AI Adoption in Pharma & MedComms: 2026 update, with Jonathan Gwillim & Kate Eversole

Welcome to Episode 157. 

I've got two returning guests to the show, Kate Eversole (Event Director) and Jonathan Gwillim (Co-Founder) from PharmaBrands. They provide world-class education, support, inspiration and experiences for one of the most challenging and important communication environments there is, healthcare marketing. They bring pharma teams and their agencies together through events and meetups designed specifically to help people thrive in the age of AI. 

In this episode, we talk about the shift from last year’s podcast episode where we were talking all about prompting, to what's relevant in March 2026, the big focus on AI agents. 

Kate and Jon also share what's happening inside pharma with approved tools like Microsoft Copilot and Gemini and why agencies need to align with the client's approved tool stack. 

We also talk about the reality of governance versus shadow AI: employees using AI without a company license. And why compliance and behaviour don't always match. 

We cover more about PharmaBrands ‘Age of AI, Europe’ event, taking place in London on 10th March 2026. 

If you're listening after the event, don't worry because Kate and Jon shared so many insights into the realities of what's happening right now with the pharmaceutical industry and medical communications when it comes to AI adoption.

You can connect here on LinkedIn: 
Kate Eversole
Jonathan Gwillim

Resources mentioned:
PharmaBrands website

Age of AI, Europe - event details and speakers

Real Staffing Report

Sara Rodrigues, Associate Director, Medical Affairs, AI Champion, Vertex shared with PharmaBrands how Agents are now being deployed to answer product related queries. These Agents are trained exclusively on approved sources: Protocols, FAQs, Literature, Product Labels, etc. Sara shares how this solution was easy to build, safe to use, and saves her team a lot of time: https://youtu.be/_Rks3Awp-xE?si=u_Ta_VZ5QgepHMFt&t=1797

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