Beyond the AI Hype: Learnings Implementing Veeva AI for PromoMats

The moment it all clicked

“AI in pharma content review has officially crossed the line from interesting concept to strategic priority,” says Tareek Turner, associate director of HPRC and content personalization/automation at Boehringer Ingelheim.

He recalls the ‘aha moment’ during the early adopter journey with Veeva AI for PromoMats — with one particular insight standing out: AI isn’t just about accelerating workflows, it should help alleviate manual, repetitive checks so teams can focus on what truly matters: delivering compliant content to customers faster.

Biopharma organizations are under increased pressure to accelerate content development while maintaining rigorous compliance standards. At Boehringer Ingelheim, the potential of Veeva AI capabilities was recognized in the pursuit of reducing manual effort and supporting improvements to the medical, legal, and regulatory (MLR) process.

By joining the Veeva AI Early Adopter Program and partnering with Veeva Business Consulting, Boehringer Ingelheim moves beyond the hype to help shape AI tools for the industry within live, real-world processes.

Over four months, Boehringer partnered closely with Veeva Business Consulting to pilot Veeva AI capabilities — including Quick Check Agent and Content Agent — and test what adoption really requires in a regulated environment.

Critical success factors for biopharma leaders

Turner and his team are prepared to benefit from the AI innovation they helped shape, offering suggestions for successful implementation of agents in MLR:

• Foundational operational readiness: Optimal AI performance is contingent upon ‘submission-ready’ fundamentals and high-quality inputs, specifically optical character recognition (OCR) — machine-readable content that reduces false positives and rework.
• The ‘crawl-walk-run’ methodology: A phased, but rapid strategic approach is essential to build organizational confidence through early wins and targeted metrics, then rapidly preparing to scale across global brands.
• Function-specific change management: Success hinges on user adoption; tailoring the ‘What’s in it for me’ value proposition for Marketers, Agencies, and MLR Reviewers was critical to overcoming change fatigue.
• Synergistic partnerships: Structured collaboration between Boehringer and Veeva Consulting accelerated troubleshooting and ensured Veeva AI was integrated alongside existing business processes.

Implementation insights and feedback

Incorporating AI is as much a cultural shift as a technical one. The team at Boehringer Ingelheim identifies multiple activities vital for building trust in how Veeva AI behaves in practical scenarios:

• Live ‘chairside’ demo sessions
• Messaging tailored to each stakeholder’s ‘what’s in it for me’
• Rapid feedback loops

By maintaining alignment between testing environments and live production, the AI remains a reliable assistant to stakeholders rather than a source of uncertainty. To quantify success, the team moved beyond qualitative feedback to measure core adoption metrics including accuracy, utilization, and importantly, targeting reductions in end-to-end cycle times.

The future of competitive content operations

Boehringer Ingelheim’s Veeva AI for PromoMats journey demonstrates that AI can significantly enhance the quality of submissions when governed by a disciplined submission readiness mindset. By aligning stakeholders, tightening submission fundamentals, and building trust through measurable wins, AI can provide optimal results. For leaders seeking to modernize their operations, the roadmap is clear: Invest in your submission-readiness today to unlock the potential of AI.

The leadership exchange

As you evaluate your digital transformation goals, what is your primary hurdle: the technical infrastructure for machine readability, or the cultural shift in stakeholder adoption?

Join us at Veeva Commercial Summit in Boston on May 19-20 to hear more from Tareek Turner at Boehringer Ingelheim.