TRANSFORMATION AND CONSOLIDATION: DOUBLING DOWN ON THE DATA JOURNEY AT GRÜNENTHAL P R O J E C T
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TRANSFORMATION AND CONS DOUBLING DOWN ON THE DATA AT GRÜNENTHAL Megan Reutin, Global Head of Data Science & Strategy at Grünenthal shares insights into the company’s transformative data journey.
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SOLIDATION: TA JOURNEY
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FOUNDED IN STOLBERG IN 1946, GRÜNENTHAL HAS DEEP GERMAN ROOTS BUT TODAY IT IS A GROWING GLOBAL BUSINESS WITH A VISION OF CREATING A WORLD FREE OF PAIN. rünenthal is a global leader in pain management and related diseases. As a science-based, privatelyowned pharmaceutical company, they have a long track
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record of bringing innovative treatments and state-of-the-art technologies to patients worldwide. Their purpose is to change lives for the better, and innovation is their passion. They are focusing all
activities and efforts on working towards their vision of a world free of pain. In recent years, Grünenthal’s innovation has gone hand in hand with a journey of transformation and consolidation of the company’s data strategy. Here to tell us more is Megan Reutin, Global Head of Data Science & Strategy at Grünenthal. Megan joined the company two and a half years ago and her role covers a plethora of data aspects. These include oversight of Grünenthal’s commercial
data, use of data with regards to artificial intelligence (AI), advanced data science and analytics, data storage, sharing insights across the business as well as data literacy and education, adoption and enablement strategies – encompassing all sorts of analytics from omnichannel to content analytics. With all these complex moving parts to her role, Megan explains that Grünenthal’s data journey has evolved rapidly in the past five years, but it has been driven by experimentation and innovation.
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“Grünenthal’s data journey has evolved greatly over time,” says Megan. “Originally, each of our individual markets had the responsibility of establishing their own data warehouse and over time they've developed their own data ecosystems. Some of these are incredibly intricate and complex. But around three years ago, Grünenthal made the decision to move towards a more centralised approach to data, where the goal was to enable easier and better analytics and reporting, and the company took the opportunity to introduce a data lake.
correct type of data for the insights that we would like to enable across the business, as well as making sure the data that we obtain from our partners is interpreted correctly. “Then there is Global Portfolio Commercialisation (GPC) in which our Marketing, Medical & Market Access teams sit: our asset teams (within GPC) are a cross-functional group that collaborate with our Commercial Excellence team across many initiatives whilst ensuring that everyone is aware if there’s a change in the market definition of either
“I LOVE THE WAY THAT YOU CAN BLEND DATA SCIENCE WITH TECHNOLOGY AND DATA TO REALLY FIND OUT THE INSIGHTS THAT YOU WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO DERIVE FROM SIMPLE REPORTING OR CALCULATIONS WITHIN AN EXCEL SPREADSHEET” Megan Reutin, Global Head of Data Science & Strategy “With regards to governance, each and every part of the business that creates and handles data has a role to play in the governance of the data itself. It’s not a single person, nor a single department's responsibility. There are always multiple teams involved. “We have the Commercial Excellence team, which is a team that I'm a part of, and we're in charge of driving insights, innovation and best practice for the business (amongst other things!), ensuring that we obtain the 6
the medicines or the molecules that are used themselves so we can ensure the definition is applied and reflected appropriately in the data structure. “Lastly, we have our Business Intelligence and IT teams that ensure the correct storage and the persistence of the data received from our partners, as well as enabling company-wide access to the data by the creation of highly streamlined and user-friendly dashboards.”
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Despite the tremendous progress and advancements at Grünenthal in the past five years, Megan stresses that the company’s data journey is an ongoing, exciting process. “We have a real appetite in terms of exploring advanced analytics and data science,” says Megan. “We have a jam-packed project schedule that is super exciting. For instance, we're focusing on optimising the way that we're approaching omnichannel, with content analytics and we're also seeing where it's possible to identify potentially wasted effort in the company, so we can reinvest that effort elsewhere towards activities that really make sense to the business. “I love the way that you can blend data science with technology and 8
data to really find out the insights that you wouldn't be able to derive from simple reporting or calculations within an Excel spreadsheet. It gives data an edge that you won’t be able to find anywhere else. “Lastly, innovation, personally for me is key. I kickstarted my career by playing with bleedingedge technologies, which ignited a passion for challenging the norm and doing things a little bit differently with zero fear of the unknown in terms of new technologies. Thankfully, this experimental approach is welcomed with open arms at Grünenthal where we have a ‘fall fast’ culture, allowing the possibility to try things out without fear of reprisal. This attitude is incredibly important because it enables companies to have that
competitive edge: you learn just as much from failed experiments as you do from successful ones.” In the context of the company’s transformative data journey, Megan reiterates that a closely related priority for Grünenthal has been championing the responsible and ethical use of AI. “Grünenthal is championing the responsible and ethical use of artificial intelligence in a variety of ways,” explains Megan. “First and foremost, we have our Digital Ethics Charter, which outlines our commitments to digital trust and responsibility across a variety of areas, including artificial intelligence. “Secondly, our approach involves a collaborative effort behind the scenes, across a variety of departments. Our goal is to ensure that we're not only legally compliant, but also that those implementing or managing the implementation of solutions have the necessary guidance and education on important related dynamics, such as unconscious bias. “Thirdly, we're also actively increasing visibility on data and artificial intelligence, promoting transparency about how they are used within the company. Within this, combating data bias is also something that I'm incredibly
passionate about. Solutions are only as good as the data that's been fed in, and the good old expression ‘rubbish in rubbish out’ still stands strong today. All too often technologies are tarred with the brush of being awful, but data is what really matters – it is what makes or breaks a technology. If you don't have good data variety or good data quality, and bias is inherently present in the data, then subsequently this will be reflected in whatever solution is being created, whether you like it or not. A huge focus on the data prior to it being ingested elsewhere is absolutely of the utmost importance. “Lastly, I am, as are many people at Grünenthal, incredibly passionate about ethical artificial intelligence. I've presented several keynotes on this and one thing I would say is that it's everyone's responsibility to ensure that any technological progression, whether it's artificial intelligence or otherwise, is done ethically and without bias – right from the very beginning of ideation. It's not something you can just drop in at the end of a general release. It needs to be wholeheartedly included at the very beginning, with a concerted effort to ensure that the necessary attention is invested throughout the entire creation lifecycle, of whichever type of solution is being created. Without this, there's no trust and we fall back into that holding pattern of people being scared of technology, 9
“IN TERMS OF INNOVATION, DOMO HAS ALSO HELPED US ACCELERATE OUR DATA SCIENCE JOURNEY” with the notion of a sentient future just around the corner hanging over our heads, and people fearing that they've got no control over what's actually to come. “We need to absolutely obliterate any notion of this fear by increasing visibility on what is being created, how it’s being created and educating people about how to avoid the solutions that are not being created responsibly. So in other words, we must ensure artificial intelligence is explainable from the get-go.” On the topic of education and raising awareness about technology, Megan emphasises the importance of clear communication related to data science and ethical AI use because transparency is crucial to secure buyin across the company and beyond its walls. “First and foremost, good and frequent communication is key,” insists Megan. “Enabling visibility over what's happening, why it's happening and how it's been done is also incredibly important. There is a disparity between what needs to be done and how it's done with technology. Bridging that gap, so that it’s less of a black box for people, really seems to help. From the technical and statistical standpoint, there’s a 10
lot of language and terminology that people are not necessarily aware of. Increasing visibility on that vocabulary helps not only with the understanding of how things are done, but also alleviates the fear that might come with the unknown. Each person will have their own level of data literacy. Even within the same company, you’re not going to have the same level of awareness or comprehension across every single department. Certain individuals and departments will understand the value of data and the benefits quicker and easier than others, it’s only natural. But the goal is to bring everyone on that one single journey so absolutely everyone understands the value of data.” As Grünenthal embarked on its data journey in the past five years, Megan describes the importance of partnerships to the company’s innovation, operations and growth. “Partners are paramount to us,” says Megan. “Here at Grünenthal, partner relationships are built on open conversations, trust and respect. One such partner that we've been working with for over three years now is Domo. They have helped us accelerate our move to a centralised data lake, as we were able to prove rapidly that a
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centralised data repository was indeed beneficial for the business. What's more, our collaboration with Domo actually allowed us to embark on accelerated experimentation with individual countries as our markets were, and still are, able to easily and rapidly blend local datasets with global datasets. This has enabled a plethora of interesting reporting and analytical capabilities that weren't possible before. “In terms of innovation, Domo has also helped us accelerate our data science journey, initially focusing on data science models that we borrowed from the CPG industry that also work really well in the pharmaceutical industry. In essence, these models allow us to look at our historical data to determine whether our communication channels are effective or not, for a specific brand or combination of markets, enabling the opportunity to dig down further or deeper into campaigns if we choose to do so.” Even though the transformational data journey has been underway at Grünenthal for five years, Megan describes how this is just the beginning. So what does the future hold for Grünenthal? “First and foremost, continuing our data journey is always 13
the objective,” says Megan. “Enabling better and more intricate or advanced insights is where I'd love to see the business moving. Another goal is to ensure that there is easier access to the company data across every department. As a passionate advocate of data and technology, I will always champion the increased use of data science in general, for a variety of different purposes and in a range of different departments. “Generative AI will also have a tremendous impact on things moving forward. There’s a tidal wave of change that’s coming and I firmly believe that there's tremendous potential for us to do things better and quicker, in ways that we never really thought possible before. In my opinion, we should welcome this opportunity with open arms. The way forward, for me, is artificial intelligence augmented human capabilities. So in other words, we will be using AI as a tool to help us in everyday life as well as in our working roles. And I can't wait to take things up a notch – bring it on!” For more information about Grünenthal, visit the company’s website grunenthal.com. 14
EMBRACING AI Megan highlights two resources related to artificial intelligence which have been particularly impactful for her that she highly recommends people check out. “The first is The A.I. Dilemma, a video by the same people that created The Social Media Dilemma,” says Megan. “It is definitely worth a watch and it's eye-opening. Parts are a little bit doom and gloom, but there are some positive messages in there. It actually gives huge insight into things that are happening and why it's so important that we play a role in ensuring that AI solutions are built out responsibly. “The second is titled 120 Mind-Blowing AI Tools. Each of these can help improve productivity, whether it’s in your professional or personal life. I've already started experimenting with some of these myself, just to see the kind of impact they can have – and it’s already helped reduce certain mundane and administrative activities that we all must do.” Connect with Megan 15
www.grunenthal.com
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