In this episode of the CAIO Connect Podcast, host Sanjay Puri sits down with Dr. Bijoy Sagar, Chief Information & Digital Transformation Officer at Bayer, to explore how one of the world’s most iconic life sciences companies is reimagining itself with AI.
What you’ll learn:
👉 Watch now to hear how Bayer is driving “Health for All, Hunger for None” with AI-first strategies.
Resources Mentioned:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bijoysagar/
⏱️ Timestamps:
0:00 Podcast Highlights & Introduction
1:36 Why pharma and agriculture are ideal for AI
4:34 Bijoy’s "aha moment" with Gen AI
6:49 AI as a driver of decision velocity
10:03 Convincing the board and the bottom-up approach to Gen AI adoption
13:20 Differentiating between Gen AI and agentic AI use cases
17:43 The role of AI agents in life sciences and the concept of "transition points"
21:45 Defining AI agents: autonomous decisions and outcome-driven goals
26:13 Model selection and the importance of compute and token optimization
28:57 Rethinking the intranet as a living AI interface
33:56 Balancing AI innovation with regulatory compliance
37:16 Protecting data and the ethical use of black-box models
40:17 The future of synthetic data, digital twins, and a hybrid approach
47:50 The role of TPU accelerated compute in scientific innovation
50:25 The war for AI talent and attracting mission-driven employees
53:46 The importance of diversity in AI development and addressing the digital divide
59:18 AI's role in sustainability and food security
1:01:55 The importance of C-suite and board support for AI transformation
1:04:18 Lightning Round of Questions
1:06:09 Key advice for peers: be prepared to be wrong
1:07:16 Conclusion and farewell
