarter segmentation and personalised engagement, but success depends on clear objectives and insight-driven strategies, not just more content.
The KPI needs redefining - success should be measured by patient outcomes and experience, not just prescriptions filled.
2. Human Empathy Meets Machine Intelligence
Global pharma teams leveraging AI-enabled content ‘factories’ have reduced localisation and delivery times by around 20% [1], while maintaining compliance.
Generative AI can accelerate content creation and localisation, but it’s not a replacement for human judgment.
Critical thinking and creativity remain essential - brand teams must evaluate outputs and ensure technology amplifies empathy, not automates it.
One line from the summit resonated:
“AI might tell you who stops, but behavioral science tells you why.”
3. Trust & Data Integrity
With the EU AI Act setting governance standards, healthcare professionals are clear about their priorities:
20% of clinicians [2] rank reliability as the top factor for AI adoption (AMA).
In the UK, 80% of GPs [3] using generative AI want more training to feel confident in its outputs (BMJ Digital Health & AI).
This matters because Google AI overviews now dominate health-related searches - accounting for 47–50% of health queries [4], compared to just 24% for travel. Patients and HCPs are increasingly influenced by AI-generated content, making accuracy and transparency non-negotiable.
But here’s the challenge: pharma data is fragmented and messy. Humans can interpret nuance, but AI struggles when fed raw, inconsistent data. Poor data quality doesn’t just limit AI performance - it erodes trust.
Cleaning up data foundations is critical to ensure AI outputs are credible and compliant.
Industry Perspective
From observations across the industry this year, there’s been a noticeable shift in how creative campaign development is approached.
The insights, creative concepting, and copy development remain with specialist teams - but there’s a growing appetite to explore where AI can support execution.
Could AI generate images of rare diseases based on supplied data? Extend frames in video content to continue a campaign story?
There’s no one-size-fits-all solution. But being bold enough to test new methods and tools will support teams in becoming better subject matter experts.
Why It Matters
AI isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about unlocking personalisation at scale, improving omnichannel orchestration, and driving engagement. Done right, it transforms customer experience from transactional to truly connected.
At Inizio Evoke, there’s a belief in making Health more Human. The team’s role is to help clients harness AI without losing the human touch - because technology should serve relationships, not replace them.
How is your team using AI to make healthcare engagement more human?
👉 Let’s connect and explore how AI can elevate your brand story.
References
[1] https://viseven.com/case-studies/digital-content-factory-strategic-approach-to-digital-leadership/
[3] https://bmjdigitalhealth.bmj.com/content/1/1/e000051
[4] https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-expands-ai-overviews-more-health-queries/542415/