“That gap between innovation and delivery was what stood out to me most”
pharmafile | October 11, 2026 | Feature | Drug Delivery Systems, Drug Safety, Marketing, Medical Communications, Regulatory Affairs | AI governance, Asthma & COPD, Chronic Diseases, Devices, Diagnostics, Hospital Management, NHS, drug delivery, healthcare solutions, pharmaceutical technology
Pharmafile chats with Camunda’s Natosha McNeal about the vital role of delivery, onboarding AI and putting the patient at the centre of pharma…
What attracted you to a career in pharma?
Coming into pharma from the technology and marketing side, that gap between innovation and delivery was what stood out to me most. For me, the question is not simply whether a molecule is safe and effective, but why it can still take so long for a new, innovative therapy to reach the person who needs it.
Pharma is a sector where the accuracy and speed of delivery have serious consequences. However, the underlying systems in pharma are incredibly complex, creating a disconnect between the need for a streamlined service and the operational reality.
Which achievement are you most proud of?
Helping move the conversation around AI in pharma beyond the pilot stage to what production actually looks like and impacts. That shift requires a bigger conversation about trust, governance and operational readiness. Rather than focusing solely on how sophisticated the technology is, organisations need to consider how existing processes must change for AI agents to remain reliable and accountable in a regulated environment.
What’s the biggest change you’ve seen during your career?
Watching AI evolve from a novelty in a slide deck to something pharma organisations are being asked to run in regulated production, under audit and with human oversight. Leaders across IT, quality, compliance and AI are now in the same room for these discussions, each with a voice and the opportunity to confirm or veto a decision. At the same time, we’re seeing the end of an era when a good pilot was enough.
What’s the biggest challenge the industry still faces?
Camunda research [1] shows that only 12% of agentic AI use cases in healthcare reached production in the last year … trusting agents remains a key challenge, as mistakes in clinical and operational processes can carry significant consequences.
Rather than letting an agent act freely, healthcare organisations need an orchestration layer that places enforceable controls between an agent’s decision and its action. By building controls into the process rather than the agent itself, healthcare leaders can increase AI autonomy gradually as each part of the workflow earns trust, making it safer to give AI real responsibility where it matters most.
Name the development you’ll be most excited to follow over the next five years
It’ll be interesting to see whether the pharma industry adopts a governance-by-design approach or continues to treat governance as an add-on after AI agents are implemented. Too often, governance is framed as a challenge to overcome when in reality, organisations can embed compliance, audit trails and human oversight directly into workflows.
The organisations that add an orchestration layer to govern end-to-end business processes, and the way AI agents operate within them, will be the ones that move faster and scale AI with confidence.
Can you share the best advice you’ve ever received?
It’s simple: don’t oversell. Say what you can prove, say what you can’t and let honesty be the thing people trust. In highly regulated industries like pharma and healthcare, credibility is much more valuable than sounding impressive in the moment.
… And the single piece of advice you’d give someone starting in pharma today?
Never lose sight of the human at the end of the process. Pharma is an incredibly complex industry, where evolving regulation and growing volumes of data make it easy to focus on the technical details. But ultimately, there is always a person at the other end, whether that is a patient waiting for a therapy, a clinician making a decision or a researcher searching for the next breakthrough. If you cannot explain how what you’re doing makes a meaningful difference to someone’s day-to-day life or improves the path for a patient, there is probably still more work to do. Pic: MingweiLim
[1] State of Agentic Orchestration and Automation report, Camunda Research https://page.camunda.com/report-state-of-agentic-orchestration-automation-healthcare-camunda
- Natosha McNeal is Senior Solutions Manager for Healthcare at Camunda
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