From Molecule to Market: Tushar Zade, CIO & CDO, Aurigene Pharmaceuticals on How AI and Automation Are Powering Pharma’s Next Leap
India’s pharmaceutical sector stands at a defining inflection point — where digital transformation is no longer an enabler, but a strategic differentiator. From drug discovery to delivery, technology is reshaping the way pharma enterprises innovate, manufacture, and respond to market dynamics. Within this digital revolution, pharmaceutical organizations are demonstrating how data-driven intelligence, automation, and AI are creating measurable business outcomes — from reducing manufacturing costs and lead times to improving product quality and compliance.
Tushar Zade, Chief Information Officer and Chief Digital Officer at Aurigene Pharmaceuticals, shares how India’s pharma sector is leveraging digital innovation to drive global competitiveness, the evolving role of AI in drug design and production, and how companies are building cyber and operational resilience in an increasingly complex global landscape.
Some edited excerpts:
India pharma companies have been at the forefront of digital transformation. Can you take us through some of the recent digital initiatives by pharmaceutical companies and their impact?
Digital transformation in leading pharma organizations is delivering measurable outcomes across cost, productivity, and quality. For example, in terms of cost efficiency, manufacturing cost per 1,000 pills has dropped by 43%, absolute manufacturing cost by 10%, and annual logistics cost improved by 27% through automation, advanced planning systems and IoT-driven supply chain visibility.
In terms of productivity, factory output has increased by 56%, overall FTE productivity by 97% and production lead time reduced by 30% – enabled by digital twins, predictive analytics, and cloud-native platforms. Quality deviations per batch have decreased by 76%, and customer complaints reduced by 43%, thanks to AI-driven quality monitoring and real-time data integration. These results demonstrate how digital initiatives are not just modernizing operations but creating a step-change in performance across the pharma value chain..
How are Indian pharmaceutical companies leveraging digital technologies to stay ahead of the curve in India?
Indian pharma players are embracing next-gen technologies to remain competitive globally. These include:
*Digital Twins for molecule simulation and process optimization are reducing trial risks and costs.
* Blockchain is ensuring clinical data integrity and traceability across multi-site trial(s)..
* Smart Manufacturing powered by IoT and MES systems is driving real-time visibility and predictive maintenance.
These investments are translating into tangible outcomes – such as 34-40% lower manufacturing costs and 27-30% shorter production lead times — positioning Indian pharma as a global innovation hub..
Generative AI and predictive analytics are redefining enterprise decision-making. How is India pharma leveraging AI to drive innovation across design, production, and customer engagement?
AI is delivering transformative impact across three domains:
Design: Generative AI accelerates molecular ideation and ADMET simulations, reducing early discovery cycles by up to 36%.
Production: Predictive analytics optimizes batch yields + prevents downtime, contributing to 56% higher factory output and 97% improvement in workforce productivity.
Customer Engagement: AI-driven insights personalize partner interactions and forecast demand, reducing customer complaints by 40-42%.
Explainable AI frameworks are also being adopted to ensure compliance and trust in regulated environments..
Given recent disruptions in global supply chains and digital ecosystems, what are some of the measures that pharma companies in India are taking to build cyber and operational resilience?
Resilience strategies now combine cybersecurity rigor with operational agility:
Cyber Resilience: Zero-trust architectures, AI-based threat detection, and 24 by 7 SOCs are becoming standard.
Operational Resilience: Multi-cloud adoption, supplier diversification, and digital twins for supply chain modeling ensure continuity.
These measures, coupled with predictive analytics, have helped companies maintain 27% logistics cost improvement even amid global disruptions and considering the latest geopolitical situations..
What are some of the key digital initiatives that India pharma companies are looking to launch in the next six months to one year?
The next wave of initiatives focuses on deep tech integration:
AI for Predictive Toxicology to reduce downstream costs.
AR/VR for Remote Inspections and Training to enhance compliance and workforce capability.
Data Mesh Architectures for democratized, governed data access.
AI Co-development Partnerships in oncology and immunology to leverage proprietary datasets.
These initiatives aim to replicate the success seen in prior programs – such as 76% reduction in quality deviations & 43% drop in manufacturing costs and push the industry toward a fully digital, resilient future.