Solving the mystery of named resource management in life sciences project management for organizational effectiveness

Understanding future of agentic AI in pharma: QnA with Puneet Kacker

“In a world of talkers, be a thinker and a doer.”The difference between generative AI and agentic AI can be rightly explained by this quote. While gen AI is like a thinker helping you ideate and create, agentic AI is both a thinker and a doer. In fact, it goes one step further by initiating and completing tasks and taking decisions autonomously. In the pharma and life sciences industry, this capability plays a key role than one might think of. Imagine using a tool that not only researches but also manages complex workflows. To get more clarity on agentic AI, we spoke with Puneet Kacker, an industry expert and passionate advocate for innovation. He is actively involved in promoting the use of advanced AI technologies in pharma, healthcare, and life sciences, and in driving better and faster solutions to the world. We gained valuable insights into how this next-generation technology is transforming the pharmaceutical industry and how we can work using it to achieve better results. Here’s the blog that shares his thoughts on Agentic AI and its future in pharma and life sciences industry. 1. What is agentic AI and how is it different from generative AI? Generative AI is a model to create novel content, including text, images, audio, video and code, quite efficiently. Primarily, it is an instruction-based AI model that is built on large data sets. Hence, it has a strong capability to understand language prompts and generate high-quality outputs.On the other hand, agentic AI works on a goal-oriented model that operates on high-level instructions, and the agents trigger specific actions. The model uses memory and offers mission-oriented solutions. It can be understood as a human decision-based system that mimics actions typically performed by humans.A quick example: Gen AI can create an email, while Agentic AI can write, send, track the response, and proceed to send follow-ups 2. What are the key challenges pharma companies should overcome to successfully adopt agentic AI into the industry?The pharmaceutical industry has been adopting new technologies at a relatively slower pace. It’s not reluctance, but more due to highly regulated sensitive data involved. Agentic AI holds promise to transform certain workflows; however, there are certain reservations due to the LLM limitations in healthcare. Certain tests results have experienced LLMs to be unsafe and hasty. Hence, one should not rely completely on agentic AI for sensitive decisions. Another challenge is domain knowledge and operations in pharma; specifically in R&D, clinical trials, and regulatory aspects. That said, agentic AI can play a role in specific pipelines related to innovation discovery, but it needs to mature significantly. And even when it does mature, it is still just a tool. If competitors or other companies also adopt similar tools, then they may all end up generating a similar set of results.The key for pharma companies is how to retain human talent as-is, while capitalizing on agentic AI systems in a way that both can be plugged together to bring out the best of innovation. For example, pipelines that collect data routinely, highlight issues in clinical trial data, convert data, transform it, and save it into databases. These routine jobs with complex pipelines can be handled better by using agentic AI. So, in the next 5 to 10 years, these agentic AI systems are expected to become reliable and mature, building a rich storehouse for pharma and similar industries. 3. What measures should be taken for smooth collaboration between human experts and agentic AI agents?Collaboration is critical for the pharmaceutical industry, and human intervention is non-negotiable. Agents work autonomously and it’s difficult (even unethical in some cases) to trust their decisions without cross-checking. Even a minute error in AI-led judgment could lead to a big impact, especially in clinical trials and drug discovery domains where the stakes are too high. Science always believes in understanding the “why” and “how.” Though agents might have logical reasoning behind their outputs, innovation driven by the scientific mindset and human judgement, by core capability, is necessary.Thus, human experts in the pharma industry would require more attention on building awareness about how agentic AI systems work. It’s also essential to ensure that any output produced by the agentic AI system that’s going out of the expected or acceptable range should be flagged.Scientists should understand how the system works and where customization is required. In the current scenario, scientists are crafting prompts and communicating with AI agents, which is a part of shaping innovation. But if AI handles everything, it would be challenging for scientists to make changes that align with their knowledge and intent. To conclude, a lot of learning is required to excel and capitalize on the agentic AI system. 4. What core capabilities make agentic AI suitable for solving the pharma industry’s complexities?Agentic AI can support scientific processes and due diligence, especially in forming hypotheses and bringing relevant data to scientists in less time. A lot of curations, which have traditionally been done manually, can now be handled faster using AI. However, it comes with a lot of reservations. If mistakes in the system go unidentified and are released, they could have detrimental effects.So, human oversight, with domain knowledge and technological expertise, will continue to play a critical role. Routine tasks such as data collection, data cleaning pipelines, and preparing data for analytics can be handled effectively by agentic AI systems. That said, there are some reservations about its use in clinical trials, especially in handling patient data, monitoring disease progression, and clinical trial recruitment. So, strong human oversight will always be necessary. 5. What key factors should pharma companies consider when implementing agentic AI? Figure - Key factors agentic ai 6. Will agentic AI find greater adoption in project management domains within the pharmaceutical industry?Agentic AI does have a lot of potential since the data is structured, and the rules are well defined. It has the capacity to consolidate data from multiple sources and coordinate complicated schedules. That said, agentic AI cannot likely replace project coordinators. It works best when collaborating with human decision makers who can bring in the right judgment. Organizations will require people who are domain experts and also have a strong understanding of advanced technologies like agentic AI. These individuals can customize solutions, flag issues, and take control when needed. It’s just like a self-driving car; there’s always a manual override option. Likewise, in project management, human oversight will always be essential. Leaving critical operations solely to agents could risk project failure or even damage a company’s reputation. Conclusion While agentic AI holds immense scope for speeding up processes in the pharmaceutical industry, it’s clear that human oversight along with deep human intelligence will remain the key elements. Dr. Kacker strongly believes, “the future is AI with human, but not AI vs human.”Pharma faces constant innovation challenges, with new diseases and evolving problems that require adaptable, domain-specific expertise. AI might solve specific problems efficiently, but human capability is what brings flexibility, context, and foresight. The future of pharma, therefore, lies in a strong, complementary partnership between human expertise and machine intelligence, working together to drive meaningful progress .—a progress filled with hope and support for patients around the world.

Connecting HR, PMO and functional lines for effective resource management and talent retention

Resource management in pharma project teams: A brief backgroundIn life sciences organizations the need for faster time-to-market for drugs is critical with precision, timelines, and compliance as non-negotiable must-haves. Prolonged project timelines and complex divisional inter-dependencies emphasize managing resources optimally to enable a faster and smoother drug development lifecycle.Managing resources is not a single department job, there requires a continuous collaboration between functional lines, HR and the PMO to proactively respond to outsourcing/ in-house talent acquisition, FTE vs. Contractors. This partnership between functional lines, HR, and project resource management also identifies key positions with a complete clarity of roles and assignments leading to improved relationships with managers with colleagues seeing a clear connection between work and organizational goals. In this blog, we explore the impact of cross functional collaboration, how technology can help achieve system integrations, and transparency across the three divisions. Impact of Cross-functional collaboration: leveraging HR, functional lines, and the PMOEffective resource management collaboration is one where HR, functional lines and the Project Management Office (PMO), directly influence the success and efficiency of drug development and other scientific projects. The PMO roles & responsibilities in conjunction with functional lines ensuring whether human talent, equipment, facilities, budget and time are allocated optimally across complex and concurrent projects. In high-stakes environments where timelines are tight and compliance critical, planning foresight, cross-divisional teamwork, and shared resource management are essential to avoid costly delays and failed outcomes. Role of PMOThe PMO whether centralized or embedded Ensures the right skilled professionals are available when and where they are needed most.Monitors resource utilization to prevent overallocation or underuse.Collaborates closely with operations functions ensuring critical assets like lab manufacturing equipment or testing facilities are used efficiently.Uses forecasting tools and data analysis with PPM to anticipate resource needs, enabling proactive adjustments.For successful project delivery, the PMO also focuses on process and governance. With digital advances the ability to connect central PMO plans live to functional lines resource management is now a reality. This has allowed the PMO to evolve into a strategic function that not only oversees project resource management but also plays a central role in managing human capital across the organization. Role of HRHR is a key partner enabling functional lines deliver projects to avert resource onboarding delaysAligns talent supply with project demands based on skills, availability, and timelines.Minimizes turnover in critical roles through engagement and career planning.Upskills employees to meet technical and regulatory requirements.Recruiting specialized resources to support evolving R&D needs.Key non-personal data, skill set, grade information, training status, can be siloed in HR data systems with limited access for resource management needs. The PMO, along with the functional lines can combine this information to track engagement levels ensuring the right talent is assigned to the right teams. Role of functional lines The centralized or functional lines offer resource allocation clarity on physical resources, budgets, execution timelines and how these align with project plans. Allocates skilled resources to projects based on expertise and availabilityBalances project and functional priorities to avoid resource conflictsMonitors performance and development of team members across assignmentsProvides technical oversight to ensure quality and alignment with scientific goalsSupports resource forecasting through input on capacity and skill gapsEnables knowledge transfer across projects to maximize efficiency and learningFunctional lines also focus on lab space, production equipment, materials, and scheduling, etc. If the PMO is planning a clinical trial and needs lab time or manufacturing resources, Ops ensure those are available when needed. If a drug development project is moving into the manufacturing phase, functional lines work with the PMO to block out production lines and coordinate supply deliveries, while functional lines ensure the right technicians are trained and ready.The PMO acts as the central connector, pulling together people and information from different departments so everyone is on the same page.HR, PMO, and the functional lines communicating closely together support long-term talent development through targeted upskilling, mentoring, and coaching programs aligned with project demands. Decisions on how to address resource gaps may involve re-training or bringing in contract staff early if there’s a skills gap by responding to functional lines and PMO requests. This kind of advanced workforce planning in conjunction with HR makes sure the team is ready before the project hits full speed.However, data visibility gaps, and lack a single source of truth may cause roadblocks in creating the much-needed synergy between PMO, HR and functional line managers.When certain data from key technology systems is integrated, data can be seamlessly flown from various departments, want to learn how technology can break data silos and promote seamless collaboration between HR, PMO and functional Lines? Read on. How custom solutions enable resource management in a cross-functional collaborative way? Many life sciences companies are using enterprise level PPM tools for effective resource management and collaboration between departments, however, due to expensive licensing costs, the functional line managers may not have the visibility of into the broad level project plans within the tool. There is also poor visibility for essential non-portfolio projects visibility that is tracked outside the PPM tool.This is where a resource management framework can be a game changer. It is a flexible framework which seamlessly integrates with your existing PPM and HR systems to provide a comprehensive view of the resources and forecasting plans down to the functional manager level.This can serve as a digital trigger for identifying training and knowledge gaps as soon as named resources are assigned to forecast work. Using sophisticated AI, it suggests the right training and connects people to important internal resources—making sure everyone, from lab staff to leadership, stays aligned. It's also a valuable partner across the organization, supporting PPM for workforce colleague well-being and talent retention by giving better visibility into how talent is used, balancing workloads, and encouraging a strong, high-performing project culture. Plus, it works smoothly with your current PPM tools without getting in the way of your daily workFigure - Custom resource management differentiatorsSingle source of truthIt helps untangle the resource allocation complexity by providing a unified platform where everyone, from PMs to HR business partners to Functional Leads, can access and work with real-time data. This single source of truth eliminates confusion around who’s assigned to what, what skills are available, and where gaps exist, allowing teams to focus on their own role while staying aligned with others. Figure - Project overviewCross-functional data integrationOne of the biggest pain points in shared resource management and cross-functional collaboration is the disconnect between resource forecasting and the availability of resources in reality. The custom resource management framework bridges this gap and integrates existing project planning and PPM system benefits with data from HR systems, time tracking platforms and operations teams.When the PMO builds a forecast, for example an upcoming clinical development plan, they can see if the needed resource – a pharmacovigilance expert or a clinical data manager is available or not. In case there is a shortfall, functional lines can be alerted early with HR support to begin proactive hiring and training, redistributing resources. With data analytics looking at the trends of demand (forecast) vs capacity vs named allocation an enriched data set is available to inform long-term workforce development, new business models and real-time synchronization between individual teams to prevents last-minute scrambles and delays.Figure - Shared resource management dataOwnership of tasksIn most life science organizations, the PMO is responsible for coordinating and forecasting project needs, HR manages hiring, onboarding, and training frameworks, and functional line managers handle deployment and resource usage. Custom resource framework supports all by clearly defined ownership of tasks across functions, departments, teams, groups, down to named individuals providing ultimate flexibility to manage your workforce. These boundaries are supported by structured workflows within the platform, which ensures each team knows what they’re accountable for. This removes friction, eliminates duplication of efforts, and builds trust between divisions and teams. Figure - Task overviews360-degree resource visibilityThe custom resource management framework supports collaboration by offering personalized dashboards and reports for each department, making it suitable for successful project resource management. Fully customizable to your organization construct and operations model, HR can monitor attrition trends, training completion rates, and skill gaps. The PMO can view project-wise utilization and forecast accuracy. Operations can track functional capacity and site-specific allocation. This tailored insight empowers teams to make informed decisions and work in harmony toward common goals. Figure - Complete resource visibilityAutomated resource updates and alertsAnother strength of custom resource management framework is its ability to automate alerts and updates. When a resource is reassigned, needs training, or has a scheduling conflict, custom resource management framework notifies the right people instantly. This level of automation reduces manual tracking and ensures that changes are communicated across all teams without delay.Figure - Automated alerts for resourcesSeamless integration with larger tech stackThe custom resource management framework fits into your existing tech landscape. This differentiates it from other purpose-built frameworks. Whether the organization uses Workday for HR, MS Project or Planisware for PPM, or custom tools for time-tracking expertise, assuming data links are pre-established, this custom resource management framework integrates seamlessly without much effort helping you stay ahead of competition. As a result, there's no need for disruptive software changes, which makes adoption smoother and collaboration easier across functions. ConclusionIn PPM for workforce management, custom resource framework brings clarity, accuracy, and confidence to decision-making. It eliminates bottlenecks, prevents underutilization, and ensures cross-functional planning is based on real-time data. By enhancing visibility and transparency, custom resource management framework directly empowers PMO roles and responsibilities and helps align resources, manage capacity, and drive portfolio execution. It enables functional teams to collaborate effectively, building trust across the organization.Having supported life sciences companies for over 15 years, at i2e, we’ve seen firsthand that as portfolio scale and complexity increases, tools like Alloc8 are no longer “nice-to-have”, but are business-critical digital solutions. In today's dynamic fast paced data-driven world where work processes are rapidly evolving through ML / AL, can you afford to not be conducting named allocation? The answer is a resounding no. With the help of these business-critical digital solutions, you streamline processes, aid communication and hence accelerate product delivery, that is valuable in the longer term. This, in turn, impacts talent growth and retention gained through the visibility of resourcing decision making.

Project Online and Power BI- A Dynamic Duo for Making Reports That Matter

Is making reports taking up all your time? Or Are you still wondering the answers to questions such as ‘what is the project’s progress? Or ‘how much will this project cost the company after two years?’ then your business needs a digital makeover. Companies need applications that can quickly analyze huge data sets and come up with trends that can help in decision-making. This is where Project Online and Power BI come into play. In this blog, we will tell you about Microsoft Project Online and Power BI, and how they can become a game-changer for your business? These applications are powered by Microsoft, and i2e can help you with the implementation as well as migration of your existing projects. Are You Already Using Project Online? Along with being a magnificent project management application, Project Online is also a precious data source. Leverage it correctly and it can give a powerful start towards making meaningful reports. This is where Power BI can change the way you look at the data. But doesn’t Project Online come with a reporting module, then why should you integrate Power BI? This is a reasonable doubt, which many of our clients expressed. Read the next section to find out. Why Integrate Power BI to Project Online? Power BI is a reporting tool that can analyze data and convert it into meaningful metrics for the business. Yes, Project Online does generate reports, but if you need customized reports, along with actionable insights, and smart visuals, then Power BI is what you need. Using Power BI, companies can do more than just creating reports, they can dig deep into the data and use the Machine Learning algorithm to predict trends. The best part is you can easily integrate Power BI to Project Online and eliminate the hassle of exporting data and manually generating reports. Integrating Power BI to Project Online will boost your reporting capabilities and help in smart decision-making. Power BI’s Components Using Power Q&A, you can create visuals by just typing in questions. For example, ‘who owns more projects,’ or ‘how many projects are owned per owner.’Power BI has a Power query option which can structure your data. Once the data is structured, the Data Management Gateway refreshes the data periodically and the new data will follow the same format, saving you time and effort.Power BI also comes with a Quick Insights feature which can churn your data and create subsets to give you valuable insights. For example, it can give you visuals of which project might cost more, or which project can fall out company’s goals in the future.There are other components such as the Power View and the Power Map, the former comes with an easy drag-and-drop interface, and the latter is a 3D geospatial data visualization tool. Both these tools help in creating superior reports. Along with creating impeccable reports, Power BI can accumulate data from various data sources, create visuals and share across global data centers. This helps companies to meet their compliance and regulatory needs. Power BI- The Game Changer Fetch data from various cloud services – helps you in making consolidated reports.Build smart dashboards- gives a holistic view of the business empowering teams to make informed decisions.Ask questions and get real-time answers- gives answers in the form of a graph or chart for quicker understanding.Scan hidden insights in seconds- never miss out any data or trend which can be helpful for the business.Secured live access from any device- easy to access through Power BI mobile apps. If you are looking for a way to make smarter reports, then it is time to adopt artificial intelligence tools that can pull data and allow you to visualize in your own way. If you need assistance in implementing Project Online and Power BI, connect with us. Our team of experts will understand your requirements and provide you with the right solution.