Jeff, you have a Ph.D. in business economics and have worked at McKinsey and Accenture. How did you come to be the CEO of a company at the intersection of technology and life sciences?
I see my career path more as an evolution than a switch. At McKinsey, my focus was at the juncture of biomedical research, working closely with biopharma, pharma, and new healthcare provider models. This period coincided with the emergence of genomics in medicine, which opened new avenues for understanding complex diseases and their treatment challenges. After McKinsey, I joined Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research, where I engaged in technology-infused research, including high throughput screening and computer-aided drug design. This phase marked the integration of technology and biology, which continued into my tenure at Accenture. There, my work revolved around the 'intelligent patient' concept, leveraging data integration and AI to provide actionable healthcare insights. My projects spanned various realms, including working with health systems like NHS and biomedical innovators, underscoring my consistent involvement at the convergence of healthcare provision and biomedical innovation.
When did you start integrating these approaches into your current company?
The foundations of my current approach were laid around late 2017 to 2018. These methods are still relevant, reflecting a relatively recent but significant shift in the biotech industry. My inclination towards healthcare and life sciences is deeply personal. I grew up in a family immersed in medicine and science, with a mother as a biomedical researcher at Merck and a father who is an MD and researcher. This background, coupled with my long-standing interest in technology, naturally led me to a career where I could blend these passions. Our company’s mission is to advance human health, focusing on impactful research and patient outcomes. This mission attracts professionals driven by similar goals, like our chief data officer, who is a cancer epidemiologist, and our commercial lead, a cancer biologist from the Crick Institute. Our collective dedication to this mission is essential for maintaining leadership in our field.
Before we focus concretely on what ConcertAI is doing, I should like to ask you a more theoretical question on the role of AI and data in life sciences in the coming years. Do you see these developments more as a revolution or an evolution? How substantial will the role of AI be?
The integration of AI and data in life sciences is both an evolution and a revolution. This domain, including generative AI, has foundations dating back decades, but its development has accelerated recently. Healthcare, with its vast and diverse data sources, is ripe for AI application. AI's potential lies in efficiently processing structured and unstructured data, aiding healthcare professionals by providing relevant insights for decision-making.
Whereas I do not foresee AI replacing expert human judgment, it can significantly enhance it by improving accuracy and quality in areas like radiology interpretation. The healthcare industry, especially post-COVID, faces workforce challenges, with fewer professionals handling increasing demands. AI can alleviate this strain by reducing administrative burdens and enabling healthcare workers to focus more on patient care. This approach transforms AI from a decision-support tool to a decision-augmentation asset, framing and presenting data to inform patient-specific medical choices. So, as counter-intuitive as it may sound, I believe the ultimate goal of AI should be to humanize healthcare, making it more patient-centric by leveraging AI's analytical capabilities to provide tailored treatment options. This approach brings a human touch to medical decision-making, enhancing the patient-physician relationship. However, integrating AI into healthcare is not without challenges. It is crucial to maintain a focus on the technology's intended purpose, ensuring it stays within the right parameters. This necessitates a collective effort.
Let us now discuss ConcertAI’s concrete role. Could you introduce you to your main activities?
ConcertAI operates at the intersection of healthcare and technology, acting as a neutral intermediary between healthcare providers and biomedical innovators. Our independence from pharmaceutical, payer, or provider funding ensures our neutrality and trustworthiness, a vital asset in healthcare. We possess the world's largest collection of research-grade oncology data and integrate advanced AI, machine learning, and data science techniques.
Our focus is on producing software as a service (SaaS) solutions that enhance operational efficiency, precision, and accelerate biomedical innovations. One of our key recent collaborations is with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where they use our clinical solutions for radiological image interpretation.
Our data sets encompass a wide range of aspects including transcriptome, exomes, digital pathology, and social determinants of health. We prioritize health equity and diversity in all our solutions, ensuring our data sets are representative and comprehensive. Our approach is guided by research questions, aiming to produce insights and evidence that can transform patient treatment and care.
Why did you choose to focus specifically on oncology?
Oncology is a critical area due to its significant societal and familial impact, especially as it often affects individuals in their most productive phases of life. The field of oncology is data-rich, thanks to advancements like next-generation sequencing, offering a unique depth of understanding and opportunity for progress. It is a major focus of healthcare systems globally, accounting for a substantial portion of healthcare spending and innovation. Nearly half of all new drug approvals are cancer-related, indicating a high rate of innovation that necessitates understanding for optimal therapeutic application. Our role is to leverage this wealth of data and innovation, ensuring its correct usage and maximizing its impact on society and health systems. By focusing on oncology, we aim to reduce its burden on families and society, optimize the use of new therapeutics, and improve overall health outcomes.
Do you see yourselves as forerunners in the global healthcare technology market? What are the major growth challenges for the industry?
We at ConcertAI are indeed proud of our growth trajectory, which reflects our commitment to addressing meaningful problems in healthcare. Our approach focuses on liberating value that benefits healthcare providers and patients alike. Unlike some of our peers, we have managed to combine growth with profitability, which is rare in our field. This success is partly due to our disciplined strategy of scaling, increasing R&D investment, and creating integrated solutions that relieve personnel burden and deliver identifiable value. Looking forward, we are optimistic about our role in the healthcare technology market. The necessity for AI and technology-driven solutions in healthcare is evident, given the increasing population and a shrinking base of health professionals globally. To reiterate, we believe these technologies will not replace human personnel but augment their capabilities to improve patient care and outcomes. This belief underpins our commitment to driving value in the healthcare sector.
