Sanofi’s Chief Digital Officer, Emmanuel Frenehard, wants to transform healthcare by leveraging AI across the company. In a recent interview with Forbes, he shared Sanofi’s comprehensive approach to artificial intelligence and the profound impact it’s having on the company’s operations and patient outcomes.
Frenehard articulated Sanofi’s overarching goal: “We set ourselves a pretty incredible purpose, which is to chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives.” For Frenehard, AI is not just a tool — it’s a critical pathway to saving time, a resource that many patients cannot afford to waste. “If we can use artificial intelligence to change that and shave time in those 12 years [of drug development] and increase the probability of success, then we all benefit,” he said.
When Frenehard joined Sanofi four years ago, the company’s use of AI was fragmented. He spearheaded a company-wide strategy to unify and expand AI initiatives. This strategy is built on three categories: “Expert AI, Snackable AI, and Generative AI.” Expert AI supports specialized tasks, like cell identification in labs or deviation detection in factories. Snackable AI, described by Frenehard as “kind of like your Instagram of AI,” empowers employees with intuitive tools to make decisions quickly. Generative AI, the third category, is accelerating content creation and localization, ensuring faster communication with patients and healthcare professionals.
Sanofi’s innovative AI solutions extend beyond internal operations. Frenehard introduced the concept of digital concierges, stating: “We want to be able to book your holiday, inform your team when you’re out, and do activities like that through a digital concierge full of generative AI.” This forward-thinking approach is reshaping workflows and enhancing productivity.
Implementing AI at scale has its challenges, and Frenehard is candid about the lessons learned.
“The technology wasn’t quite as ready as we had anticipated, and so that was a humbling lesson,” he admitted. Yet, he views setbacks as opportunities for improvement, emphasizing the importance of adaptability in the rapidly evolving tech landscape. “You’ve got to be wise about innovating at speed but also be willing to sacrifice what you just developed because something better comes just after,” he explained.
Frenehard credits Sanofi’s success to its governance framework and focus on impactful use cases.
“We don’t want to sprinkle dust; we just want to go deep and solve a problem from the ground up,” he said. This rigorous approach ensures that AI initiatives deliver tangible value, from shaving time off development cycles to enhancing patient care.
With its unified AI strategy, Sanofi is not only improving operational efficiency but also making strides toward extending and enriching lives worldwide. “Test the hypothesis in the real world,” Frenehard urged, encapsulating Sanofi’s commitment to innovation, agility, and impact.
