By 2030, approximately 45% of work at Moderna could be handled by artificial intelligence.
**Moderna Embraces AI in Human-AI Workforce Evolution**
Over the next decade, Moderna, a leader in mRNA technology and digital innovation, is poised to significantly increase the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in high-value cognitive tasks within its workforce. This shift is driven by accelerating AI adoption across industries and the data-intensive nature of biotech and pharmaceuticals.
AI is already making strides in the sector, with applications in target identification, biomarker discovery, trial optimization, and regulatory submissions. According to industry experts, the impact of AI is most pronounced in biotech and pharma, where it's expected to deepen over the next decade, leading certain high-value cognitive tasks.
In the short term, AI will augment human teams in data analysis, literature review, and early-stage drug design. Human scientists will remain central to hypothesis generation, experimental design, and interpreting AI outputs. As we move into the mid-term, AI agents will take on more autonomous roles in specific domains, such as predictive modeling for clinical trials, real-world evidence synthesis, and even aspects of regulatory strategy.
By the long-term, high-value cognitive tasks such as novel target discovery, complex biomarker identification, and adaptive trial design may see significant AI-led automation. However, human oversight will remain essential for ethical judgments, cross-domain synthesis, and navigating unforeseen scientific and regulatory challenges.
This evolution is shaped by several factors, including the technical maturity of AI, the regulatory and ethical landscape of the biotech sector, and Moderna's culture of innovation and digital fluency. The optimal workforce mix will evolve towards a tighter human-AI collaboration, maximising the strengths of both in a highly regulated, rapidly advancing field.
Cross-functional leadership, involving the CEO, HR, CIO, and business leaders, is necessary for redefining talent management for the AI era. HR and IT departments at AI-progressive companies are expected to track and monitor key supported AI agents by department. Early adopters of gen AI are reimagining and restructuring their operations around fewer people and more AI technology.
By 2025, 85% of cognitive work is predicted to be done by humans and 15% by AI (predictive AI and GenAI). This transformation towards a mix of humans and thousands of AI agents is already underway in AI-progressive firms, with leaders starting this journey today. Moderna operates 3,000 GPTs or simple AI agents across its 5,000-person workforce.
In conclusion, while AI will increasingly handle discrete, high-value cognitive tasks, human expertise will remain indispensable for strategic oversight, ethical decision-making, and innovation leadership. The future of the human-AI workforce at Moderna is one of collaboration and augmentation rather than replacement.
- As Moderna embraces AI in its workforce evolution, AI agents, powered by Gen AI, are anticipated to take on more autonomous roles in specific domains, such as predictive modeling and regulatory strategy, complementing human scientists in hypothesis generation, experimental design, and interpreting AI outputs.
- Cross-functional leadership within Moderna is crucial for talent management in the AI era, with the HR and IT departments expected to track and monitor key supported AI agents, fostering a workforce mix that maximizes the strengths of both humans and AI agents in a highly regulated, rapidly advancing field.
