CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and CAMBRIDGE, England, March 19, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Zifo, the global leader in AI and data-driven informatics for science-driven organizations, highlights the release of a new Everest Group research report: 'Embedding Scientific Expertise at the Core of Life Sciences IT Service Delivery'. The report's central finding is straightforward: digital transformation in biopharma and other science-focused industries only works if scientific accuracy is baked into the AI and tech process from day one.
For years now, biopharma and other science-driven industries have faced a subtle disconnect: scientific breakthroughs are happening faster than ever, but the informatics supporting them haven't kept pace. The way organizations build, deploy, and manage scientific informatics systems lags scientific breakthroughs, with legacy data handling and processes remaining mostly unchanged.
The current AI boom makes this problem more obvious. Generic technology platforms promise speed and efficiency, but they usually stumble when faced with the highly complex workflows that scientists rely on. Simply put, Zifo believes that if an organization's process, data and technology doesn't understand the basic language of biology, chemistry, or physics, it won't deliver useful results.
Everest Group's research backs this up. The report shows that even the most advanced AI models and data architectures will fail if they aren't deeply tied to scientific reality. It's no longer enough for IT partners to just know tech -- they have to understand the science, too. Integrating scientific expertise into process, data, and organizational changes is what actually drives business value.
Treating Science IT like generic corporate IT creates massive enterprise risks. When systems are built on standard business logic rather than specific scientific context, companies run into several major roadblocks:
- Compliance exposure: Blackbox nature of AI models can lead to compliance breaches and long-term reputational consequences with regulators.
- Outcome risks: Inconsistent decisions in clinical trials and unpredictable manufacturing quality.
- Loss of trust: Scientists, clinicians, and regulators losing faith in the digital platforms.
- Reputational damage: The fallout from publishing flawed or unsubstantiated results.
- Wasted investments: Low user adoption rates and expensive AI pilots that fail to scale.
- Scaling failures: Lack of scientific domain depth in AI pilots can lead to organizations facing an accumulation of stalled PoCs and poor ROI.
While you don't necessarily need deep scientific context for every single back-office IT operation, it becomes critical in areas with high complexity and strict regulations. According to the report, companies saw the most value from embedding scientific expertise in drug discovery and research (77%), clinical development (73%), and manufacturing operations (37%). Because of this clear ROI, nearly 8 in 10 pharma leaders say scientific expertise will be a major deciding factor with 4 in 10 already viewing it as a key future differentiator.
To help companies make this transition, the report outlines a practical, four-step blueprint for scaling a science-first digital strategy:
- Assess: Look at your current operations to see how deeply science is currently integrated and figure out your starting point.
- Embed: Set up the right data and governance foundations to support science-driven IT execution.
- Scale: Build hybrid delivery teams that seamlessly combine strong tech skills with actual scientific backgrounds.
- Institutionalize: Make this science-first approach the standard way of operating across the entire company.
To read the Everest Group report, please click here: https://zifornd.com/scientific-it-service-delivery-everest-whitepaper/
About Zifo
Zifo is the leading global enabler of AI and data driven enterprise informatics for science driven organizations. With extensive solutions and services expertise spanning research, development, manufacturing, and clinical domains, we serve a diverse range of industries, including Pharma, Biotech, Chemicals, Food and Beverage, Oil & Gas, and FMCG. Trusted by over 190 science-focused organizations worldwide, Zifo is the partner of choice for advancing digital scientific innovation. https://zifornd.com/; https://zifornd.com/practical-ai-blueprints/
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