The AI Revolution in Life Sciences
From R&D Experiment to Unlocking Enterprise-Wide Efficiencies
Artificial intelligence (AI) and large-language models (LLM) in many ways have fundamentally transformed our daily lives – e.g., how we seek information, how we work and how we connect with each other across the world. As players in the industry with the most significant and direct impact on human health, life sciences companies are by the increasing adoption of these innovative technologies. To better understand how companies and their leaders are viewing and using AI across their businesses, FTI Consulting surveyed 300 life sciences industry leaders about their outlook on AI for life sciences, the barriers to adoption and what they view as the opportunities that AI brings as they seek to develop life-changing treatments for patients.
Learn more in our U.S. Healthcare & Life Sciences Industry Outlook 2026 Survey
AI Takes the Budgetary Crown
Over 59% of respondents plan to allocate more spending on developing AI and LLMs in 2026 – making this the number one area of investment and ranking higher than research and development, marketing and retaining and recruiting talent.
AI’s Expanding Role in Life Sciences
Since the 2010s, life sciences companies have experimented with using AI to streamline the drug discovery and development process. However, as AI has evolved, so have the use cases for AI. Today, organizations are actively using AI across the enterprise to operate more effectively and gather insights more quickly, with AI also playing a role in financial analysis, patient engagement, and communications, among others.
AI Shapes Corporate Affairs and Communications
In FTI Consulting’s survey, 75% of leaders expect AI and LLM to play a greater role in their organization’s communications and reputation management in 2026, and 55% see AI as a supporting asset to their organization’s communications and reputation management activities – enhancing and building upon the knowledge of existing teams to deliver results.
Key areas in which AI is used in corporate affairs and communications include:
Organizations Proceeding Cautiously Towards Adoption
Despite the perceived value AI can provide to the operations of life sciences companies, significant barriers to universal adoption remain.
In this rapidly evolving space, nearly half of life sciences leaders report that they are still building a compliance and ethics program to anticipate and comply with potential AI regulations.
Learn more in our U.S. Healthcare & Life Sciences Industry Outlook 2026 Survey
Ready to help healthcare and life sciences organizations through the AI transformation. FTI Consulting’s life sciences communications experts can help organizations tap into the power of AI and turn uses of AI from communications challenges into opportunities. We combine deep industry knowledge with proprietary AI tools to develop tailored communication strategies that build stakeholder trust, navigate regulatory complexities, and support strategic business objectives.
We look forward to engaging in further discussions.
The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of FTI Consulting, Inc., its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, or its other professionals.
FTI Consulting, Inc., including its subsidiaries and affiliates, is a consulting firm and is not a certified public accounting firm or a law firm. FTI Consulting is an independent global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations manage change, mitigate risk and resolve disputes: financial, legal, operational, political & regulatory, reputational and transactional. FTI Consulting professionals, located in all major business centers throughout the world, work closely with clients to anticipate, illuminate and overcome complex business challenges and opportunities. ©2025 FTI Consulting, Inc. All rights reserved. www.fticonsulting.com
