AI was everywhere at PMRC West. But that’s not surprising. What was surprising was the maturity of the discussion. Across two days, speakers from Genentech to Amgen to Annexon returned to the same idea from different angles: this technology is rapidly accelerating our ability to discover hidden patterns, trends, or relationships within data and insights, but our expertise and human judgment give it meaning. And that layer is critical to our success.

The most consistent and reassuring message across the conference was this:
AI may change HOW we work, but it doesn’t change WHY the work we do matters.

Here’s our 5-minute Take on what stood out:

1. THE FUTURE OF AI IN HEALTHCARE DECISION-MAKING 

Bismay Mishra, Senior Director, Commercial Insights at Annexon Biosciences; Philip Green, Strategic Insights Leader at Midi Health; and Vivek Gaur, Marketing Analytics & GenAI Initiatives at BeOne Medicines, delivered one of the most thoughtful conversations of the conference and a favorite for many attendees. Comment end 

Several ideas stood out:

• Treat AI like a new entry-level employee: full of potential, but in need of guidance, vetting, and boundaries
• Good prompts and guardrails make all the difference – think like a skilled, seasoned moderator
• AI should never deliver “drive-by insights”

Researchers and insights leaders must be the experts in the room. They must own the story, guide decisions, and push back when needed. AI can support the work, but it cannot replace reasoning, intuition, or experience.

VF’s Take: We think Mr. Green said it best.

2. INSIGHTS WITHOUT DIRECTION ARE JUST INFORMATION

Nikita Upadhyaya, National Field Marketing Lead at Takeda Oncology, reinforced how this shift shows up in practice, especially in field marketing.

Insights teams can’t stop at reporting data. The real value comes from recommendations tied to action, including:

• Who to target differently
• What messages should be emphasized
• Where messages work best

Her message was clear: research must synthesize across sources and close the feedback loop from insight → action → impact. 

VF’s Take: This is something we are passionate about. A holistic story filled with insightful direction, built with all the context needed to understand the insight as well as the next step. Identifying patterns and trends in data more efficiently is great, but on its own, it doesn’t necessarily help teams decide what to do next.

3. HYBRID QUAL GIVES THE BEST ADVANTAGE 

Not surprisingly, one of our favorite sessions was with Elena Scheer-Moser, Senior Research & Insights Manager from iRhythm, and Stephanie David, Vice President, Health & Wellness at Vital Findings. Their session stood out for its nuanced view of AI, highlighting its distinct strengths, limitations, and where human researchers remain indispensable.

The team set out to understand how patients feel about AI in cardiac monitoring, using AI-moderated interviews to gather feedback at scale.

However, some of the most important insights emerged later in focus groups led by VF’s QualLab lead Ivey Crespo. While patients were generally comfortable discussing AI in theory, when conversations turned to trust, accountability, and what happens when technology gets it wrong, deeper concerns surfaced — often only after probing and follow-up questions.

Join us for an encore presentation on July 15!

 

VF’s Take: Hybrid qualitative isn’t a compromise; it’s a strategy for uncovering and validating deep, actionable insight that can be used to take a product or experience to the next level.

4. THE SPACES AI CAN’T TOUCH, BUT RESEARCHERS MUST

Zahra Hadi, Associate Director, Obesity Insights at Amgen, delivered one of the most resonant sessions of the conference by naming what AI simply cannot do.

AI can’t feel.
AI can’t experience.
AI can’t live a patient or provider journey.

To understand nuance, emotion, and lived experience, you still need to talk directly with people. Zahra highlighted immersive, human-centered research methods—developed in partnership with Vital Findings’ QualLab—as essential for capturing what can’t be summarized or automated, including patient journals, body mapping, and projective, real-time reflection. She touched on her own experiences trying to tease out these nuanced insights from AI summaries and analysis, only to realize that this was a space that wasn’t going to work. The outputs that demonstrate the actual lived experience of patients were far more compelling to her product and marketing teams.

VF’s Take: Her perspective wasn’t anti-AI—it was grounded in reality. AI can do many things, but over-synthesizing and summarizing nuanced, moment-by-moment experiences risks leaving critical insights and inspiration on the table. That’s why immersive methods that capture the true human experience shouldn’t be overlooked—they remain a powerful differentiator.

5. THE RISE OF SYNTHETIC PERSONAS & THE PATH TO DIGITAL TWINS

The growing role of synthetic data and personas in keeping the customer voice present between research moments drew a lot of attention across breakout sessions and side conversations.

Diana Lee, Commercial Insights and Analytics at Neurocrine Biosciences, and Aritra Das, Partner at ProcDNA, explored how teams are using AI to build “always‑on” personas of HCP perspectives grounded in prior research to ensure decisions stay anchored in real customer context, even between active studies. The goal isn’t to replace research, but to extend its value: answering known questions, pressure‑testing ideas, and helping teams avoid starting from scratch each time.

In many ways, this approach feels like an early step toward what some describe as digital twins. But the emphasis at PMRC West was clear: these tools only work when they’re built on deep, human‑led insight. Synthetic personas should be built on previous research, not pure LLM approximations.

VF’s Take: Personas are a great first step in grounded, synthetic data. We think digital twins are the next step. Built from real, consented humans—not an aggregate persona—they represent a durable shift in how we extend customer understanding. We’ve written more on this in our latest blog.

In summary, PMRC West reinforced a clear shift: the future of insights isn’t about choosing between AI and humans—it’s about orchestrating both with intention.

While many organizations are still exploring what that balance looks like, others are beginning to operationalize it. At Vital Findings, this is not new territory. We’ve spent years actively testing, vetting, and integrating AI into our research approaches—always with a clear guardrail: technology should enhance, not dilute, insight.