The Search Function: What AI Can't Replace in Biopharma Innovation

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As biopharma R&D leans further into AI, the advantage increasingly lies not only in what companies discover internally but in how well they can see, evaluate, and act on innovation happening outside their own walls. In this CHEManager Leaders & Motivators interview, Nishtha Jain, Global Search and External Innovation Platform Leader, R&D at CSL, discusses building AI-enabled platforms that help R&D teams identify and assess high-impact global opportunities, what it takes to keep human judgment central as these systems scale, and how leadership must evolve at the intersection of AI, ethics, and innovation.

CHEManager: Your role sits at the intersection of AI, digital platforms, and external innovation strategy. How do you define your mission at CSL right now, and what does building a future-ready innovation portfolio look like in practice?

Nishtha Jain: Biopharma R&D generates enormous amounts of signals – academic research, biotech pipelines, licensing activity, competitive moves scattered across thousands of sources worldwide. My role is focused on creating an AI-enabled “search platform technology“ that continuously scans, structures, and surfaces external intelligence signals against our therapeutic area strategy, so our scientific and business teams are looking at a curated set of high-conviction opportunities instead of starting from zero every time.