Veeva Commercial Summit 25 - Unpacked

This video provides an in-depth exploration of the key announcements, roadmaps, and practical implications discussed at the Veeva Commercial Summit 2025. The panel, consisting of consultants and pharmaceutical leaders from companies like Otsuka and Sanofi, focused on what the event means for professionals shaping customer engagement across the life sciences industry, with a heavy emphasis on the future role of Artificial Intelligence within the Veeva ecosystem.

The central theme of the summit was Veeva's aggressive push into AI, positioning it as a unified data platform built on deep applications like Vault. Two primary AI agents were highlighted: the Quick Check Agent (for content review/Promats) and the CRM Bot (for sales planning/field execution). Panelists generally agreed that AI adoption must prioritize efficiency gains first to build trust and acceptability among users. For instance, the Quick Check Agent, which automates consistency checks, spelling, and compliance issues (like the AE blackbox), was seen as an immediate win that reduces the burden on Medical, Legal, and Regulatory (MLR) reviewers, thereby reducing compliance costs and accelerating time-to-market for content.

A major point of contention and concern regarding the more prescriptive CRM Bot—which generates pre-call plans and content suggestions—was the industry's current poor state of first-party data capture. Panelists noted that field teams often fail to consistently enter rich, free-text call notes into the CRM due to compliance fears (Adverse Events/Pharmacovigilance) or a lack of perceived value. This "garbage in, garbage out" scenario means the AI lacks the foundational data required to provide accurate, high-value suggestions. Consequently, many pharma companies are prioritizing the implementation of the Voice Bot and Free Text Agent first, viewing these tools as critical enablers for compliantly capturing rich, unstructured data (speech-to-text notes) that will eventually power advanced AI solutions.

Beyond AI, the discussion covered Veeva's platform evolution aimed at creating a truly omni-channel experience. The introduction of Campaign Manager was met with excitement, signaling Veeva's commitment to bridging the gap between sales and marketing, increasing marketing accountability, and moving the CRM beyond its traditional perception as merely a call-logging tool. Other practical advancements included improved Account Planning modules in Vault CRM, which now allow for sharing plans with non-Veeva users via integrated Teams channels, and the Automatic Reference Linking feature in Promats, which promises significant time and cost savings by automating a previously outsourced, tedious compliance task. The overall consensus was that while the future is exciting, significant foundational work—especially in data quality and process optimization—is necessary for the industry to realize the promised value of these new technologies.

Key Takeaways: • AI Must Start with Efficiency to Build Trust: The Quick Check Agent in Promats, which automates checks for consistency, spelling, and compliance (e.g., Adverse Event blackbox), is viewed as a high-value, low-risk starting point for AI adoption, reducing review time and compliance costs. • Data Quality is the AI Bottleneck: The CRM Bot, designed to generate prescriptive pre-call plans, faces major adoption hurdles because field teams often do not consistently capture rich, first-party data (free-text call notes) due to compliance fears (PV/GDPR) or lack of buy-in. • Prioritize Data Capture Enablers: To power future AI, companies must first implement tools like the Voice Bot and Free Text Agent to make it easy and compliant for field teams to capture unstructured data (speech-to-text call notes) in the CRM, establishing the necessary data foundation. • Prescriptive AI Acceptance is Low: Prescriptive AI that dictates "do this, say this, use this" may not resonate with experienced field teams, who value their professional skill. Suggestions should be based on explainability (e.g., "your peers are having success with this content") rather than mandate. • Customer Experience Drives Sales: Research shows that excellent customer experience can double prescriptions and accounts for approximately 50% of an HCP's decision to prescribe, emphasizing the need for technology that facilitates high-value, synchronized engagements. • Veeva Targets Marketing Integration: The introduction of Campaign Manager signals Veeva's strategic move to provide a complete platform that bridges sales and marketing, increasing marketing accountability and transforming the CRM into a true Customer Relationship Management tool. • Automatic Reference Linking is a Quick Win: This new feature in Promats is highly anticipated as it automates the tedious and costly process of linking references in content, a task often outsourced to agencies, offering immediate time and money savings. • Account Planning Enhancements: Vault CRM's new Account Planning modules offer a better UI and critical functionality, including the ability to share account plans with non-Veeva users (like commercial directors or market access teams) via integrated Teams channels. • Efficiency is Mandatory for Launches: A survey of top CEOs indicated that 18 out of 20 are not planning to increase headcount for upcoming product launches, underscoring the critical need for technology to drive operational efficiencies across commercial and medical departments. • Leverage X Pages: The X Pages (formerly My Insights) feature in Vault CRM is an underutilized, bundled tool that allows developers to create custom, in-workflow HTML dashboards that read/write CRM data, ideal for surfacing just-in-time AI prompts and enhancing rep workflow. • Process Optimization Precedes AI: Consultants warn that 95% of AI investments are reporting zero return; foundational work, including optimizing poor processes (cited as the number one waste in pharma), must be addressed before implementing complex AI solutions.

Tools/Resources Mentioned:

• Veeva CRM, Vault CRM, Veeva Promats, Bolt CRM
• Campaign Manager, Content Studio
• Quick Check Agent, CRM Bot, Voice Bot, Free Text Agent
• X Pages (formerly My Insights)
• Teams channels, SFMC (Salesforce Marketing Cloud)

Key Concepts:

• Omni-channel CRM: The strategy of integrating all customer touchpoints (field, digital, medical) within the CRM to ensure a unified, consistent, and high-value customer journey.
• First-Party Data: Data collected directly by the pharmaceutical company about its customers' interactions and engagement, considered the most valuable asset for competitive advantage and powering AI.
• Quick Check Agent: An AI tool in Promats designed to automate compliance and consistency checks on content before it enters the formal MLR review process, significantly reducing human review time.

Examples/Case Studies:

• Moderna: Cited as an early adopter and tester of the Quick Check Agent, with commercial rollout planned for December.
• Otsuka & Sanofi: Representatives from these companies shared their strategic priorities, including the decision to focus on implementing the Voice Bot and Free Text Agent first to solve data capture issues before moving to prescriptive AI like the CRM Bot.