Published on 02-27-2025
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) presents a challenge for industry leaders. It has unleashed capabilities that have supercharged the pace of change. Companies, like leading pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, that have long engaged with emerging technologies now have an edge, so long as they can recruit a trained workforce to maintain it.
Lilly has long aimed to lead the pharmaceutical industry in AI implementation across its entire organization. It has integrated AI into the workflow of chemists, empowering their drug discovery. Chemists now use AI to model new molecules with speed and efficiency. Lilly also uses AI to revolutionize clinical trials by helping identify and monitor potential participants, optimize trial site locations and increase participant recruitment.
The Indianapolis-based company is actively working to merge patient data sources, including digital health streaming data, medical records and imaging data, to gain deeper patient insights.
Because of its forward-focused leadership, Lilly plans to maintain and improve upon its edge in the industry. What it needs are well-prepared recruits, a challenge that the Daniels School of Business wants to solve for Lilly, and other companies and industries.
In 2024, the Daniels School launched the Master of Business and Technology (MBT) graduate program with input from an advisory board of industry leaders, including Lilly’s Senior Vice President of R&D IT, Ramesh Durvasula.
Through leadership training and cutting-edge courses in robotics, AI, and computational thinking, the program helps students strengthen their business acumen while mastering emerging technologies.
Mohammad Rahman, academic director of the MBT program, explains that the program was designed to bridge a critical skills gap in the market, where professionals must possess both business expertise and a deep understanding of technology. The goal is to produce graduates who serve as "universal translators," seamlessly connecting different departments and navigating the complexities of modern enterprises.
The master's program emphasizes business model transformation through technology, the long-term costs of AI integration beyond initial implementation, and the importance of cultivating an adaptive mindset to thrive in an evolving corporate environment.
The MBT program, which trains STEM professionals, including chemical engineers in business-centered technology implementation, is preparing leaders for such initiatives by providing them with hands-on experience in data integration and analytics.
At the Daniels School, MBT students engage with various data formats and develop the skills necessary to leverage data securely and effectively.
As Durvasula notes, Lilly's approach to AI stands out due to its cautious, strategic partnerships — thoroughly vetting potential collaborators and their algorithms before sharing any data. By testing existing models internally, the company strengthens the credibility and reliability of its data collection and operations. Similarly, at the Daniels School, the MBT program instills ethical usage of AI technologies as a fundamental principle.
Recently, Master of Business and Technology (MBT) advisory board member Ramesh Durvasula spoke with Mohammad Rahman about how AI is reshaping the pharmaceutical industry.
Watch the full webinar for more insights on AI in the pharmaceutical industry and how the MBT program at the Daniels School of Business is training the next generation of chemical and data engineers to implement AI accurately and safely.
If you would like to receive more information about pursuing a business master’s at the Mitch Daniels School of Business, please fill out the form and a program specialist will be in touch!
